Hamlet - Movie Critique
Uploaded by Admin on Jan 22, 1999
The movie of Hamlet was an excellent, as far as book-movies go. I believe it was produced with focus, reason, and logic. The characters were also portrayed with a good interpretation. There were several changes to the play compared to the book, although the movie was done in such a way that they were not particularly missed, from the movie's point of view.
Although, from my point of view, after reading the book, there were several somewhat important scenes and elements missing. The first scene in particular was missed. This played a part in setting the stage and was part of the whole theme throughout the whole play. It was in this scene that the ghost of Hamlet Sr. was first seen and where much of the plot developed. Hamlet Sr. told Hamlet Jr. that he had been killed by Claudius and that he must have revenge, Hamlet Jr. being the person to avenge him. In the book, this carried on throughout the rest of the play and without it the plot was not as concrete from the beginning.
The dumb-play and play for the king and court was compressed. In the movie, it consisted of primarily just a dumb-show and then the king got mad. It should have included that first and still had a whole play, in which special lines inserted by Hamlet Jr. were to be read. This did not have a dramatic affect on the way the plot was presented in the movie, but was just noticeable.
As far as the casting and setting is concerned, I believe that the director did an excellent job. Obviously, this coming from Hollywood kind of gives it advantages to all previous presentations. Mel Gibson was a great choice for Hamlet, because he is good actor and played his part wonderfully. The other characters were portrayed in a good way too.
Sound effects and music were very key in this production. It added so much more life and feeling to the presentation as compared to various others I have seen. I enjoyed the ghost in the background. The music gave this play life, that the other productions lacked. I enjoyed this version of Hamlet much more than any others.