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- Herausgeber: GRIN Verlag
- Sprache: Englisch
Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject Film Science, grade: 1,5, Technical University of Braunschweig (Englisches Seminar), course: Shakespeare on Film, language: English, abstract: A Shakespeare anthology reads: “Hamlet seems always to have been the most discussed work of literature in the world.” It has fascinated people for all times, and inspired them to critically write about the play itself, Hamlet’s character, or the various contradictions and paradoxes of the plot, e.g. the good or evil nature of the Ghost, Hamlet’s real or pretended madness, or his hesitation to kill Claudius. A sheer volume of material has been published. It is a play that has put people under a spell, then in the Renaissance, as well as today, 400 years later. Questions have been raised, but the riddle has never really been solved, although different types of critics, theories and analyses have been applied to interpret and understand this world famous dramatic piece of art. This essay shall not solve the mystery of Hamlet, but examines how Shakespeare's play has been transformed into the medium film and how these adaptations reflect the time in which they were produced. There have been uncountable film reworkings of Hamlet – many of various approaches and emphases. This paper focuses on two versions, Asta Nielsen's silent Hamlet – one of the first Hamlet films ever made, and Hamlet (2000) - the first Hamlet adaptation of the new millennium. Both films are produced in a totally different period of film history with nearly a century in between. Still, they have many similarities, especially concerning the way of how this play has been translated into its given time of production. Therefore, aspects like the circumstances of the films, their place in history, the viewing habits of the audience at that time, film criticism and how the films relate to the issues of the world, are going to be examined. For a precise analysis I have prepared sequence protocols (see appendix) of the films to compare them to each other and to the play. To begin with, a short overview of Hamlet on film is presented to make the reader aware of its long, everlasting history.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2007
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Old mystery dressed in new medium
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1Introduction
A Shakespeare anthology reads: “Hamlet seems always to have been the most
discussed work of literature in the world.”1It has fascinated the people for all times, and inspired them to critical write about the play itself, Hamlet’s character, or the various contradictions and paradoxes of the plot, e.g. the good or evil nature of the Ghost, Hamlet’s real or pretended madness, or his hesitation to kill Claudius. A sheer volume of material has been published. It is a play that has put people under a spell, then in the Renaissance, as well as today, 400 years later. Questions have been raised, but the riddle has never really been solved, although different types of critics, theories and analyses have been applied to interpret and understand this world famous dramatic piece of art.
In Winders' bookUnderstanding Hamlet,the tragedy is classified as a ‘problem play’, a ‘revenge play’, a play about death and evil. I believe expressions like 'adaptation play' or 'contemporary play' are as legitimate, concerning the various forms of its reworkings as play, film, novel, cartoon, musical or animation. Peter Hall claims “Hamlet is one of mankind’s great images. It turns a new face to each decade. It is a
mirror which gives back the reflection of the age that is contemplating it.”2This conception shall be reflected on in the following.
This essay shall not solve the mystery ofHamlet,but shall examine how Shakespeare's play has been transformed into the medium film and how these adaptations reflect the time in which they were produced. There have been uncountable film reworkings ofHamlet- many of various approaches and emphases. This paper focuses on two versions, Asta Nielsen's silentHamlet- one of the firstHamletfilms ever made, andHamlet (2000)- the firstHamletadaptation of the new millennium. Both films are produced in a totally different period of film history with nearly a century in between. Still, they have many similarities, especially concerning the way of how this play has been translated into its given time of production.
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Therefore, aspects like the circumstances of the films, their place in history, the viewing habits of the audience at that time, film criticism and how the films relate to the issues of the world, are going to be examined. For a precise analysis I have prepared sequence protocols (see appendix) of the films to compare them to each other and to the play. To begin with, a short overview ofHamleton film is presented to make the reader aware of its long, everlasting history.
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2The Tradition ofHamleton Screen
Since the beginning of the film era, Shakespeare's plays have been most popular with filmmakers. The first Shakespearean moving images were reproductions of stage scenes, i.e. these films presented a theatrical mode on screen. Later, with time elapsing and with the rise of the medium film, the plays were produced and adapted more and
more in a filmic, sometimes also realistic mode.3The existence of a new medium with its own specific conventions, characteristics and advantages has developed.
One of the most favourite film productions of Shakespeare's plays has since beenHamlet.In the last century,Hamlethas been adapted numerous times. With its psychological and political dimension the play is of high social significance, and has fascinated filmmakers to confront their society with interlocking themes of love and death, naivety and immorality, identity and destiny. The selected filmography of Graham Holderness and Christopher McCullough compiles 34Hamletadaptations dating from 1900 until 1987. The authors list international versions of the play, yet excluded 'free adaptations'. This limitation is justified, as some moving images cannot be called Shakespearean. They only make use of Shakespearean characters, settings or
situations; for instance, Georges Mèliés' 10 minute-Hamlet version of 19074or Charles Raymond's silent film ofHamlet(1912).5In the period after 1987 until now, there have been produced at least twenty moreHamletversions, for instance, in 1990 Zeffirelli's film, starring Mel Gibson; Kenneth Branagh's 242minute version (1996), including the whole text of Shakespeare'sHamlet;and in year 2000 the fin de siècle adaptation of
Michael Almereyda.6
The 20thcentury started with the firstHamletfilm ever made in 1900. It was only 3 minutes long, and showed the duel scene of a Parisian theatre performance, directed by Clement Maurice, and starring Sarah Bernhard as Hamlet. The film was produced in France, and the custom of producing Shakespeare films all over the world rather than in England seemed to have established. Only a quarter of the amount (8 of the 34 entries) was exclusively made in England.
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The majority comes from other European countries, British/ American corporations, and even from India, Ghana or Brazil -Hamlethas flourished nearly every
continent of the world.7
As the invention of the talkies dates back to 1927, the first 12Hamletfilms are silent movies, from France, Italy, Denmark, Great Britain and Germany. The last silent movie of Hamlet (it remained to be the lastHamletfilm for a 15-year long period) was made in 1920 by Svend Gade with Asta Nielsen as protagonist. This German production presents a cross-gendered Hamlet in a loose adaptation of the original play. The film is
claimed to be the greatest silentHamlet/Shakespeare film8and the beginning of successful film adaptations of Shakespeare9and shall be examined in the following chapter of this paper.
The second film of interest is Michael Almereyda'sHamletversion, produced in year 2000. It is the first of its adaptations in the new century, yet, although only five
