Hamlet Film Journal: Entry #3

I think that Hamlet’s monologue after the performance is very important. Especially, the last moment when he hits that little miniature figure of the king. It is an interesting way to show how Hamlet is very much in control of the situation and he knows exactly what to do to revenge on Claudius. Branagh did an excellent job expressing all the emotions and feelings that the character has at this point, and that’s why it was very entertaining to watch that scene. Hamlet starts to lose control, and he seems to be really angry at himself because he is not doing enough to find out the truth about the death of his father. When he starts to hit all the objects in the room, the audience starts to wonder whether Hamlet is still in control or if he is going crazy.

Another moment that I would focus on is when Hamlet talks to all the actors in the room.  There were lots of tracking shots and the camera was rotating around and was following Hamlet. This spinning makes people dizzy and sick, and the audience does not understand what is going on. It was probably intentional, because the director wanted to show how mentally unstable Hamlet is. Basically, the audience saw the world through Hamlet’s eyes. I also noticed how fake and empty were all the actors. They were just pretending to be amused and entertained, because of Hamlet’s position. They looked like some robots that were programmed to smile, laugh and clap when it was necessary. It is also an important moment when you talk about the “Pretense & Performance” theme.

I did not like the performance that Hamlet was so inspired by to plot against Claudius. It was way too long, and the flashbacks were not even that interesting. It was just a poor woman crying the whole time. I counted every single wrinkle on her face before the director finally decided to show the audience something more entertaining. I would also cut a few a moments from the conversation between Hamlet and his friends. I don’t think that it was necessary to quote the whole play, even though it is very interesting because Hamlet is literally performing. 

Hamlet Film Journal: Entry #2

            Zeffirelli's mise-en-scene is distinctly different from Branagh's. Zeffirelli’s adaptation looks very realistic and medieval, while Branagh’s looks modern, because the setting is in the middle of 19th century. The castle in the Branagh’s version looks very posh, rich and there was a lot more lighting inside the building. In the medieval castle, on the other hand, the audience can notice really poor lighting which creates this really dark, mysterious and depressing atmosphere. In the Branagh’s version the actors have really interesting and colorful costumes while in the other version everyone wears simple and conservative clothing. Overall, Branagh’s adaptation is a lot more positive and exciting, because of the use of the harsh lighting and bright colors in the decorations. Zeffirelli’s, on the other hand, is very negative, dark and sad. The majority wears black clothing and people do not seem to have any hope in life, especially Hamlet. It is a lot more pleasing to watch Branagh’s adaptation because even though the setting is not quite realistic, I still very much enjoy watching this stylish movie with lots of details and symbols.

 The original play begins with the guards seeing the ghost of Hamlet Senior, and I think that it would have been a lot better if everything started from the funeral of the late King of Denmark just like in Zeffirelli’s adaptation. A lot of directors start off their movies with a key event that will draw everyone’s attention. The funeral setting is a lot more powerful, and the director gets to introduce all the key characters and some of their distinct characteristics. Even though, the director cuts a lot of significant moments and interactions from the original play, everything is still very clear for the audience because of the use of this technique. Zeffirelli’s made this particular alteration to create this suspense and uncertainty about what may happen next, save time and have an opportunity to show the reactions of each character to the death of Senior Hamlet. 

Hamlet Film Journal: Entry #1

       Act I, Scene 2  

      1) In scene two, people celebrate and congratulate Claudius for becoming a new king. Everyone was really excited and most people wore really bright cloth to show how happy they are with this decision. Everyone, but Hamlet. Even though he is one of the representatives of the royal family and he had to stand next to his parents, Branagh decides to isolate him from everyone else and Hamlet is the only person who wears all black in the whole crowd. Hamlet is clearly disappointed with his mother’s decision to marry his uncle and he does not want to be a part of this wedding.  I think that it was a wise decision because the audience understands how different Hamlet is from his family.

      2) I think that it was not a wise decision to have Claudius, Gertrude and Hamlet to have this conversation about the death of Hamlet Senior in the middle of the wedding. It is a really important problem and I think it would have been better if they had this family time alone and not in front of this huge group of people. I don’t think it is possible to be honest with someone about your feelings if they are other people listening to what you are saying. But I guess Branagh highlights “Pretense & Performance” theme by having the actors participate in this discussion at such an inconvenient time; because Claudius and Gertrude can say really encouraging things in front of the whole kingdom, but they do not have to necessarily mean that. They can just pretend that they really care about Hamlet’s position and his feelings.  It looked like they were lying, because Gertrude had a really rapid eye movement, and there was no eye contact between Hamlet and Claudius.

