“Which was better? The book or the movie?” This is a question most people have been asked multiple times after watching a movie which was filmed after a popular written version of the story. In most cases, people will respond to this question with a clear and detailed response as to why one version was superior to the other. This is justifiable because there is no doubt that taking a written story and creating a film from it usually alters the story on some level. An excellent example of this would be William Shakespeare 's famous play Hamlet. Since 1900, there have been over fifty films of this play have been made, and all have been unique in their own way. The 1990 version of Hamlet, starring Mel Gibson, is one of the more recent and popular
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(Shakespeare 2.1.76-83) In this scene, Ophelia is telling her father Polonius of an encounter she recently had with Hamlet. This selection was not included in the film. Instead, the actual encounter between Hamlet and Ophelia was shown. The movie also shows Polonius spying on them and witnessing the whole encounter in this scene, rather than hearing about it from his daughter afterwards.
The way the previously mentioned scene is portrayed differently in the film leads to the next comparison of the film and the text, which is the way Hamlet’s madness is portrayed. To illustrate, in Act II, scene I of the text, the reader is left to extract their own view of Hamlet’s ‘madness’ through Ophelia’s retelling of the event. However, as the actual event is acted out in the film the audience is able to see Hamlet’s crazy behavior first hand, as well as Polonius. This is most effective because the story-line 's dialogue is meant to be acted out live, not apart through summary from it’s corresponding action.
On the other hand, when it comes down to similarities, Mel Gibson captures the erratic and unstable behavior of Hamlet from the text very well. In both the written version and the film, Hamlet speaks of his plan to feign madness to his friend …show more content…
However, it has been severely edited in length to run just over two hours, compared to the four plus hours it would likely originally run. Furthermore, the film has multiple instances where scenes are switched, added into the film, or dropped altogether. However, the director and actors were able to do this in a way while still maintaining the overall plot of the play. To this effect, the film provides it’s audience with a more accessible view and interpretation of the play. All in all, the 1990 version of Hamlet created a film to where the mainstream population could gather an overall idea of the plot by keeping some of the best and most important scenes in the movie, while bringing a fresh, simple spin on the classic
(Shakespeare 2.1.76-83) In this scene, Ophelia is telling her father Polonius of an encounter she recently had with Hamlet. This selection was not included in the film. Instead, the actual encounter between Hamlet and Ophelia was shown. The movie also shows Polonius spying on them and witnessing the whole encounter in this scene, rather than hearing about it from his daughter afterwards.
The way the previously mentioned scene is portrayed differently in the film leads to the next comparison of the film and the text, which is the way Hamlet’s madness is portrayed. To illustrate, in Act II, scene I of the text, the reader is left to extract their own view of Hamlet’s ‘madness’ through Ophelia’s retelling of the event. However, as the actual event is acted out in the film the audience is able to see Hamlet’s crazy behavior first hand, as well as Polonius. This is most effective because the story-line 's dialogue is meant to be acted out live, not apart through summary from it’s corresponding action.
On the other hand, when it comes down to similarities, Mel Gibson captures the erratic and unstable behavior of Hamlet from the text very well. In both the written version and the film, Hamlet speaks of his plan to feign madness to his friend …show more content…
However, it has been severely edited in length to run just over two hours, compared to the four plus hours it would likely originally run. Furthermore, the film has multiple instances where scenes are switched, added into the film, or dropped altogether. However, the director and actors were able to do this in a way while still maintaining the overall plot of the play. To this effect, the film provides it’s audience with a more accessible view and interpretation of the play. All in all, the 1990 version of Hamlet created a film to where the mainstream population could gather an overall idea of the plot by keeping some of the best and most important scenes in the movie, while bringing a fresh, simple spin on the classic