The portrayal of the "To Be, or Not to Be" soliloquy
from Act III of Hamlet by
Kenneth Branagh best fit the theme of the speech. To start off, the camera
angle chosen by the director at the beginning of the soliloquy was a view from
behind Hamlet's shoulder as he peered into the mirror. This is a more
personable shot, as the audience is seeing everything from Hamlet's point of
view. The fact that the entire soliloquy is spoken as he stares at his
reflection is also an interesting mis en scene choice by the director, as he is
forced to look at his mortal self while weighing the advantages and
disadvantages of suicide and death. Another interesting choice the director
made in this excerpt was to include Claudius watching Hamlet through a
two way mirror. This mis en scene choice, not included in the other video
excerpts created a dramatic irony, in the sense that the audience knew Claudius
was eavesdropping on Hamlet and the fact that Hamlet believes the mirror is a
safe place for him to confess his thoughts, as it's only supposed to be between
him and his reflection. This also reflects the idea of "fear of the
unknown" as Hamlet does not know what actually lies behind the mirror.
This excerpt also chose to depict the scene in a bright, open space filled with
light and vibrant colors, but depicted Hamlet dressed in all black. This
reinforces the theme that Hamlet's desire to commit suicide is overpowered by
his logic and reasoning that it is a sin that will cause everlasting judgement.
The metaphor comparing sleep and death, "'The slings and arrows of
outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,"
(3.1.57-58), is also supported by this excerpt because the director chose to
have Hamlet place a dagger to his face, representing the "slings and arrows"
or weapons of war, as struggles in life, but then takes it away from his face
when he comes back to reality and logic. This also appeals to the the
rhetorical appeals of logos, as Hamlet weighs his options and in the end takes
the dagger away from his face as he considers logic of eternal judgement.
I would place the portrayal of the
"To Be or Not to Be" soliloquy from Act III of Hamlet by Lawrence Oliver second, because
although I believe mis en scene choices by Branagh were better, this excerpt
still made very important choices. For example, the director chose to switch
the camera angles from focusing on Hamlet to facing over a cliff to a rocky
shore below, from the point of view of Hamlet. This enforced the theme of
Hamlet pondering whether or not suicide is worth it, as the view of the sea
below is taunting him and is almost as if Hamlet changes his mind multiple
times throughout the soliloquy as he shifts from his desires to his logic. The
sea being below him also enforces the idea of "fear of the unknown"
as the depths of the ocean is considered scary and unknown to us. Hamlet is
also depicted in dark clothing despite the sunny atmosphere around him,
reinforcing the theme of Hamlet's desire to die is overpowered by his logic and
reasoning. I would then place the portrayal of the "To Be or Not to
Be" soliloquy from Act III of Hamlet by
Ethan Hawke third, although it did still have some mis en scene choices similar
to the other two. For example, the director chose to portray Hamlet once again
in all black, with vibrant colors in the film store surrounding him,
reinforcing death being overpowered by logic and reasoning. The director also
chose to have Hamlet set in a modern day film store and filmed him walking down
the "action" aisle as well as zooming in on an action movie playing
in the store, which reinforces the metaphor of "slings in arrows".
Despite this, I didn't believe this excerpt did a very good job depicting the
theme of "fear of the unknown" as well as the metaphor between sleep
and death.
