|
|
This is only a preview of the paper
Click here to register and get the full text.
Existing members click here to login
|
|
|
Zeffirelli’s version of the Hamlet play is an interesting divergence from the original Shakespeare text. Instead of opening with the sequence of the first sighting of the ghost of Old King Hamlet, Zeffirelli opens the film with the funeral scene and Claudius and Gertrude’s announcement of their marriage. ... The main reason for this is to convey Hamlet’s “fury and disappointment” (). ... In the moment of a passionate kiss, Gertrude looks in the direction of what the viewer assume to be Hamlet’s room. ... With her eyes looking in Hamlet’s direction, she interrupts their moment of passion - it is as if she only kissed and embraces him to soften him to join her to talk to Hamlet. ... The fact that Claudius closes his eyes and then looks up and down and up in to her eyes again, suggest that he is sacrificing his time to be with her to do something he dreads – to talk to Hamlet.
When they arrive in Hamlet’s room, the room is dark and seems to be empty. Gertrude calls out for Hamlet, but it is only after she opens the windows that they see Hamlet sitting in the dark. After the window opens and the light enters the room, Hamlet closes his eyes and pulls his head back. ...
By speaking the words “[b]ut now, my cousin Hamlet [laugh], my son-" (Shakespeare 1998:158) Claudius is scolding Hamlet. The text suggest that at this point Claudius’s tone changes and becomes more aggressive, but in the film, this is effectively used to portray Claudius’s scolding and mocking nature; because in effect, he is telling Hamlet that, while Claudius used to be his uncle, he is now his father because of his marriage to Hamlet’s mother.
Approximate Word count = 1194
Approximate Pages = 4.8
(250 words per page double spaced)
|
|
|
|
|
|