      Act I, Scene 3

      1) At the end of scene three, Ophelia says: “I shall obey my lord”. She did not address this line to her father. Before she said that sentence, the audience saw a few shock cuts of Ophelia having sex with Hamlet. In my opinion, it is a very clever technique that Branagh used to deliver this line. Everything was more than just flirting between Ophelia and Hamlet. After Polonius hit his daughter and talked to her in such a demanding way, Ophelia decided to continue being this rebellious teenager and not follow her fathers’ orders.

2) I think that Laertes should have never kissed Ophelia’s lips, because it looked creepy and weird. Laertes looked really attracted to his sister. He was really close to her and stared at her lips the whole time. He was very playful and that was just wrong.

Editing

There are lots of examples of eye line match. This technique was created because the audience wants to see what the character on-screen is seeing. An example would be, when they show Lady Macbeth, and then you see a man who just walked into the room. Another example is when she was reading the letter, and then they show that paper.
A reaction shot is when we see a character’s response to something that viewers also see. An example of that would be when the man walks in and Lady Macbeth tries to hide the letter and only then starts the conversation with him.
There is no establishing shot, which means that the audience does not see the setting and it does not orient the viewer in space to a clear view of action. The scene does not follow the 180 rule.

Mise-en-scene

Lady Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s most manipulative, cruel and terrifying characters. The arrangements of actors and scenery create a special mood and it helps the audience understand the scene. The music in this particular scene makes her speech sound more dramatic. The melody is very mysterious.
Lady Macbeth is changing her intonation; sometimes she is whispering and sometimes the audience listens to her yelling.
Mostly it is deep focus throughout the whole movie scene; but at 0.53 we have an example of a shallow focus, because only a narrow range of the field is focused. The shallow focus prepares the audience for a turning point, or a key line that is necessary to emphasize the thematic meaning in the movie.
 Her face is highlighted throughout the whole movie scene to show all her emotions and reactions. It is also quite important to notice, her make up and her dress. She is wearing a white dress, but her dark lipstick suggests that she is not that innocent and pure. 

My Response to The Voice Within the Whirlwind

I know that you are fathomless and there is no explanation to your actions. You are full of wisdom and knowledge, yet I cannot understand why you are so distant, cruel and disinterested. Do you even care about my life? Am I just another person who makes you laugh and entertains you?  You did not address or answer my questions. I need guidance, help and explanation and you just brag about all your achievements. There is no doubt that it is hard to be in your position and maybe you do not have time for me with all your responsibilities. Maybe I am just not worth your time and love. Indeed, nature is cruel, but it is clearly not the reason why you make me suffer. You are the one who is responsible for the injustice in this world. Why won’t you forgive my sins? Why do you punish the innocents and not the wicked people? I still need instruction and answers.

 I am not dust, I matter. I am not afraid to tell you, that I did nothing wrong. People create their own “storm” and they have to pay for their sins. I agree with that, but you cannot punish me for all the crimes, that I did not commit. Why do I need to believe in your righteousness and be loyal, if you are not treating me right. You are playing with me just like a cat with a mouse. You give me a reason to smile and then just kill all the hope that I had. I am going to speak the truth no matter what, because I truly believe that I am an innocent human being.  

Why Does God Allow Suffering?

A lot of people believe that the future is not predetermined and we have the final say in where our lives go. But no matter what, we start to doubt our beliefs, because there are a lot of situations, where the innocents are punished and there seems to be no justice in the world. A higher power still makes us suffer, even if we are really careful with our decisions.

I would like to address a problem that I was personally experiencing. A lot of kids in former Soviet Union countries are affected by corruption in high schools. It is impossible to get good grades, unless you bribe the teacher. I refused to continue this tradition and that’s why my GPA was not the best. Unfortunately, the teachers do not care about you; and there should be someone who is interested in student’s success, besides the parents of the child.

Another example of life being not fair for some individuals would be the current situation in Turkey. ISIS has come to hold territory in both Syria and Iraq and now continues to attack the other lands. This terrorist group is killing lots of people to create an Islamic State ruled by one leader. The rest of the world starts to think that all Muslims are terrorists, when it is absolutely not true.  These kinds of events make us wonder why some people suffer and others do not.

Fate vs. Free Will

People make their own futures - nothing is predetermined. Every single person is the master of his own fate, but sometimes people do not even realize it. It is a lot easier to believe that some higher powers are dictating our every single move, than strive to improve ourselves. If I want to change something in my life, I just take an action and I do not wait for things to happen on their own.  I believe in free will; and I think that the choices we make create our paths and, of course, affect our future. Every action has its appropriate reaction; and we are morally responsible for our words, thoughts and deeds.

