"Hamlet" in the Movies

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at Shakespeare's famous play "Hamlet" from different
perspectives, as it has been re-enacted throughout history. It pays close attention to the movie versions of "Hamlet". The paper starts out with a brief biography of Shakespeare himself and also summarizes and provides an overview of "Hamlet" as a play, its plot, major characters and main theme. The paper then goes on to look at three actors who have played the character Hamlet in movies over the last few decades: Kenneth Branagh, Mel Gibson and Ethan Hawke. The paper provides a brief biography, examines each actor's performance, and looks at other details about each film. The paper then looks at the author's personal reaction to each of the movies and actors.

Paper Outline:
Introduction
Shakespeare Biography
Overview of Hamlet
Kenneth Branagh
Mel Gibson
Ethan Hawke
Reaction to Performances
Conclusion
Works Cited

From the Paper:

"But "Hamlet" is not an action movie; it is a tragedy. In comparing the
1990 movie to Shakespeare's original play, we see that the director has taken some liberties to speed up the action by eliminating certain scenes, some of which seem easily disposed of. These edited out scenes include much of Shakespeare's comic relief. Other scenes seem to be missing from the movie version, mainly the important political
subplots that explain the movements of many of the characters in the play".

More papers on "Hamlet" in the Movies:

• Film Review # 46949 : "Lawrence Olivier's "Hamlet"
• Essay # 34965 : "Sincerity and Appearance in Cultural Artifacts"
• Book Review # 74772 : "The Lion King" "

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