Branagh And Hamlet Comparison Essay

During class we have reviewed many versions of the play Hamlet. The two movie versions that I chose to compare on the play Hamlet are the David Tennant version and the Kenneth Branagh version. I chose these two versions because these were the two that most interested me. I believe that some scenes from each movie were better than the other, but overall I liked these two versions just as equally. The three main scenes that stood out to me that I will be comparing are ‘Ophelia’s Mad Scene’, the ‘Hamlet Kills Polonius’ scene, and Hamlet’s ‘To be or not to be’ scene.
Let’s first compare Ophelia’s mad scene, starting with David Tennant’s version. In David Tennant’s version of the scene, Ophelia starts out singing softly to the Queen, Hamlet’s mother, and the King, Hamlet’s father’s brother.

She start’s to act like she’s out of control, by pushing and shoving the Queen, dancing in circles, and taking her clothes off. She starts screaming and shaking, and then later walks off happily like nothing ever happened. Branagh’s version of the scene begins with Ophelia lying on the floor wrapped in a straight jacket to refrain her from moving. She talks to the Queen, and convinces her to unwrap her. And when she does, she gets up and starts dancing and screaming, similar to Tennant’s version. She sings, lies on the floor and starts thrusting, and ends the scene with running out of the room with people chasing after her. Both scenes were good, but in my opinion Tennant’s version of the scene I thought was better. This is because I feel like Ophelia in this version did a better job in acting like she was losing her mind. Her actions and tones were fluctuating a lot more than in Branagh’s version, and her shoving people and taking off her clothes added to that. Even though I do like David Tennant’s version better, I do like the idea of Branagh’s version of putting her in a straight jacket.
The second scene I will be comparing is the Hamlet killing Polonius scene. Tennant’s scene begins with Hamlet yelling his mother’s name in a strange tone. He’s acting like something is off about him, almost like he is turning insane. He accuses his mother of being a whore, and then grabs her and throws her on the bed. When the Queen starts yelling for help, Polonius responds, and Hamlet grabs a gun and shoots him through a mirror, thinking that it’s the king. Hamlet then goes to check who it is, and when he sees its Polonius, he doesn’t feel any guilt or remorse. He simply waves him off as being useless and continues to yell at the Queen, accusing her of betraying the family and being a whore. The Branagh version is much shorter than the Tennant version and gets straight to the point. But instead of the scene being on the bed in a bedroom, it is on a table. Hamlet begins yelling for the queen, and Polonius goes to hide behind a curtain. Hamlet starts accusing choking the Queen, and when she screams for help, Hamlet takes out a knife instead of a gun. The death is more violent, as Hamlet stabs Polonius multiple times before he realizes it is not the king. He still does not feel remorse, and continues yelling at the queen. In this scene, I liked both versions. I did not have a favorite. I do think though that Tennant’s version does a better job at showing that Hamlet was going insane, from the the tone of his voice when he is calling the Queen and yelling at her. His tone fluctuates, like Ophelia’s in her mad scene, compared to the Hamlet in Branagh’s version. I do not think that Branagh’s version really showed much of his insanity. Besides that he stabbed Polonius multiple times and choked the queen, the tone of his voice seemed more angry than insane. I also liked how Branagh’s scene stuck to the original Hamlet and killed Polonius with a knife instead of a gun.
The last scene I will be comparing is Hamlet’s ‘To be or not to be’ scene.

Both the Tennant and the Branagh version repeat the same soliloquy from the original Hamlet. However they are in different settings with different characters present. They also both speak in a slightly different tone in this speech. In Tennant’s version, Hamlet seemed more sad when giving the speech compared to Branagh’s version, who seemed more calm and relaxed. The Hamlet in Branagh’s version was holding a knife up to the mirror, looking as if he was debating or not to end his life, while the Hamlet in Tennant’s version was just staring off into the distance. They were both in a room, but the Hamlet in Branagh was looking into a mirror. Hamlet in Tennant’s version was by himself, while in Branagh’s version, there were two characters present behind the two-way mirror. I liked Branagh’s version more than Tennant’s version in this scene, because Hamlet’s character I feel fit the speech. It made it seem more interesting to me. With Tennant’s version, I feel it was a little boring because he was not really doing anything, just looking from behind a wall. This is why I like Branagh’s version better in this

act.
The two movie versions of the play Hamlet I believe were both good. Though I did think some scenes from each movie were better than the other. I liked David Tennant’s version of Ophelia’s mad scene more than Branagh’s version, because of the fact that Ophelia in Tennant’s version seemed more into character, making the scene more interesting to me. With the Hamlet killing Polonius scene, however, I did like both versions. I liked the idea of both and thought it was interesting how Tennant made it a little more modern by using a gun instead of a knife. However I still liked the Branagh version where they stuck to the original and used a knife in the killing scene. With the last scene, the ‘To be or not to be’ scene, I liked Branagh’s version more. I thought both versions were good, but Hamlet in Branagh’s version was more interesting because his tone fit the part and in addition he was holding a dagger. He was also looking into a two-way mirror with two other characters looking at him from the other side. Even though I thought that some scenes from each version were better than the other, I thought both versions of the movie were good and liked them just as equally.