David Tennant's Insanity In Hamlet

In David Tennant’s 2009 film of Hamlet, he is bordering insanity in his first soliloquy, expressing a number of emotions within a small period of time. The scene opens with Hamlet walking into a dark room looking up at the ceiling as if talking to god directly wishing that he could end it all but knowing that he could not do such a thing. He then becomes weak, falling to his knees in the middle of the room crying as if he was a child. The audience can almost feel his emotions off-screen as he makes eye contact with the camera, emphasizing on the lines “but two months dead: nay, not so much, not two.” He is disgusted by his mother's actions and how quickly she married, not only another man but his father's brother, his own uncle. In this version, …show more content…
It portrays Hamlet’s insanity and raw emotion, whereas Laurence Olivier's 1948 version of Hamlet’s first soliloquy delivers the same emotion in an entirely opposite way. Tennant screams and cries, even making direct eye contact with the camera at times. Whereas with Oliver, he is silent, a look of sorrow and distress painted across his face. We hear his thoughts and analyze his facial expressions, rather than watch him physically fall apart as Tennant does. Watching Oliver be so calm and collected after his father's funeral demonstrates signs of insanity. He shows little to no emotion, whereas Tennant shows a range of emotions. Oliver speaks little to nothing, only talking to say specific lines such as, “and yet, within a month--” and “O, god! A beast, that wants discourse of reason, would have mourned longer,” similar to the exact lines emphasized in Tennant’s performance. Although these two performances of Hamlet’s first soliloquy are so different, they both demonstrate the same level of emotional damage and insanity that his character is going through. Oliver ends his scene, face in his palm contemplating life while Tennant ends the scene staring into the camera, a look of regret and gloom radiating from him. Both Oliver and Tennant’s performances of Hamlet leaves the audience wondering what could be next to come for his