Almereyda And Hamlet Comparison

Secondly, both film use the mise on scéne in the “To be or not to be” soliloquy to create a choice of path for Hamlet. In Doran’s film, he does this with the door jamb, and contrast between lighting in the background and foreground. However, Almereyda choses to do this with purely with the mise on scéne by having Hamlet walk up and down the aisles of the video rental shelves. The shelves also provide a suggestion to Hamlet’s intentions through the “To be or not to be” soliloquy. “Hawke stands awkwardly in the centre of a wide shot contemplating whether to go forward toward the section with familiar film genre or go back toward the uncharted territories of action-packed movies.” (Khoury, 124). In the Almereyda film, Hamlet’s movements through the action movie aisles creates a near dream sequence. Like in the rental store, Hamlet would become surrounded by action movies if he were to switch his focus to the genre. Almereyda uses the color of Hamlet’s clothes during the soliloquy to symbolize Hamlet’s struggle as Doran does, but instead in the fashion of

Cinematic interpretation allows for a wider audience, in that the general public is much more likely to see film version of Hamlet than to attend it as a play. There are also elements of the story, such as the ghost, which can become much more believable for modern audiences through the use of special effects which plays cannot employ, such as a singular perspective and visual editing. Lastly, the way that film is captured and edited is an art in and of itself. Things like lighting and set design add meaning that can simplify the story or make it more intricate. This simply cannot be done with plays to the extent which it is done in film. There are too many variables to control during a live performance without adding multiple layers of meaning through lighting, perspective, or set and costume