The First Ghost Scene

In class we examined and reviewed three different scenes from three different Hamlet movies. Each movie and scene was filmed in a different time with different directors and different perspectives of the play. In the first movie we watched with Ziffrelli directing and Mel Gibson playing Hamlet, the scene started off dark and spooky. Hamlet (Mel Gibson) had seen the ghost of his father and started to follow him as the night guards tried stopping him. Finally he got away from them and Hamlet and the ghost of his father were speaking on a platform. It remained a calm environment as Hamlet's father explained that his uncle had killed him.

The second version we watched was the Kenneth Branagh version with him also playing Hamlet. This version also was very dark and seemed gothic. This version did not really show much of Hamlets father's face. It was very dark all around him and he talked in a creepy voice. Also in this version that was different from the other was that they flash backed to the scene where Hamlets father was poisoned by his brother and killed. The scene ends with father and son grabbing eachothers hands.

The third version we watched was with Almereyda directing and Hawke playing Hamlet. I disliked this version the least because it was put into a modern sense. I feel like you cannot re create a play like this with old english being used when making a modern version. This version didnt have much dark and gloomy feeling like the others. The ghost of Hamlets father seems unrealistic because there is a lot of touching  going on and as a ghost I do not see that happening. This version was not realistic in my eyes.