In Branagh's version of the "To be or not to be" soliloquies Hamlet doesn't act how i would of expected him to act. He acts some what calm and seems like he is in the process of planning something dramatic. When he pulls out his knife while looking at himself in the mirror, he doesn't seem intimidating at all. It almost seems like he is pulling it out because he needs something to fiddle with at the time being. I was expecting an extremely dramatic scene where Hamlet was on the verge of killing himself before coming to a realization but instead it seemed he calmly discussed the serious subject of death.
I found that i enjoyed Olivier's portrayal of this scene from Hamlet far more than i did Branagh's. In this scene Hamlet is standing on the edge of a cliff high above sharp rocks and ruff ocean water. It seems like he is about to jump when we first see him which shows the more serious take on his proposal to killing himself. Hamlet is all around much more dramatic in this scene and Olivier really nails it when it comes to Hamlet making realizations. When Hamlet pulls out his knife it displays one of Hamlet's realizations because he is looking at the knife in this scene as an easier way out than jumping off a cliff, unlike pulling it out just to fiddle with it like in Branagh's scene. Over all i like Olivier's scene the most because it displays the seriousness of the topic at hand with Hamlet.
Hello Jacob!
ReplyDeleteYour comparison of the 2 portrayals really pointed something out that I myself had not noticed at first glance. However, you're completely right; Olivier's version displayed much more commitment. It's interesting how you compared their actions of pulling the knife out, which connected the 2 scenes, and then talked about the key differences. As far as your actual post's structure, I was very frustrated with your refusal to capitalize the "i"s in your post. You also misspelled rough, spelling "ruff". I think if you took a bit more time to look over your work and correct these elementary mistakes, you'll greatly improve the readability of your posts. You're coming along great, kid!
Dear Jake,
ReplyDeleteHello friend! Wow we almost exact same point! I'm so glad that someone found the same as me. Personally I really your opinion. We kind of had the same opinion. The Oliver approach, I felt was much better because of the dramatic actions and suspenseful pauses. I however liked the Branagh approach as well, yet I was expecting it to be like that, and so it's appeal went down compared to how Oliver approached it. I'm glad we have such aligning views! I hope we can become better friends throughout the year!!
From,
Friend David