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Kenneth Branagh Hamlet Analysis

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Shakespearean literature has often been parodied or re-created within the platform of a movie. Every director or actor has a different style of re-creating and presenting different narratives written by William Shakespeare. Each adaptation that has been created has had unique qualities that attempt to replicate the emotion and thought of the writing pieces. The play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, has been interpreted through many different actors each telling the tragic story in their own way. Kenneth Branagh has been able to effectively portray the character, Hamlet, through the use of a strong voice, gestures and the overall appearance of the actor within his adaptation of the play.
The anger in Kenneth Branagh’s voice mirrored the emotion …show more content…

The gestures of Kenneth Branagh shows passion that Hamlet has to avenge his father. Kenneth Branagh adaptation has Hamlet stabbing Polonius five times. The act of stabbing takes a lot of energy and force to drive a knife into one’s flesh. Hence why stabbing is considered to be a crime of passion, as someone really needs to want to kill in order to successfully stab a person. Hamlet stabs the curtains in hopes that the king is hiding behind it, so he can accomplish his goal of vengeance. This version is of a sharp contrast compared to Ethan Hawke’s adaptation of the scene. Hawke’s scene is set in modern times where a sword is replaced with a handgun. Unlike stabbing a person, shooting an individual does not require the same amount of force nor energy. It takes less passion to pull the trigger than to drive a knife into a body. Ethan Hawke’s adaptation is not as passionate as Kenneth Branagh, making Polonius’ death less important and tragic. The killing of Polonius showed the audience that Hamlet is passionate to avenge his father. Taking the passion out of the killing reduces the impact of the scene in the minds of the audience. Personally, I was less affected emotionally by Polonius’ death in the Ethan Hawke version as it transpired quicker without much emotion. The Kenneth Branagh is much more effective in depicting Hamlet’s passion, allowing the audience to be impacted

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