COmparison between Franco Zeffirelli's 1990 screen adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet to the original play
...watching the film is that it is an altered version of the play. While the play opens on the castle ramparts with Marcellus and Bernardo on their watch, the film begins at the site of the King’s funeral. This change lends itself to film, as is the motivation for much of the alteration, helping to clearly show Hamlet’s angst and depression. Zeffirelli didn’t want to make a film for Shakespeare purists; he wanted a film that could be enjoyed by todays’ tough movie audience and still embody the classic story. This seems to be his excuse for the ‘trimming’ of the play, getting rid of unnecessary sidetracks and plot irrelevancies in order to get right down to the central plot of the search for vengeance. Another apparent goal in the plays’ modification is clarity and the gain of a natural feel of the flow, also crucial in film making. The flow of the film is given largely by its style, which could only be found in a cinematic version of the play. A film offers a stronger chance of exploring and interpreting the play, due to the more options available to the hands of a director. Directors can stop filming and make adjustments to fit their mental model of the production. This can’t be done on stage, nor can multiple camera angles be used, nor multiple actions/ situations occur at the same time. Plus, a play couldn’t have the complete three- dimensional experience brought by the film, and enhanced by the location of the shoot, an authentic and large castle. This, coupled with period clothing, equipment, and actions, make it that much more immersing into the storyline, which helps with understanding. Some interesting camera work is used at parts, with the constant movement of the camera around Gibson at one point adding to the intensity of the situation. Another great advance in the flow of the film versus the play in writing is the realization and incorporation of time lapses between lines. Since Shakespeare didn’t include instructions to pause between lines, it is open to interpretation and thus can make it confusing when just read aloud, sounding more like a jumble of words and sentences rather than conversation. These breaks are present in normal human speech, and convey significance when it is due in the performance. In all, the style of this version is different than all others available, but the way this one flows makes comprehension mu...