To Be, Or Not To Be...

That is the question, indeed. I recently watched Hamlet 'perform' per say this soliloquy, unbeknownst to him. I must say... It was almost touching, if not for the dagger he held. Speaking of dagger, let me talk of a few other renditions I've seen, starting with Kenneth Branagh's rendition. Which, of course, had the dagger pointed to where I was hiding. Anyways, anyways. In Kenneth's rendition, he decided to wear a black colored outfit - possibly to show Hamlet's mourning. He also had used some make-up under his eyes, to give a sleep-deprived impression. Likely due to insomnia over grief or plotting... In addition - and as I've said before - he also held a dagger. Pointed at the mirror I was (in the movie, that is) hiding behind. If I had been in that position, why, I may have been truly frightened!... Or not. Who knows, unless one is put into a position yet-unhappened? Speaking of the mirror, the location he was in was a rather grand room - filled with mirrors. For what reason the room was filled with mirrors, I can't begin to fathom. It would be extremely prone to echos, no doubt... Though in the scene he played, there was not a sound but for his voice - which, I must say, is rather fantastic and fitting for Hamlet. It made for more focus upon him, rather than the location or sights. And moving onto the topic of sights, the camera kept slowly focusing his face until it was a close up... Then dramatically panning out once Ophelia enters. A marvelous rendition, I must say.

Moving on, we next have Laurence Olivier. Now that's certainly a blast to the past, is it not? It begins with a musical score, heavily dramatic... Leading to a sweeping view over the ocean, then to our actor... Leading to an extremely poor voice-over. Bah, it was older days, when movies were harder to make. I shouldn't be so hard on them. At any rate, the setting was near an ocean cliff, atop some form of castle, I do believe. He was costumed in rather plain and simple clothing, but had a dirk on his belt - then in his hands, to his neck. Of course, the actor didn't actually take it to his neck, for that would ruin it. Instead, it suddenly dramatically pans back out, after his eyes snap open and with a flourish of music, it shows him lowering it down and continuing on with his speech. This creates sort of... Well, no, a blatantly, overly dramatic form. On top of it all. it would zoom in to just his eyes at points, leading to partially awkward, yet highly focused upon his emotions. It ended with him solemnly walking off into the fog, and down stairs - almost as if resigning himself to some fate, or moving further down into his grief. A decent rendition, mind you, but not the best, not by far.

Next on the line up is Mel Gibson's envisioning of the soliloquy. His is certainly different from the former two, though still lesser than the formermost, in my opinion. In this scene, the only sounds are his voice, rather strong and emotional. Quite a nice voice acting part, I must admit! The lack of other sounds in this case, though, seems almost a bit dreary, though that may be the intended purpose. As for the setting, it is in a dark, dank looking cellar - with Gibson having just descended from a flight of stairs, the light from behind him. There's no true form of props, though there are various things about the cellar - first and foremost, what appear to be possibly graves or tombs. And with relation to the camera angles, when he speaks certain lines pertaining to death, the camera flashes to the part, emphasizing what he says with visual reinforcement. His costume is darker clothing, nothing too awful ornate or amazing, and nothing too awful shabby. All in all, a mediocre performance.

Finally, we have Ethan Hawke and his... Interesting take on my... Dear son's speech. The sounds are of him talking/narrating, and a rather dramatic soundtrack in the background as he paces down... An aisle of action movies. How very... Bland. And strange, to be bluntly honest. Nothing fitting for a monologue of a prince! His wear is even strange, with a dark suit and a... Some kind of a hat. I'm not entirely sure what it even is. The camera angle tends to be directly behind or in front of him the whole time, with the camera shooting to video of a movie during certain sections. Overall, this is probably the lowest of my scale - just out of the sheer oddity of it.

Now... I know not if it is obvious who my prime choice is for the best of the bunch, but if it isn't known, I would have to vouch that Kenneth had the best portrayal of the boy out of all of them. It's not merely a matter of location or words, but how they are spoken, how the body is held, and how the face is shown... And he does all of these and above. His voice is almost calm, yet there is an edge to hit, the subtle hint of something underneath it all that wishes not to be revealed. And his face! The way he shows how he feels is almost like words written onto paper! It's simply magnificent... Almost disturbingly so, to be utterly honest. And the way he held the dagger, oh, as if to examine it, or to threaten his own reflection with the blade. It sends shivers down my spine!

However. I must say that Kenneth's scene could possibly do with some touching up. Perhaps the ever most subtle music in the background would do it well, to create some sort of suspense without overdoing it as some of the others had done. Another thing he may have been able to do slightly differently could be if he had used a bit more flourish in his movements, or had a more ornate blade. Either or would draw more attention to him directly, and if both were together, it could create almost a mesmerizing effect, drawing a viewer in. All in all, the camera angles were rather well placed, though a slight variation could have been useful, to keep boredom from rearing its ugly head in response to a continue perspective. Otherwise... The scene is nearly perfect. Bravo, Kenneth! Bravo!

Sincerely,

Your King, Claudius