This month in AP Lit, we "performed" William Shakespeare's Hamlet. I was the ghost of King Hamlet which, much to my sadness, was not a spooky role. Hamlet is probably my favorite of Shakespeare's plays. I love how the various characters deal with their impending doom. The tension and hooks keep the reader/viewer interested. Personally, I like my books like I like my bananas, long and thorough.
Afterward, we watched various versions of Hamlet, like the David Tennant, the Kenneth Branaugh and the Ethan Hawke version. I was not able to watch the Olivier, because I went home sick. The Tennant version is my favorite one. The Branaugh one was too laughable. One scene in particular, the scene where the ghost visits Hamlet, caused me to laugh out loud. The scene was put together with reused b-roll. Also, the scene was very reminiscent of the R.O.U.S. scene in The Princess Bride, a comedy. It's like opening a drama with a Monty Python reference. A lot of the ambiguity of Hamlet is lost in this version. Branaugh's Hamlet is not insane, he just yells a lot. Lastly, it was missing many parts that helped the theme, and added gratuitous violence. The Hawke version was decent for what it was. It was not, however, as good as the Baz Luhrmann Romeo and Juliet. I would like to watch the full version and see what they cut.
Afterward, we watched various versions of Hamlet, like the David Tennant, the Kenneth Branaugh and the Ethan Hawke version. I was not able to watch the Olivier, because I went home sick. The Tennant version is my favorite one. The Branaugh one was too laughable. One scene in particular, the scene where the ghost visits Hamlet, caused me to laugh out loud. The scene was put together with reused b-roll. Also, the scene was very reminiscent of the R.O.U.S. scene in The Princess Bride, a comedy. It's like opening a drama with a Monty Python reference. A lot of the ambiguity of Hamlet is lost in this version. Branaugh's Hamlet is not insane, he just yells a lot. Lastly, it was missing many parts that helped the theme, and added gratuitous violence. The Hawke version was decent for what it was. It was not, however, as good as the Baz Luhrmann Romeo and Juliet. I would like to watch the full version and see what they cut.
Hi Nick,
ReplyDeleteI also liked the Tennant version the best. I especially liked the costuming in the movie. The setting was modern and so were the clothes. However, the castle and the fancy clothes still made the setting of the movie removed from everyday life. I think this is how the Elizabethans would have viewed the play-- modern but not within the social class. Why did you like the Tennant version the best?
Yi-jiao
ReplyDeleteHey Nick,
I liked the Tennant version because it was most loyal to the text. But I have to say my favorite version was the Branagh version as it was way too funny and I loved the killing of Claudius scene. If you ever get a chance at home you should watch the Olivier version, there are snippets of it on youtube. But Claudius looks like the Burger King guy and I couldn’t take him seriously. I liked how you reference other dramas and movies and compared them with Hamlet. In class we also read a lot of articles and annotated them about Hamlet. You may want to include some discussion about those articles. Anyway, really good job with your blog post. Hope you have a great break!
Hey kid,
ReplyDeleteNice blog. Glad to hear you finally got a role, as minor as it was. Olivier's version made me sick too. Branagh's Hamlet was pure inspiration, respect the man's hard work. Every version got a little tedious but I would have liked to see more of the last few we watched. Did you like the articles? Baz's Romeo and Juliet is on an entirely different level, the only dir-actor you mention here that even comes close is Branagh and you know what to do with the haters.
*saunters onto field*
*scrunches nose, squints through glasses*
*bends knees slightly*
*pulls up shorts to display blindingly white thighs*
"See you at practice."