Arras is replaced
with one-way
mirror, Claudius
and Polonius
behind
Points knife at
mirror on 'bare
bodkin', Polonius
reacts,
foreshadows
what will cause
his death
Surveillance state, distrust
Lyndsey
Turner 2015
Benny C is in a
toy soldier's
uniform
'Ay, there's the rub'-
shakes finger as if in
debate, realisation
Becomes sterner, at
'pause' returns to dismay
(thinking- emotion)
Mocks noose with whistle round his
neck (TOYing with suicide, it's just a
game, PLAYTIME???)
Doran 2009
Hidden almost
completely in
shadow, speaks
slowly and
quietly
Eyes shut
as he
speaks
Opens eyes on
'perchance to
dream', looks
directly at
camera
stare then
directed at
middle-distance
4th wall broken again, 'For
who would bear the whips
and scorns of time' (the
question is posed to the
audience, 'who' is humanity)
'but for the
dread of
something after
death', eyes go
down, to hell?
'the undiscover'd
country'- back to
camera
'puzzles the will'-
looks away, as he
looks away from
will or action in
his hesitance
'conscience does
make cowards of
us all'- maintains
stare at camera
('who' becomes
'all')
Grigori 1964
Hamlet is beside sea- sea used to
represent his torment. Emphasised by
the soliloquy being completely internal
Zefirelli 1990
My name-a is-a Mel-a
Gibson and I am-a
Hamlet, yeah?
the soliloquy is set in an
underground tomb- where
Old Hamlet is buried
Directs soliloquy to his
father's corpse (even
though he is aware of the
Ghost), suggests doubtful
distinction between life and
death and death and the
afterlife
Ends every line in
a questioning
tone, questions
answered by more
questions
'undiscover'd
country', shot
of skeletons
Looks up, facing
hole in ceiling, light
fills his face as he
says 'pale cast of
thought'. His face is
pale in the light, but
it also hints thought
as being more
Godly, towards the
direction of heaven
Olivier 1948
Hamlet on top of cliff, dramatic Classical
music accompanies the sea. Face
fragmented with ocean (to achieve same
effect as Grigori, showing internal conflict)
'We know not
of'- looks at
sea, sea- doubt
On the line 'To die', the soliloquy becomes
internalised then is again spoken with
'perchance to dream'
Walks off into mist
G-g-ghost!!!
Richard Eyre 1980
Jonathan Pryce as Hamlet
Hamlet is possessed by
the spirit of his father
"this was the only means I could think of at the time
of making the manifestation of his father's spirit
effective for a contemporary audience highly
sceptical about the existence of the spirit world"
"the grief is very powerfully felt"
Pryce puts on voice for the Ghost as it possesses Hamlet,
every time the 'ghost' speaks, his eyes are closed and his
arms grapple (Hamlet is taken over)
Grigori 1964
Act 1 Scene 5
Encounter against background of violent sea at night
Hamlet is approached by the very slow-moving ghost clad in armour
the voice is not coming from the ghost, playing from
ominous surround-sound (could be in Hamlet's mind,
could be because of his God-like presence)
Ghost throughout speaks in monotone- detachment makes
him more frightening
Face concealed by armour
until 'not let they soul
contrive against thy
mother'
Light reveals his eyes first, looks like Nos Feratu
(as the Christian proverb goes, eyes are the
mirrors of the soul)
Face hidden again at 'fare thee well at once', once
Hamlet has been given his purpose