Comparative analysis of two versions of Hamlet

Zeffirelli and Branagh Versions of Shakespeare's Hamlet

Franco Zeffirrelli and Kenneth Branagh find new and different ways of adapting William Shakespeare's play, Hamlet. Zeffirelli directed his version of the play in 1995 and Branagh directed his adaptation of the play in 1996. Zeffirelli's Hamlet is more medieval and gloomy while Branagh's adaptation is elaborate and over the top. Each film may depict the play differently but both directors find and expose Hamlet's frailty, which represents nothing less than mankind's frailty. Both versions of the play illustrate how directors can influence films from a screenplay.

One significant difference between the two films is the length. Zeffirelli's film adaptation is the length of an average movie. To accomplish this, some parts of the plot have been excluded, including the subplot regarding Fortenbras. This does not give us a complete sense of the play but it does give us a closer view of Hamlet. Despite that some things have been omitted, the film is still a successful and superior interpretation of Shakespeare's play.

While Zeffirelli's version is medieval and melancholy, Branagh's version is too ornate and overdone as far as costumes and settings. When we are watching the film, we do not feel as though we are taken back in time. This aspect of the film makes it extremely difficult to follow in that our eyes are drawn to look at the elaborate decorations when we should rather be looking at the characters or listening to them speak. Hamlet is too modern for his own good - the contrast of the language and the costumes and decor of the setting is too great and too much a distraction. It is obvious how each director had certain aspects in mind with each adaptation. Zeffirelli wants us to focus on Hamlet, the man, while Branagh wants us to get a feel for the grand characters that Shakespeare created.

We see Zeffirelli's departure from Shakespeare's play immediately. While the play introduces us to the ghost in the first act, Zeffirelli begins his adaptation with the dark and ominous scene of king Hamlet's funeral. This scene is significant in many ways in that it sets the mood and tone for the entire film, which is dark and melancholy. Hamlet is shown alone in the shadows and that is how he will remain. Hamlet is on the outside and nothing establishes this more than seeing Gertrude and Claudius gazing at each other over the dead father's coffin than this. We sense distrust and something sinister from the very beginning. In contrast, Branagh stays more true to the script by opening with a vision of the ghost. Branagh's version begins more like the play with the ghost appearing to Bernardo, Horatio, Marcellus, and Francisco. We also see Horatio's bravery and we are aware of Fortenbra's arrival. These tidbits are not in Zeffirrelli's version of the film. In addition, the marriage of Gertrude and Claudius is elaborate and almost overwhelming but we do not wonder about the importance or mood of the celebration. Each version of the play represents the director's sense of what is important in the film. Hamlet, the man becomes the primary focus in Zeffirelli's adaptation of the film while Branagh wishes to remain more true to the script.

An interesting aspect of Zeffirelli's film is how he pays close attention to the female characters. Gertrude and Ophelia appear in a beautiful and innocent light. Gertrude emerges as the center of this film while we have lasting impressions of innocence and sadness associated with Ophelia. Zeffirelli focuses on a beautiful, yet distraught, Ophelia in his adaptation of the film. Ophelia is a lovely girl that becomes wrecked by her father's death. Her character is lovely in the opening scenes of the film and she becomes more tattered as the film progresses. The scene with her and the flowers is touching as we see the young girl reaching a madness that provokes sympathy. Gertrude is depicted as a lovely woman in this adaptation, leaving Claudius as the sole murderer of King Hamlet. In fact, the film opens with her grieving face. In Branagh's version of the film, the women are depicted very differently. Branagh's Gertrude is almost silly - she dotes on Claudius and always seems a bit detached. Branagh also depicts Ophelia in a different light. Perhaps the most offensive scene in Branagh's version of the film is Hamlet and Ophelia's lovemaking. We know from the text that Ophelia is innocent and there is no reason for Branagh to include this scene in his film. The two films depict the two leading female characters in a very different light.

Both directors illuminated Hamlet in different ways. Once scene that is significantly different in both films is Hamlet's famous "to be or not to be" scene. In keeping with the dark, melancholy mood, Zeffirelli shoots this scene in a crypt with hamlet wondering among the tombs of those who lived before him. This scene is powerful because it places Hamlet in the very place where he contemplates going. As he questions life beyond, he is standing around the remains of those who know exactly what lies on the other side - if only he could speak with them. Branagh's version of the scene shows Hamlet looking in a mirror. Branagh's Hamlet does appear to be as torn or mentally frail as Zeffirelli's Hamlet. Branagh obviously knows the lines but he does not acted with as much passion as Gibson does. The dark, depressing setting of Zeffirelli's scene is more fitting for the speech and more in tune with Hamlet's frame of mind.

Another scene that is remarkably different between the two adaptations is the ending of the play. In Zeffirelli's film, we are not aware of the Norwegian subplot. Laertes and Hamlet die as a direct result of Claudius' actions. This version of the play goes along with the original version in that we are sympathetic toward Hamlet. We have watched him throughout the entire movie become inward and more desperate. Because Zeffirelli removed the Fortenbras aspect from his adaptation, he has also removed the somewhat pleasant aspect of the ending as well. Instead, we must focus on Hamlet only.

While many may dislike Zeffirelli's exclusion of certain scenes and facts from this play, it is important to look at the omissions add rather than what they take away from the film.

By removing certain elements from the play, it is a film that is easily digestible. In other words, we are not forced to sit and watch almost four hours of hamlet. By whittling the film down to approximately two hours, Zeffirelli gives us only the essentials of the play. We see Hamlet as man alone and frail. This is no doubt a loose translation of the film but it does take away from the play itself. True to the play, we see Hamlet as a man that is torn by his inner conflict. He is removed from much of the play and to emphasize this, Zeffirelli often places Hamlet above the action hat occurs below. For example, Hamlet appears on a catwalk over the courtyard eavesdropping on Polonius reprimanding Ophelia for being green. We see him atop the shelves in Polonius' library and he also appears above Claudius and Polonius as they discuss Ophelia.