Hamlet Movie Sections

Question 1

Doran, Tennant, 2009: (Praying Scene)

Answer 1

Within the movie, he hesitates after he brings the sword above his head while Claudius is praying. This keeps the audience on their toes, especially when during the theater run, the intermission is directly there. Used as a tool to make it seem more like a “political thriller”

Question 2

Branagh, Branagh, 1996 (A1S2 Intro)

Answer 2

Camera focuses in on the beauty and formality of the coronation celebration initially with a lot of bright colors and white (Purity and undertone of harshness); Camera pans to Hamlet, dressed in all black, becoming the figure of antithesis to celebration. Blocking isolates Hamlet from literally everybody and the framing acts as a emotional barrier towards him and his pseudo-father.

Question 3

1996 Branagh (A2S1, before soliloquy)

Answer 3

White confetti creates the dichotomization of man and individual, as if dreamlike. The emotional outpouring of the people seperates him and others, with Ophelia even going to him and being ushered away. The lack of resonance that Hamlet has creates a sense of calm and silent anguish.