Light And Darkness In Branagh's Hamlet

Shakespeare is one of the world's most famous playwrights and is most famous for the line “to be or not to be.” This line comes from the play Hamlet in which Hamlet questions whether to live or to die. Overtime several film renditions have been created with different interpretations of this scene. In a 1996 film production directed by Kenneth Branagh, Hamlet is played by the same actor. In this rendition, Hamlet recites the soliloquy in front of a mirror. Another 1990 film production directed by Franco Zeffirelli with Mel Gibson acting as Hamlet, Hamlet paces through a family crypt. Although Gibson's rendition features the use of motifs of light and darkness and pans toward skeletons and tombstones, Brangh portrays a more powerful version by
Gibson begins the soliloquy walking down the stairs of a family crypt. He stops midway down the stairs when light from above shines on the back of his head. The rest of his body is in darkness, creating a transition between light and darkness. Gibson walks through the family crypt in darkness and discusses the benefits of death, but when he looks upward into a skylight where the light illuminates his face, he doubts whether he could commit suicide. The meaning of the motif of light and darkness is that light represents life, whereas darkness represents death and the afterlife. Gibson's rendition also features a powerful setting of tombstones, skeletons, and a skylight. On one end of the crypt is two open graves that have skeletons in them, the camera pans toward them when Hamlet cries “to die” (Shakespeare 3.1.72). Along the floor of the crypt are a number of tombstone that feature statues on them. Hamlet is able to personally connect with this setting because one of these tombstones is where his father may be buried. The skylight is also used to convey the meaning of the soliloquy by emphasizing the phrase “native hue of resolution” (Shakespeare 3.1.92). When Gibson recites these lines, he looks up to the skylight and reflects upon how the natural beauty of life has been diluted by the sins of man. Although the setting written by William Shakespeare is not clear, he uses Polonius and Claudius in the scene as lawful espies. In this rendition, the lawful espies are not present, removing an important aspect of the scene. Unlike each of the other soliloquies this one is unique because Hamlet is not truly alone. Despite powerful motifs and a dark setting, Gibson's rendition diverges from the original intent of the