Some people seem luckier than the other. They are born with good looks, wealth, intelligence and health. There are also people who live an extreme life, when they do not have anything to eat or not able to have a roof above their heads. This is a really cliché thing to say, but life is not fair sometimes; yet people should try to make the best of it. A lot of children live in poverty, and they face multiple disadvantages; but every child is born with the potential to have a very fulfilling and great life. They just have to stop feeling sorry for themselves and use all the opportunities that they have. There are some really complex things to have control over but as long as an individual has the potential to change something about them, it should not be considered as fate. 

Dramatic Irony

Dramatic irony occurs when the audience knows more about the outcome than the characters. "The Gift of the Magi" - a short story written by O. Henry, is an example of dramatic irony in literature. The story is about a poor, married couple who is in a really bad economic situation; but they are still very much in love with each other. The story is set around their struggle to buy secret Christmas presents. The only valuable thing that Della has in her life is her beautiful, long hair and she cuts and sells it to buy a chain for her husband's pocket watch; and meanwhile, Jim sold his pocket watch to buy an amazing set of combs for his lovely wife. This is considered dramatic irony, because the audience knew a lot more about what’s going to happen than the characters.

An example of dramatic irony in real life will be a “prank call”. People pretend to be someone they are not; they come up with a fake name or an accent. After they develop this persona, they call a random person or someone they know and act out the scenario that they planned before. The target has no idea what’s going on, but the rest of the people enjoy the show.

Traditional and Modern Drama

Oedipus Rex - a play by Sophocles, is full of gripping examples of dramatic irony, and a lot of elements in this book will be considered complex for a modern audience. Greek theatre is a lot different in many ways than what the society sees on stage and television nowadays. The main difference is that the actors were all men; and in order to play a female role, they had to wear these masks with exaggerated and pronounced mouths and eyes. We want to see the facial expressions on actors’ faces; but masks would probably be more suitable, considering the fact that there were over 14,000 vulgar people in an outdoor theatre, and the majority of them were not able to see or hear anything at all. The masks also allow you to hide your face and it was possible for one person to have several roles if they did not have enough actors per play. Even though, traditional theatre is “the mother” of modern drama, they are still not going to be similar due to the change in the society in general. People were really barbarous, disrespectful and selfish; the actors always had to do something crazy and interesting to get audience’s attention. Nowadays, people are willing to pay lots of money to see a play, yet a lot of them cannot afford this luxury entertainment. 

America Falls Apart?

In my opinion, “Things Fall Apart” could definitely be the title of a book about the culture of 21st century America. I think that every time period has its own downfalls and accomplishments. There will always be a lot of cultural practices that people will consider morally wrong and “backwards”. When I first came to U.S.A, I was really surprised and shocked that Americans are not able to go and see a movie, do some shopping or just go to school without a car. There is no choice for people, you have to learn how to drive or you will have to spend the rest of your life lying on a sofa. The problem is not in just driving; everyone gains a lot of weight, because they do not simply move; I started to think that distance is a terrible thing, because my room is too far away from the fridge. Speaking of food, people no longer have to go and do grocery shopping, because you can get everything you need online.  People in Europe tend to go to the restaurants to have a good conversation, spend time with your family and try new delicacies; and here it seems that people just want to get an enormous plate of food and drink unlimited amount of soda.

People are also able to work from home, so you can just stay in your house and never get out of your comfort zone. Of course, people try to make life easier and more comfortable, but I think that it is not the best way to solve that problem. People gain a lot of weight and have hard times working out. I think America is falling apart, because life seems to be just about fulfilling our basic needs and nothing else. 

Twitter has no future

Nowadays, a lot of people cannot imagine their lives without social networks. The first thing teenagers do, when they wake up in the morning, is checking out their Instagram or Twitter to see what’s going on in life of their peers, relatives or celebrities.  Undoubtedly, social networks are a great technological breakthrough that promises many opportunities for people around the world, but progress comes with a price. Facebook users do not think of the consequences of their behavior when they post a tremendous amount of pictures and posts about their daily life that can actually be used against them in future. There were many cases when people bragged about every single detail about their upcoming vacation and burglars actually used this information to rob their houses. The whole idea of social networks is going to be considered barbaric in hundred years; people and future generations are going to regret about their internet activities. Posting inappropriate information on social media can hurt your chances of getting a job; and even if a person has hundreds of friends on Facebook, there is no real connection with these people.

The fact is that even if an individual gets rid of some pictures or messages on their laptops or smartphones, they are not going to disappear and government has an access to them. This idea is terrifying, and there are actually people who pay professionals lots of money to delete all the information that they once provided. Even though, there are some great aspects of this example, such as keeping in touch with people overseas, sharing knowledge but society misses these opportunities. Social networks will seem morally wrong and “backwards”, because it has more disadvantages, harm and bad influence on people.