To Be or Not To Be

The "to be or not to be" scene is an important and well known piece. Each movie interpreted the scene differently, but kept had the general idea of despair and indecisiveness. Olivier's version was a bit too overdramatic to me, which did kind of take away from the meaning of the soliloquy. However, sitting on the edge of the bridge then walking away showed how close Hamlet was to killing himself yet could not go through with it. The storm represented the dark times going on in his life. Zeffirelli's version was more serious to me. In this version, Hamlet was completely surrounded by death, walking through the catacomb. Hamlet seems empty of emotion and completely in despair, but cannot go through with his idea. Branagh's version shows how Hamlet is struggling internally with this decision by arguing with his reflection in the mirror. Hamlet seems to be cynical in this version, smiling at the thought of death, making Hamlet truly seem crazy. 

Although Almereyda's version does not follow to setting of the book at all, it does hold a lot of symbolism. Hamlet is walking through the "action" movie section, which shows the irony of him not taking action by overthinking. Once Hamlet gets to the TV screen, there are explosions and fire going on. This could be his interpretation of hell, a possibility of what could happen if he were to die. Underneath the TV screen is rows of dvd covers without titles. This represents the unknown, of death, that helps keep Hamlet from killing himself. Both Olivier and Zeffirelli's scenes are dark in background, causing a feeling of despair. It also shows the darkness surrounding Hamlet's life. Branagh and Almereyda use brighter backgrounds and used other symbols to portray the scene. Although Almereyda's scene is the least accurate to the script and is in an almost completely different world, I think it has the strongest symbolism of the four. Almereyda uses the background to explain the emotions going on in a more modern way. I think Branagh's version makes the viewer agree with Polonius, Claudius, and Gertrude's idea that Hamlet is crazy. He is shown as a crazy man, arguing with his reflection and not caring who hears. 

There are so many different versions of the play because it can be interpreted in so many different ways. The fact that Shakespeare is not alive to tell directors how the play was supposed to be done leaves a lot of decisions up to them. There is nobody to tell them how a line is supposed to be said or what emotions the characters are feeling. The directors have a lot of freedom as well since they do not have to work with Shakespeare. I enjoyed Zeffirelli's version the most because it seemed the most realistic to the play. However, I think that the symbolism in Almereyda's gave the viewers more to look at than just where Hamlet was.