The quote "To be, or not to be," is said by many people. Not everyone knows the true meaning of those words, and the depth they hold. When the play Hamlet is adapted into a film, the directors have the scene played out how they imagine it to be, just like any other part of the play. Since the To Be or Not To Be soliloquy is so famous, the scene is one of the more critiques ones.
Lawrence Olivier's adaptation of the scene is one of my favorites. Hamlet is laying across the top of the castle overlooking the ocean as the waves crash against the rocky coastline. As he speaks about life and death, and contemplates the pros and cons of each one, he is literally on the edge. I like how Hamlet being so close to the edge the audience might not be sure if he will fall or not parallels what he is saying about choosing between living and killing himself. Then as he goes into the part of his soliloquy where he talks about why people choose life, he jumps off the edge and onto a flat part of the castle where he is more safe than before. Also, when Hamlet talks about a Bare Bodkin, I like how he pulls one out. He mentions death came come so easy, even from a Bare Bodkin. So showing how easy it was to come across the dagger, or way of death, was a nice detail I appreciated. The way the character physically shows what's going on in his mind really caught my attention.
In Zeffirelli's version, Hamlet is walking throughout the catacombs beneath the castle. He is walking where the living would go to see the dead, like how his speech his about living but death also being so close and an option. Mel Gibson plays Hamlet as if he is truly mad in this scene, which seems to fit how Hamlet might feel in that moment. I liked small details in the scene, such as the light fading as Hamlet walked down the stairs to the catacombs. Like how Hamlet was directing his mind into a darker place at the same time. One detail I disliked about this adaptation was that once again the scene was too dark in multiple moments, making it hard to focus on what was being shown.
Branagh's adaptation caught my attention again as well. Having Hamlet clutching the dagger and twirling it within his fingers while speaking into the double sided mirror was great. The scene kept me interested as the tone of Hamlet's voice varied from a calm, not aware that he was thinking out loud voice, to a tone that seemed threatening.
Almereyda! On my last blog post I may have been a bit too hard on Almeryda's adaptation, but this scene impressed me. It placed Hamlet in a Blockbuster store where he was aimlessly walking around the aisles. As his speech started to turn towards the point of where Hamlet mentions action and how not everyone takes it, Hamlet walks down another "Action" film aisle. There he looks back and forth, almost unsure of what to do. Like what he mentions in his soliloquy. There were also moments where Hamlet was not moving his mouth, but instead there were voice overs so it was actually like being in Hamlet's head. Which is how the play would have been written if styled like a book.
Seeing another scene from the different adaptations of Hamlet gave me even more insights to how others view Hamlet. The "To Be or Not To Be" scene had me far more impressed with each film compared to just seeing the also famous Ghost scene.
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