Comparing Hamlet Films
This next three and a half weeks we will be studying film. In
class, we will be watching six different versions of Act I scene 2 from Hamlet, including the following:
·
Laurence Olivier (1948)
·
Derek Jacobi BBC (1980)
·
Mel
Gibson (1990)
·
Kenneth
Branagh (1996)
·
Ethan
Hawke (2000)
·
David
Tennant BBC (2010)
We live near Hollywood, but how many students know how to
use a film in the same way we use texts? Students who are used to “finding
quotes” for their essays will have to adjust to this new text? How does one ‘quote’
a film? How does one even watch a film critically to write about it? If we stop
films, how do we analyze the composition and framing of the still shot? How do
we separate the story from the acting? We are so used to talking about
characters from movies as if they were people, but how does seeing Branagh,
Tennant, and Gibson act the same exact line tease out the performances? What if
the scripts were always the same and that we supposed directors and actors were
constantly making directorial choices to emphasize different aspects of every
line? We might even pay attention to which word in every line is emphasized in
different versions? With this level of microscopic scrutiny, we might be able
to make claims about different versions.
We are preparing for next year’s college writing this year.
What new skills will we be learning from this slightly different assignment?
·
Visual literacy, with the ability to ‘read’ what’s
going on visually in a still or short clip
·
Understanding that all staging is
interpretation, with the script as a mere blueprint for a building and directors
and actors making small choices at every stage that accumulate into larger
choices and interpretations
·
Writing out descriptions of visuals to use as
evidence in one’s essay
·
Making bold claims based on what you see
·
Taking into account other factors of film:
lighting, shot cuts, music, setting, and many other aspects of film
·
Narrowing down what you are focusing on: picking
only two films, picking only a few lines, focusing on one character or one
relationship, or perhaps picking out from all the other factors only one aspect
of the films: transitions, shot angles, lighting, music, etc.
·
As usual, sustaining an argument from a small
observation and structuring your essay with support that convinces the reader
of your bold, interesting, and original claim
All of this is possible in this one assignment
if you really engage with it. There are no right answers. Place yourself in the
director’s chair and see what you can discover by comparing films.
