A Tale of Four Hamlets

In Laurence Olivier ‘s version of “Hamlet” somewhat slow-moving, but also memorable version of Shakespeare's great play. Olivier's personal performance as the Danish prince is by far the strongest aspect of the picture. Olivier the actor is masterful, Olivier the director is good but not perfect. A great deal of Shakespeare's text was eliminated, getting the running time down to 2 1/2 hours, but even so there are times when the movie seems rather slow-moving, especially in the first hour or so. Most of the cuts involve interactions with the minor characters, and some of the original play's minor roles are cut completely out of the film. The result is to concentrate the emphasis even further on Hamlet himself and on his pessimistic meditations. Olivier does add some good touches, though. He emphasizes the somber tone with numerous tracking shots of the castle's gloomy corridors and staircases. This version has been should not to be missed if only for nostalgic purposes. The setting, lighting, and cinematography are wondrous; the acting is superb (though by today's standards Olivier perhaps chews the scenery a bit much); the tone is somber and Gothic.

Zeffirelli’s 1990“Hamlet” is an interpretation designed for the mainstream

Hollywood audience, who by now were thoroughly interested in Mel Gibson – one of

the rising stars of the early nineties. Gibson does well to externalize the flurry of

emotions tormenting Hamlet and this allows the mainstream audience to follow quite

easily, his complex and changing mindsets. Zeffirelli and Gibson have combined their ideas to create an interpretation of Hamlet that is sensitive but never weak, very active and external in the portrayal of emotion – but not over the top.

As with Branagh’s ideal performance of Hamlet, his direction and creative ideas work

very well in a number of areas including: the use of the entire text of the play, the

choice of time period, setting and the film’s cast. One of the great strengths of...