Blog #15: Hamlet Act III To be & Analysis of Form & Mis En Scene

 “To be or not to be…” (3.1.56). Hamlet poses the problem of whether to commit suicide in this logical question that is, to live or not to live. In this way, this speech connects to the theme of suicide and death, the difficulty of knowing the truth in a spiritually ambiguous universe, and the connection between thought and action. In addition to its crucial thematic content, this speech is important for what it reveals about the quality of Hamlet’s mind. His deeply passionate nature is complemented by a relentlessly logical intellect, which works furiously to find a solution to his misery. He then weighs the moral ramifications of living and dying. Is it nobler to suffer life, “[t]he slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,” (3.1.58) passively or to actively seek to end one’s suffering? He compares death to sleep and thinks of the end to suffering, pain, and uncertainty it might bring, “[his] heartache, and the thousand natural shocks / that flesh is heir to.” (3.1.62-63).Based on this metaphor, he decides that suicide is a desirable course of action, then he decides that the uncertainty of the afterlife, which is intimately related to the theme of the difficulty of attaining truth in a spiritually ambiguous world, is essentially what prevents all of humanity from committing suicide to end the pain of life. He outlines a long list of the miseries of experience, ranging from lovesickness to hard work to political oppression. He answers himself again, saying no one would choose to live, except that “the dread of something after death”(3.1.78) makes people submit to the suffering of their lives rather than go to another state of existence which might be even more miserable.

The setting of Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet character takes place in a royal hall of sorts in the castle during the day, as electricity lights were not around during the time period, only candles, but you don't need them lit during the day. Instead of regular regal clothes that others would wear, it was always black as if he was going to a funeral and matched his personality as his thoughts were suicidal and dark. Most of his speech takes place in front of a mirror, while the camera slowly creeps in to see the madness that has succumbed over Hamlet, yet he keeps himself in control and doesn't go into some form of rage out of confusion and spoke with a tone of curiosity and questioning one’s self. The angle keeps going into an extreme close-up of his reflection on the mirror and we can truly see his face. As he went on in the soliloquy, his face would change from seriousness to a face you could call ‘joyful madness’, yet the way he says everything in hushed tone makes it still sound a pull-in for the audience. As he finishes his speech the camera changes to a long shot as we see Lady Ophelia enter, yet Hamlet still speaks in a hushed tone. The camera angle then focuses on a close up of him and then begins a dolly shot as he makes his way towards her and beginning the continuation of the next scene.
After reviewing the four scenes of ‘To be or not to be’ I would say the following actors of Hamlet would go in the following order: 1. Ethan Hawke, 2. Kenneth Branagh, 3. Laurence Oliver, and finally 4. Mel Gibson. The reason that I chose Ethan Hawke’s scene, it was actually better than the Hamlet (Kenneth Branagh) I knew. The future may have ruined some movies and maybe a few franchises, but I give these people credit for trying to direct an old play into the 21st century. The way the speech is projected is still quiet, but now he wanders around a section of action ‘movies’ and shows scenes of various action movies. The other scenes didn't really catch my eye as he either stood in place and projected his speech in a low tone with different facial expressions or wandered around doing the same thing. The one with Laurence Oliver was pretty good, but it was a bit overdramatic at some parts of the speech and the angles and close ups didn't really help with the flow of the story. The last one, starring Mel Gibson, was trying too hard as he took pauses more often than necessary to get the audience to focus on the soliloquy to make it more mad and dark, since the atmosphere and lighting did that. I’m not really one for being dramatic, but three are times when it’s enough or too much. Ethan Hawke’s ‘To be or not to be’ helps reach an audience of the future and leaves subtle hints of the theme as he wanders this Blockbuster, and let me tell you, I see no blocks or anything ‘busted’ to the matter.