"Hamlet": The Relationship between Film and Stage Film Review by scribbler
"Hamlet": The Relationship between Film and Stage
An analysis of the auditory interplay between William Shakespeare's "Hamlet" and the 1996 film adaptation of "Hamlet", directed by Kenneth Branagh.
# 153418
| 1,989 words
| 2 sources
| MLA
| 2013
| 
Published
on May 30, 2013
in
Drama and Theater
(English)
, Film
(Analysis, Criticism, Etc.)
, Shakespeare
(Hamlet)
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Description:
The paper analyzes how the 1996 film adaptation of William Shakespeare's "Hamlet", directed by Kenneth Branagh, uses the particular auditory qualities of the film medium in order to enhance the performance of the script with additional music and sound effects. The paper goes on to demonstrate how the film offers an exemplary adaptation to compare to the original text, because it retains nearly all of the original dialogue, usually only differing in the order of certain lines. Further, the paper shows how the filmed "Hamlet" addresses the particulars of the play's auditory stage direction without relegating itself to merely the filmed performance of a staged play. The paper discusses how by doing so, the film comments on the relationship between film and stage, suggesting that the two media enrich and inform each other.
From the Paper:
"The first auditory interplay between text and film occurs right at the beginning, in the conversation between the guards Bernardo and Francisco before Hamlet's father's ghost makes his first appearance. In both text and film, Francisco responds to Bernardo's question regarding the night's watch by stating that there was "not a mouse stirring" (Hamlet 1.1.10), but it is delivered in a slightly different context in each version. In both instances the line serves to illustrate an eerily abandoned midnight scene, but the film adds an additional layer of irony to the line not present in the play with its use of sound effects immediately prior to Bernardo and Francisco's meeting."Along with the ringing of a bell denoting midnight, wolf howls are heard echoing across the frozen night until Francisco is tackled to ground by Bernardo, and their dialogue interrupts the animal sounds (although not the howl of the wind). Thus, Francisco's statement that "not a mouse [was] stirring" carries an extra sense of dread, because being able to hear a mouse over the din of the night would have likely been a relief, as it would have connoted a safer environment than the one portrayed in the film. The night on which the film opens is far too dangerous for anything as harmless as a mouse, so its noted absence connotes a sense of dread even before the appearance of any ghosts."
Sample of Sources Used:
- Hamlet. Dir. Kenneth Branagh. Columbia Pictures: 1996, Film.
- Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. "Shakespeare Navigator". Philip Weller, n.d. Web. 19 Apr 2011. <http://www.shakespeare- navigators.com/hamlet/index.html>.
Cite this Film Review:
APA Format
"Hamlet": The Relationship between Film and Stage (2013, May 30)
Retrieved March 31, 2023, from https://www.academon.com/film-review/hamlet-the-relationship-between-film-and-stage-153418/
MLA Format
""Hamlet": The Relationship between Film and Stage" 30 May 2013.
Web. 31 March. 2023. <https://www.academon.com/film-review/hamlet-the-relationship-between-film-and-stage-153418/>