Hamlet

Thinking activity:- Kenneth Branagh’s ‘Hamlet' 

Hello Readers!

14th August, 2k19 an academic session of movie screening at our Department of English M.K bhavnagar university. 
There have been many movies over Hamlet. And the famous one is a Haider. Directed by vishal Bhardwaj. 
Can't say more that the movie is the same as it is in the original play. Because director is free to changes. Director is able to add more necessary thoughts,parts,quotes and also remove unnecessary.
Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet is full version and absolutely match with original Dialogs with line to line. There is no cutting of any Dialogs.
This task is given by Dr.Dilip Barad.
And this task is also a part of our Mid turm break.
Click here to see Barad sir's blog.

So...let's start post-viewing Task.

~ How faithful is the movie to the original play?

° Any one of movie which is not completely match to the original play because there is many sence , characters, and many of things are unnecessary and it stops a lot of time.and also a many addition to improve TRP of movie and it's more Necessary for publicity. 

☝☝☝ we all are knowing about this picture...in short this much of difference.

But the Kenneth branagh's Hamlet is very faithful to the original play.

Original play is located in 11th century Denmark so we cannot expect much thing same from it but while making movie they have changed setting and costumes to make movie more interesting and as per taste of the contemporary audience.in short 

the length of the movie is evident in its Faithfulness.

~ After watching the movie, have your perception about play, characters or situations changed?

° It really enriches and flourished my understanding about the play. The is typically Shakespearean play with his contemporary  expressions . so some times as a second language reader it becomes difficult to catch exactly what writer wants to say by this. Or rather sometimes reading of the play needs more concentration so it becomes difficult to read the original. At this juncture screening of the movie  is like heavenly elixir  to us.

~Do you feel ‘aesthetic delight’ while watching the movie? If yes, exactly when did it happen? If no, can you explain with reasons?

• Yes, I feel aesthetic delight while watching the movie.literature has tremendous capacity to give us delight which we can’t explain in words.Character of hamlet is more attractive. When we observe him closely at that time his soliloquies, apparent madness, his mental struggle (conflict), his ambiguity, split personality, intrigues in the play, sequence of action, light but satirical laughter, character of sweet Ophelia, love of brother and sister (leartes and Ophelia), play within play, appearance of ghost, mirror scene, grave digging scene , gives me wonderful delight. Hamlet’s word “ forty thousand brother cannot equal to my (lover’s)love” is superb. his speech to horatio “there are many thing in this world which is not in our book of philosophy my friend” is looks like universal truth. Claudius’s word “ Madness in great ones should not be passed unnoticed” is full of wisdom. This great speeches and wonderful scenes gives me boundless.

~Do you feel ‘catharsis’ while or after watching movie? If yes, exactly when did it happen? If no, can you explain with reasons?

° yes i saw the 'catharsis' While watching movie catharsis happen to me for our tragic hero hamlet. A rather good man comes to a bad end , because of her error of judgement. If he had killed Claudius when he was praying then he might have able to take his revenge and save his life. But great student of philosophy, a prince comes to a tragic end. At the end of the play stage is full of dead bodied. And this creates catharsis .

~Does screening of movie help you in better understanding of the play?

•  ya, sure why not....this screening is most important for me because i can't read the whole original text and the movie is more helping to understand the play. 

~ Was there any particular scene or moment in the movie that you will cherish lifetime?

• The play is rich in beautiful scenes. There are many scenes which are still floating in front of my eyes. Appearance of ghost, ophelia’s poetry in madness, hamlet’s death scene when he was taken by soldier at that time he was in position of Jesus Christ, That I will never forgot.

~ If you are director, what changes would you like to make in the remaking of movie on Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’?

• Kenneth Branagh’s movie is very good, faithful presentation of the shakespeare’s original play hamlet so there is no more scope(need) to make changes in movie . first of all let me make clear that I don’t think that I can make a movie like Hamlet. And this movie is also included in top three best movies made from play of Shakespeare. So it is the best, But sometimes while watching movie , we feel tired. Because it is so long so it needs lot of patience, so if I was or I will be a director then I will make it a bit shorter so that interest of the audience is kept. I am not telling that length of the movie is unnecessary, they have tried to be faithful to the original so it is Fantastic.

~In the beginning of the movie, camera rolls over the statue of King Hamlet out side the Elsinore castle. The movie ends with the similar sequence wherein the statue of the King Hamlet is hammered down to the dust. What sort of symbolism do you read in this?

• Symbolism plays vital role in understanding of any thing, whether it is literature or movie or T.V. serial. Through symbolism creator tries to show the things which we cannot express through words. As it is saying that ‘pen is mightier than sword ‘ and ‘A picture is worth a thousand words’ so I will say that symbolism is greater that words . words gives us limited, specific, particular image or meaning but symbols express more. It expands the horizons of our thinking. The same thing is interwoven in the play wonderfully. The play opens with the name HAMLET written on the wall of the castle of elsinore, and ends even with the broken statue of the king HAMLET. It has significance, it shows the END of every thing, the circle is complete. From where it begins it ends at the same point.

~ While studying the play through movie, which approach do you find more applicable to the play? Why? Give reasons with illustrations.

• To evaluate play any one approach is not enough, we should check work from the different perspectives. As HAMLET is the MONA LISA of literature so there are many critics who have applied vivid approaches on hamlet. If we want to get answer that whether Gertrude’s marriage was morally good or bad, then we have to do feminist reading.

~Which of the above mentioned approaches (in Pre-viewing task) appeals you more than other?Why? Give reasons.

• Many approaches i used to try and understand the play and it's so hard to understand the play without see the movie.

But obvious we are not able to decided any thing to collect all the information. I thought about hamlet's mental condition during movie he suffered more. One more elements that Hamlet crushing on Gertrude.

This are the Elements which i appeals more that other.