To be or not to be...

[Delenda Carthago]

And which Hamlet do you propose for me to see?

I am between this

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und die

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[UltraWright]

I have not watched either and hence can not give you an opinion :(. However, I could not but notice that the atmosphere in the 1996 one makes it look like it belonged to Czarist Russia. Why is that?

[El Chuncho]

You should watch both to contrast and compare. Also you should seek out the version with Nicol Williamson.

[ZeroNowhere]

To what purpose? Because, all things considered, you probably have better things to do with your time than watch them if you don't have to (for example, reading or re-reading the play).

[Rooster]

Neither, watch this instead:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080835/

e0fJ_ZZCrAA

[Sasha]

fuck hamelet, the most boring of all of shakespeares works, watch this movie instead: w5_ayuaCzZs

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosencrantz_%26_Guildenstern_Are_Dead_%28film%29

if you want to see some good actual Shakespeare watch ian mckellens version of Richard III

[Delenda Carthago]

To what purpose? Because, all things considered, you probably have better things to do with your time than watch them if you don't have to (for example, reading or re-reading the play).

I want to see Hamlet.

[ZeroNowhere]

fuck hamelet, the most boring of all of shakespeares works, watch this movie instead:
Living up to your name, I see.

[DDR]

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This one is the best version of them all (it's strange that none has posted it) :laugh:

Anyhow read the play it will keep you entretained for days

[Delenda Carthago]

fuck hamelet, the most boring of all of shakespeares works, watch this movie instead: w5_ayuaCzZs

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosencrantz_%26_Guildenstern_Are_Dead_%28film%29

if you want to see some good actual Shakespeare watch ian mckellens version of Richard III

you'r fakin krazy, but I will see this movie for sure.very funny.

[Sasha]

Living up to your name, I see.

why? you want to argue that hamlet is better than richard III, the tempest, othello, the merchant of venice or king lear?
hamlet is the spiderman of shakespeares work, i cant stand the wining little emo and i really dont understand why everybody loves it so much.

[ZeroNowhere]

hamlet is the spiderman of shakespeares work, i cant stand the wining little emo and i really dont understand why everybody loves it so much.I'm a Grebanierite, so I think it's fairly clear that I wouldn't agree with that characterization. Maybe you've been watching too much Olivier?

[Sasha]

im not really familiar with movie adaptations, i studied theater so i read all the originals multiple times and lots of reworkings and seen way to many stage adaptations though...

[El Chuncho]

Neither, watch this instead:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080835/

e0fJ_ZZCrAA

Derek Jacobi is one of the finest Hamlets! ;)

[Tommy4ever]

Watch the 1948 version with Laurence Olivier! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet_(1948_film))

[praxis1966]

Of the two selected in the OP I have to go with the Branagh production. Despite it's modernization, which generally I hate (see the version of Hamlet with Ethan Hawke or the interpretation of Romeo and Juliet with Claire Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio and you'll see why), it's really well done. The one with Gibson, on the other hand, is a total fucking aberration. The scene in Queen Gertrude's bedchamber when Polonius is killed is an abomination in that one...

[bcbm]

i prefer the branagh one, he has done a couple good shakespeare movies.

[Volcanicity]

Don't watch but listen to the voice of the great John Gielgud.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCyjXJ9oogg.

[Manic Impressive]

Of the two selected in the OP I have to go with the Branagh production. Despite it's modernization, which generally I hate (see the version of Hamlet with Ethan Hawke or the interpretation of Romeo and Juliet with Claire Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio and you'll see why), it's really well done. The one with Gibson, on the other hand, is a total fucking aberration. The scene in Queen Gertrude's bedchamber when Polonius is killed is an abomination in that one...
What's wrong with modernizing or adapting a story if it helps more people relate to it's content? I find your attitude quite snobbish.
:tt2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_L_5vrHoWQ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_L_5vrHoWQ)

[praxis1966]

What's wrong with modernizing or adapting a story if it helps more people relate to it's content? I find your attitude quite snobbish.
:tt2:

It's not that I disagree with modernizations in the main. As I said, I quite liked the Branagh production. The way they were done in the examples I mentioned was fucking terrible (as is the case most of the time), though. Romeo and Juliet was particularly bad... Turning the sabre into a brand of gun and then smacking me over the head with an extreme closeup just in case I didn't get it? C'mon, man, be for real. Of course, it didn't help that in neither case that anybody involved seemed capable of handling the dialogue.

Besides, you really can't tell me that 10 Things I Hate About You or O somehow improved upon The Taming of the Shrew or Othello, respectively.

[Sasha]

Anything is an improvement of "the taming of the shrew", vile sexism like that piece of reactionary crap might have been progressive in Victorian times but you really can not play that piece now anymore without adapting it in some shape or form.

[Agent Ducky]

While on the subject of Shakespeare-adapted movies, has anyone seen that adaptation of Macbeth that's set in the USSR, and Macbeth is supposed to be analogous to Stalin, getting all paranoid and killing everyone? Watched it in class, it was interesting.

[praxis1966]

Anything is an improvement of "the taming of the shrew", vile sexism like that piece of reactionary crap might have been progressive in Victorian times but you really can not play that piece now anymore without adapting it in some shape or form.

Not that I'd defend the sexism at all, but it's not like you can improve the dialogue by completely rewriting it... At least not without completely destroying the original artist intent. I suppose the only question is why anyone would want to do it in the first place.

[Manic Impressive]

I was 1/2 joking but yeah why not be open about regurgitating the same stories, it happens all the time anyway why not be upfront about it. It can actually inspire people who like those films to go read the originals and that can't be a bad thing. The idea that Shakespeare should only be done by posh English geezers is a little elitist.

[praxis1966]

The idea that Shakespeare should only be done by posh English geezers is a little elitist.

Yeah, except that's actually not what I was saying at all. But since you seem to have an axe to grind, don't let me stop you by any means.