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Speeches In Mel Gibson's To Be Or Not To Be

843 Words4 Pages

The famous soliloquy from the Shakespearean work, Hamlet, titled “To Be or Not to Be,” has been read and performed by countless actors over time. Even in acting, the presence of literary devices is still essential to a good soliloquy. Three actors in particular have utilized tone, body language, facial expressions and theme in their own unique way to perform this famous speech. Both Ethan Hawke and Kenneth Branagh have strong elements in their depictions of Hamlet, yet I believe the presentation by Mel Gibson captures the mood, theme and overall soliloquy in the best and most confident way.
The advanced portrayal of Hamlet in each of the three speeches would not have been possible without the strong and compelling use of tone. Each speech …show more content…

The setting in Hawke’s video is extremely anomalous, as it occurs inside a Blockbuster video store. Although seeming outlandish at first, there is some connection between the store and the play. In a video or movie store there are many options and decisions to be made. It is not uncommon for one to feel overwhelmed with so many choices in front of them in such a store. This can easily be related back to Hamlet. Hamlet constantly felt overwhelmed with his decisions and choices he had to make. This setting helps the audience understand some of the hesitation and dubiety Hamlet felt. The elegant mansion setting present in Branagh’s video is also relevant to the text. Looking around at his nice home of royalty could have aided Hamlet in making his ultimate decision, to live or to die. The affluent and regality ranking he holds in his society could sway him in either direction of the decision. He could look around at his belongings and be reminded how lucky he is, or rather see everything and be reminded of his father and all the evil he believes to be present in his world. The opulent setting in Branagh’s speech assists the audience in understanding the life Hamlet lives and is trying to get away from. Gibson’s setting of a dark cave or tomb is probably the most predictable setting for this soliloquy. This choice of background gives the audience something to relate the words of the

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However, Kinnear’s portrayal is not as good as Kenneth Branagh’s, as Kinnear fails to capture Hamlet’s anguish and rage in his expressions as well as Branagh does. Kinnear’s voice in the soliloquy is very clear with a sad tone expressing Hamlet’s displeasure of his mother’s marriage. His bodily movements from slamming his hands on a table to shrugging at Cornelius when compared to Hamlet’s father all express Hamlet’s feelings effectively, yet despite this Kinnear is missing something. Kinnear lacks the brimming rage that Branagh displays throughout his soliloquy by keeping a disapproving sneer as he talks about the marriage of Hamlet’s mother. By failing to show Hamlet’s teenage emotions ready to break free and try to fix the recent marriage, Kinnear expresses a less passionate Hamlet which is inferior to

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In Branagh’s version of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the ‘To be, or not to be’ speech is interpreted differently than other actors’. Branagh’s character, Hamlet, knows he is being watched by Claudius and Polonius. His disclosure about not committing suicide for fear of the afterlife is part of his plan to keep Claudius at bay until he can convince himself that Claudius is the assassin and find a way to get revenge. The set of this scene includes mirrors and mirrored doors but it is difficult to tell them apart. These are used very intriguingly by Branagh.

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He has a choice to make, so he has to decide if living is worth living and if it is how he will deal with the situation that he has. Hamlet was conflicted he didn 't understand the value of his life in that exact moment. In Hamlets soliloquy the was thinking about the pro and cons of wether to end his life or deal with the problem that his dead father brought to him. He was starting to come to a decision when he’s thoughts were interrupted. This soliloquy brought to light the peoples that most people go through or think about.

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The best portrayal of Hamlet’s “To Be, Or Not To Be” soliloquy is the Kenneth Branagh interpretation of the scene because, in my opinion, Branagh does the best to demonstrate Hamlet’s feelings of madness through his tone and body language. Even though Branagh’s speech is quite slow, and in my opinion too slow, the speed at which he is speaking allows him to place more emphasis on the topics that drive Hamlet insane, such as “Th' oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely, The pangs of despised love, the law's delay…” The slow listings of these flaws Hamlet sees in today’s world places emphasis on each and every one, as well as an emphasis on the total flaws themselves. Branagh also does an excellent job of demonstrating Hamlet’s madness

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The scene is also intense due to the audience being aware that Hamlet is speaking into a two way mirror in which there are to other characters watching him as he performs the soliliquy, which then leaves the audience wondering if Hamlet has any idea that he is being watched. If Hamlet does indeed know that he is beining watched does that knowledge contribute to the aggressiveness in his delivery that makes it seem as though he is trying to make up his mind on whether or not he wants to act and be great or not be great. In otherwords, Hamlet is trying to decide if he wants to put his human greatness out in front and act on the way he is feeling or leave his human greatness behind in the form of weakness and not act. The performance becomes nerve wrecking and raises anxiety when Hamlet whips out his weapon as he gives the speach even more aggressively and sends the whole speech into a more threatening direction. This is why Branaugh's performance of the to be or not to be soliliquy delivers a more intense, nerve wrecking and anxiety raising performance and makes the audience believe he is trying decide whether or not to be

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I like that he is shown descending the stairs into darkness; symbolizing Hamlet’s descent into madness, as well as darkness. Through his is questioning of life, one can see he is bereaved. Consequently, he goes to his father, or his tomb, to speak with him. In hopes he may find an answer, he looks up to the sky. I feel this is vital to the scene in order to display Hamlet’s desperateness.

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further serves to highlight his grief (132). These lines all scan perfectly and have masculine endings, which confirms Hamlet’s grief. He is firm in his sorrow, truly shaken and disturbed by his father’s death. The alliterative structure combined with Hamlet’s cutting cries all add to his “weary” feeling, exhausted by “all the uses of this world” (133-134). Hamlet’s world is shaken, and his view on life has been altered as well.

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