To Be or Not To Be

In Oliver’s version of the scene, Hamlet is looking at the waves crashing together on the shore. This helps create a visual to match Hamlet’s inner turmoil as he contemplates taking his own life. The setting is black and white, it is foggy and cloudy and it helps to emphasize Hamlet’s somber mood. Hamlet’s soliloquy alternates from him speaking out loud to an internal monologue, helping to accentuate the fact that this is his argument with himself. The actor’s facial expression is numb and detached and his voice soft which contrasts and compliments at the same time the chaos of his emotions. Hamlet looks like he is about to jump off the rocks during part of his soliloquy and he takes a dagger out of his pocket, showing the scene as if he is really trying to convince himself to end it all or not rather than it just being an abstract thought.

The Zeffirelli’s version of this scene takes a different approach and is my favorite interpretation. The setting is very dark and you can see Hamlet walking from the light into the darkness walking into the tomb just as his thoughts become darker. This Hamlet is a lot more emotional and pained than the previous one. While Hamlet in the first version seems like he has lost motivation to live and is therefore devoid of feeling, this hamlet has a new motivation which is his father. He looks at what is possibly his father’s resting place with a sense of longing but at the same time he has to possibly avenge his death. When he speaks of the peace that could come from death he looks at the bodies that look peacefully asleep, but when he speaks of the unknown side of death he looks at the skeletons by the side all on top of each other, abandoned.

Branaugh’s interpretation brings a different element to Hamlet than any of the other two. While the other two Hamlets are in very private places and in the dark, this hamlet is in the hall where anyone can see him. He doesn’t seem to care if anyone does and I guess when you are feeling such burdening feelings of distress, people walking in on you is the last thing on your mind. We see him speaking to a mirror which reinforces this debate he is having with himself. As he continues to speak the camera gets closer and closer and his emotions seem to escalate making it look like he really is growing mad.

Almereyda switches from internal to external monologue similarly to Oliver’s Hamlet. He walks begrudgingly, the burden of his troubling thoughts weighing him down, and he looks numb, in a daze. He is walking around Blockbuster and the televisions show explosions in the background which represents the destructive nature of his debate with himself even though his face does not show any signs of this chaos. He walks through an aisle that has the word ‘Action’ screaming out as he contemplates whether he should take action and he doesn’t.