Hamlet on Film: An Alternative Medium Essay

Hardliners and literary purists of Shakespeares educates might find it hard to engage in the entertaining yet profound modern adaptation of juncture. Michael Almereydas re-interpretation of settlement come down in modern times has met mix criticisms one of disdain and the other filled with delight. There have been many attempts to make Shakespeares Hamlet relevant to todays fast-paced and commercially drive society. Still the rest falter while a rare few have managed to shine to perfection rase if the s nonty will nigh likely pick on the apparent anachronism and lack of literary value. and Almereydas adaptation of Shakespeares Hamlet to hit is satisfactory to transcend the fixation for the overlord and provide something that young auditory senses and dealers alike foundation enjoy. Shakespeares Hamlet has attained universal familiarity. It follows a plot that even the uninitiated can relate to. It is a fib about a person who, after finding out that his mother has marri ed other (who turns out later to be the murderer of the father) just after the force out of the of his father, suffers an episode of mad rampage and revenge.The madness that Hamlet suffers is a tommyrot that is almost impossible to portray without the aid of poetic words and lyrics. This is plausibly why any attempt at projecting the complicated theatrical character reference and his vices in the big screen would most likely fail. His madness is exclusively beyond the reach of any cinematic magic. What is required is a cute play of words and the appropriate use of imagery and not a series of images that fails to deliver what is hidden and subtle.Notwithstanding this major obstacle, Almereydas mien of telling the story in the same archaic English voice communication but with liberal changes in setting, actors and overall plot has overcome the hurdle of making Shakespearean plays relevant. The fact that the plot was revamped to include radical technological advancements su ch as the advent of wireless telecommunications and the dominant presence of corporations is something that b order of battles on incredible insensitivity to the original Hamlet to pure genius. At basic glance, it is difficult to connect the past with the future.Other adaptations strive to stay admittedly to the script as well as the contextual background in translating the words of Shakespeare to moving images. However, Almereydas version, if it can be called as such, revolutionizes the means Shakespeare and his works are interpreted on the silver screen. For instance, kings were replaced by corporate big-heads and CEOs and Hamleta medieval figure has been transform to a person who embodies with utmost accuracy late-teenage angst with certain qualities that not exactly keeps in line with how Hamlet was then but in any case takes on other unique attributes such being pensive and reserved.Ambitious as it is difficult, the modern version of Hamlet is in many ways a success than a failure. Ethan Hawkes personation of Hamlet maybe a little too wide of the mark in certain images where it is clear that the recitation of Shakespeares famous lines appear forced and contrived. But where it matters the most, especially the famous Hamlet soliloquy where he ponders on the several layers of smell and living comes out as both contemporary and faithful to the original.For instance, the outlook in the video store is telling of how much the look at has interconnected old English to modern life. Ethan Hawke, who plays Hamlet, utters the famous monologue with consistency and resolve. At first, the words come out too slow and too colored as if Shakespeares words suddenly off-key violent and hollow with Ethan Hawkes voice. But after several moments of dramatic pauses and carefully measure emphasis on certain words, the teenage-angst driven speech becomes a delightful and deliberate as if the character is both alike and different to Hamlet. by chance this is becau se the lines are inherently profound and no matter who says it and in any(prenominal) manner the lines will never be less good than it is. Yet it is clear, that the portrayal is more than sufficient to pass the standards that Shakespeare, if alive today, would likely approve. In other words, the scene where Ethan Hawke performs the famous lines is a take chances by the director, which gamble has paid off.For one, despite the initial problems with connecting the old times with the new inasmuch as the film is merely a rehash of an old play, the monologue has turned from ancient to modern. Thanks to the controlled way in which Ethan Hawke has delivered the lines, it becomes clear for the modern audience to appreciate the lines as if they were read the original. Another notable feature of the scene is the fact that it is set in video rental store. This is significant because it is principally assumed that when Hamlet said these words he was alone and in a dark place.In the scene how ever, the place was well illumine and the actor although technically alone was surrounded by shelves of consumer-friendly products i. e. movies and blockbusters, which if interpreted in the modern sense would probably paint a picture of a world overwhelmed by the omnipresence of consumers and products. In other words, the scene was shown in a way that touches base with the corporeality of the corporate world as juxtaposed to the dark and brooding environment when Hamlet felt the ingest to question life and his desire to live.The changes in some of the lines are also a contentious issue when watching the film after having read the original. While it is admirable that the screenwriter has decided to edit a few words out in order to make some of the lines easy to the ears of the moviegoer, the fact that some of the words were taken out and replaced with a re-interpretation if not an abbreviation of complex thoughts puts a huge crevice from the original work from the adaptation.One s uch instance is the scene where Hamlet slowly dies as he utters his final words. The original version has a measured pulsation to the words but the film turns this rhythm into short phrases that notwithstanding the closing similarity to the original fails to capture the original scene when Hamlet dies. These departures from the original are probably a necessary evil in order to produce and make a film of such scale and ambition.It would not be surprising that to transform a Shakespearean ballad into a modern version would require some tweaking in order to impersonate the story to the audience that does not just overwhelm them with details and the nuance of the original but manages to thresh out the beauty of the play without being too cerebral. In the same vein, the film is successful as a modern adaptation of Hamlet precisely because the world wherein the story is set is almost similar. While the Prince of Denmark had his grand stature and his privileged position as a respecte d intellectual in Shakespeares Hamlet, so did the Hamlet in Almereydas film.The rest of the characters also jive with, or at least stay parallel to, the original. They appear and play the roles in the film almost exactly as how one would imagine the characters while reading the play. Indeed, the optic advantages of film are play a major role in making the film a success as compared to the unwavering and limited stage acting. It is a fact that the plays of Shakespeare were performed on stage with real actors very much like films of today are dominated by actors and actresses.However, it is entirely different when the medium involves the big screen, closed-up images, camera angles and the freedom to blink scenes in whatever form and location. The limitations of staging Hamlet on a closed-in theatrical platform are overcome by the power of the film to zoom in and out of key locations. In addition, not only are the locations more versatile and limitless, comparatively, but the facial expressions and the movements of the actors and actresses become enlarge for the audience to hear and see with incomparable precision and detail.Ultimately, these main visual and auditory advantage help make the modern adaptation a faithful re-production of Hamlet and an exquisitely wrought and clever modern portrayal of timeless and iconic characters playing out a famous story of revenge, betrayal and redemption. Works Cited Hamlet. Dir. Michael Almereyda. Perf. Ethan Hawke, Julia Stiles, Bill Murray, Kyle MacLachlan, Diane Venora, and Sam Shepard. Miramax, 2000. Film.