Dirty Harry Stars in Action Hero --

¶ … Dirty Harry" Stars in Action Hero -- 1984 Hamlet "Hamlet: The Tragedy of Hamlet, Action Hero of Denmark." This thesis statement or subtitle for Franco Zeffirelli's 1984 movie version of Shakespeare's Danish prince may not be catchy on a box office marquee (although neither is "The Passion of the Christ," for which Gibson is now equally well-known and which did quite well at the box office).

However, this appellation is an appropriate summation of a film that fillets away the ambiguity of Shakespeare's original text, reducing the story of Hamlet's quandary about pursuing his father's revenge to a common, moralistic drama of revenge, where there is less moral questioning and more of an emphasis on plot obstacles preventing the simple main character from exercising his prerogative as a son to avenge his father's murder. The film accomplishes this simplistic early on, during its funerary prologue.

This montage is not present in Shakespeare's original, whereby the viewer is greeted with a silent version of Hamlet's father's funeral.

The expression of grief on Hamlet's face shows the viewer that the hero is already enraged and filled with sorrow at what has transpired -- but more importantly, rather than introducing him as part of the court, as done in the play, film's focus on his gestures and facial expressions through the use of effective close-ups makes Hamlet's external rather than his internal expressions of mourning the central concern of the film.

This is a Hamlet of outwardly expressed, emotional grief, rather than someone who first discusses his feelings about the present state of the court and his mother's remarriage in the form of a speech to the audience -- Gibson's Hamlet only does so in a speech to the audience, later on. Like the typical action hero of film, the Hamlet of Gibson feels but does not speak in this beginning section, a characteristic ploy that will carry through for the rest of the film.

What this Hamlet does not say is more significant than what he does say. Throughout the film as well, Hamlet is grouped very rarely with other characters. He is mainly alone, rather than with Horatio, or closely watched by other members of the court. This Hamlet is a man alone, again like a typical action hero, outside of society, and dependant upon his own morals and strength of character.

The flighty, rather than queenly quality of his mother further reinforces this aspect of the film -- the strong, silent hero abandoned by all of the women in his life, with no real friends to talk to. This Hamlet's movements are always strong and decisive, even when he is wondering "To be or not to be," like the motions of an athlete rather than one who is genuinely tormented.

Hamlet's indecision seems uncharacteristic, even assumed, because of his great physical confidence in contrast to the other characters of the film, again underlining the individualist, action hero nature of the man -- like all action heroes, Hamlet is alone but alone in his emotional and physical strength. The action hero plot texture of the film is further reinforced by setting the film in the traditional costumes and characters of Denmark, rather than in a more ethereal setting.