Comparison of Hamlet the Play and Movie

A book and a movie are never the same. Many times there are quite a few differences between the two. Some differences in movie tend to emphasize certain scenes that we the director believes are the most important ones in the movie. In general the movie tends to add or leave out certain things in order to make the movie more interesting and capturing to the audience. For this essay, the movie that Hamlet is being compared to is the version with Mel Gibson and Glenn Close. In this version, the direction left out details of the original play and added new scenes in order to make the play more appealing and emphasize what he thought were the most important parts of the play.
One of the most capturing scenes that really stands out between the two is the scene that depicts the funeral of King Hamlet. In the play there is not scene that depicts the funeral of kind Hamlet. However, in the movie the scene is present as well as very well depicted. In this case, we see that the director believes that the death of Hamlet the main character is important and key to the production of the movie. The director thought it was so important that he used it to replace the opening scene of the play. In the actual play the opening scene portrays the ghost of King Hamlet that appears to the guards on duty. This is also the scene of how the ghost is introduced into the play. The movie on the other end does not show this scene at all. The director completely ignores it and replaces it with what he thinks the audience will like more or will relate to more easily.
Another significant contrast between the play and the movie is the depiction of Fortibras receiving a letter from the dying Hamlet in the play in order to become the new king. Fortinbras take the letter and makes a speech accepting the honor that Hamlet has just given him. The movie never shows the end scene of Frontibras making his big speech
Additionally, the movie fails to include one of the characters that are present in the play. In the play Polonius asks Reynaldo to travel to France and spy on his son Laertes. The movie on the other hand the movie fails to even include Reynaldo. Again, this lets the audience know what the director values most in the play.
The differences between the movie and the play are quite a few but not large enough to change the meaning of the play. They are both portraying the same message and the same main events. It is understandable that these discrepancies exist because of the two different kind of audience that is being directed to. Overall, the movie is a great description of the play and it does a great job of portraying Shakespeare’s message and story line.