These are two different versions of Hamlet's "To Be or Not To Be" soliloquy:
Hamlet portrayed by Ethan Hawke:
Hamlet portrayed by Kenneth Branagh:
In
the first video, Ethan Hawke plays Hamlet. I think that this is a decent
portrayal of Hamlet because it is very different than what is expected. This
version was interesting because the soliloquy started off in his head, and
during the middle, he began to actually speak. I think this was a unique
choice because sometimes when we are talking to ourselves, the thoughts are in
are heads. Other times, we talk to ourselves out loud. Even though I thought
that it was very interesting to watch, I disagree with some of the choices that
the director made. I think that it was strange for Hamlet to just be casually walking
around and talking in a video store because the content in his soliloquy is a
very serious topic. It seemed to me as if he doesn’t care as much as he should. “To be or not to be” is referring to whether or not he should kill
himself, and in my opinion, it did not seem like he was taking the topic
seriously.
I
preferred the second portrayal of Hamlet, and I think that Branagh did the soliloquy
justice, especially in comparison to Hawke. I really liked how it was filmed
with Hamlet in the mirror, and I thought that he did a better job in trying to
show the severity of the situation and how Hamlet feels. Hamlet is going back
and forth trying to decide whether to kill himself or not. Branagh does a great
job showing how serious Hamlet is about the situation and how his thoughts about killing himself are an actual possibility. I thought that the ending of
the soliloquy was great because he pulls out a dagger. I read this as
a sign of how close he is to killing himself. He pulls out the dagger to show
us how close to suicide he really is and how he does not want to deal with the
pain and suffering that he is currently experiencing.
I liked the
second video more because I thought that Branagh did a better job emphasizing
the point and key topic of the soliloquy. It was a more realistic and
believable portrayal of Hamlet’s soliloquy than Hawke’s.
Hi Sydney!!
ReplyDeleteFantastic post! I totally agree with your stance. I love the utilization of symbols such as the mirror and the knife in Kenneth Branagh's version. However I must admit that in Ethan Hawke's version, I did enjoy the contrast between the simplicity of his environment and the direness of his situation. Also, I definitely agree that it was an interesting choice to have the soliloquy begin as an inner monologue and eventually evolve into him actually speaking. I wonder why the director made that choice-- perhaps it was to represent the evolution of his thoughts becoming words, and foreshadowing that they might eventually become actions. In that sense, I think the two versions of the soliloquy were adequately serious, but I still agree that Branagh’s version is probably a more accurate depiction of Shakespeare’s intentions for the scene. Can’t wait to read your next post!(:
-Eliana TR