There are so many different versions of the play Hamlet to portray how different scenarios can correspond with the play. This shows that the universality of Hamlet is versatile and can be understood throughout different situations. The version Hamlet that I liked the most was Michael Alymereyda's. I liked this one the most because it was the easiest to determine the uses of figurative language, and it was the most interesting. I believe this is the most effective because it was most modern. The symbols seemed more clear and it had the most suspense.
In Laurence Oliver's Hamlet there is slow music (that sounds like a violin) which set the mood of the play to be dreary and the viewer can tell that the speech is not going to be about something cheerful. The setting is on a rock and the camera often focused the water hitting the beach constantly. I think that symbolized all Hamlet's problems opposing each other. Laurence Oliver is almost yelling the speech, therefore, informing the viewer that it is a serious situation. In Franco Zeffereli's Hamlet there is a calm quiet setting with no music. Although there are little props and sounds used the actor shows more emotion than the others did. The dead body tombs, such as in Romeo and Juliet, portray that Hamlet has the potential to be in the corps' position and it makes the actor wonder more if he wants to be there.
Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet is the most quiet and secluded, it is not that interesting and it looks like a man just talking to himself. The mirror is a good prop because it makes the clip more meaningful. When Branagh pulls out the dagger he could be either pointing it at himself or at the people spying on him. That gives the viewer two different theories to choose from. Michael Alymereyda's Hamlet, in my opinion, was the best clip. The first part had only the words "to be or not to be" and music. The atmosphere in the apartment looked like chaos while Hamlet's life was in chaos. It looks like Hamlet is recording a suicidal video, while he is recording you can see the camera and this creates a dramatic effect. The actor is browsing through the video store he is in the aisle for action movies and he cannot decide what he wants to get. Similar to Hamlet's life and all the drama going on , he does not know what to do .
