Background
The Opening Scene
William Shakespeare created a fascinating opening scene in Hamlet. It sets a clear mood and foreshadows what is to come. He creates tension with the first line, "Who's there?" from Bernardo as he stands watch on top of Elsinore castle. Francisco replies by demanding that Bernardo reveal his identity. Bernardo's reply, "Long live the King!" is brilliant in its simplicity and it resonates meaning. As we learn just a bit later there is something amuck with the King of Denmark. Exactly who should live long? The King whose ghost is walking the castle, Hamlet, the rightful heir to the throne, or Claudius, the murderer and usurper to the thrown? Shakespeare builds off the mood and weighty meaning created by these few short lines in the rest of the scene. In it the audience learns that something is very wrong in Denmark. The dead King is walking the castle and Prince Fortinbras of Norway is attempting to wage war against Denmark. Shakespeare even has Horatio make reference to Julius Caesar's murder and the horrible things that appeared after that.
The brilliance of this opening scene is unquestioned. As an English teacher I have found that it hooks my students instantly. After reading the first few lines they always want to know why Bernardo and Francisco are so afraid while patrolling the top of a castle. Who exactly do they expect to encounter up there? The ghost is extremely attractive because they know whenever there is a ghost there is sure to be trouble. The hint of war excites them because students always enjoy a bloody scene or two. Finally, the reference to Julius Caesar engages them because they read the play in tenth grade and always like to see references to things they know. This scene does much more than just grab the attention of my students and encourage them to read, it is also a wonderful mechanism for teaching the structure of a story or play. Directly after reading it we discuss what Shakespeare is trying to convey with this first scene. After each act I return to this scene to see if the students find any more significance once they have more information. By doing this the students learn to unravel the depth of meaning in the language, and they begin doing this to the other scenes on their own.
So if Shakespeare created such a powerful opening scene why do so many directors who transfer the play to film delete this scene? I am unsure myself, so I think it would be interesting to explore this issue with my students. The three film versions of the play I chose for this unit all reject the opening scene written by Shakespeare. The scenes that have replaced the original are unique and brief. No scene is much more than five minutes in length. These short, yet distinct scenes are a way to enter into deep film analysis with your students. Throughout the year I will show many film clips of books, and through these clips I will teach my students the language of film analysis. My hope is that by the time we get to our work with Hamlet my students will not be stunted in their ability to analyze film by their lack of film vocabulary. Additionally, each scene is short enough to work within the length of a few class periods and enable me to show a clip several times if necessary. Finally, these scenes segue naturally to a discussion of the female characters of the play, which is another focus of my unit.
Kozintsev's Opening
Grigori Kozintsev created his Hamlet film in a post World War II and post Stalin era of the former Soviet Union, and his experiences in Russia are evident in the isolated and prison-like elements of the film. He first worked with Hamlet on the stage in 1941, as the Germans attacked Russia, before moving the play to the screen in 1964. His film is the most visually stunning of the three due to its use of heavy, earthy images and his decision to shoot it in black and white. This is my favorite of the three films. When I first viewed it I had an immediate visceral reaction to the powerful sounds and images Kozintsev brings to the screen. I felt it was an important film to use in my classroom because Kozintsev, more than any other director, uses all the registers of the film medium to create his version. I felt that my students would respond to this film despite the fact that it is black and white and subtitled because Kozintsev creates an intense emotional reaction in the viewer.
The opening scene of the film is the most overtly dramatic of the versions I have chosen. As well as creating a sense of what the rest of the film will bring, it sets up most of the elements necessary in a Shakespeare tragedy from a literary perspective. It begins with the image of a rough sea shot from the top of a high cliff, slow church bells sound in the background. The view switches to a shot of a stone wall with a flaming wall sconce for the title sequence while the church bells continue. Suddenly, loud operatic music begins as black flags are dropped from windows, archways, and turrets. A long shot shows two riders on horses barreling toward the castle. The men jump from their horses and race up stone steps. There is an extended shot of a heavy wooden drawbridge slowly closing as the imposing iron portcullis shuts. This switches to a shot of Gertrude, dressed in flowing black, running to Hamlet as he rushes towards her. A towering black cloth unfurls from the high ceiling behind them and they embrace. We see Gertrude's face as she sobs in her son's embrace; Hamlet's face is concealed from our view. Claudius, however, is seen looming in the upper left hand corner of the screen observing the moment between son and mother.
Within this brief scene Kozintsev gives us a wealth of information in his break from the original opening scene. First, he sets up the visual metaphors of his film with his shots of stone, fire, water, iron, and earth. These recurring motifs are a good way to help students think about what Kozintsev is trying to get across to his audience. Students are used to metaphors playing a role of great importance in literature, so the use of visual metaphors here should be easy for them to grasp. Kozintsev has actually explained what the visual images in his film represent:
- Stone: the walls of Elsinore, the firmly built government prison
- Iron: weapons, the inhuman forces of oppression, the ugly steel faces of war
- Fire: anxiety, revolt, movement; raging fiery tongues
- Sea: waves, crashing against the bastions, ceaseless movement, the change of the tides, the boiling of chaos . . . the silent endless surface of glass
- Earth : the world beyond Elsinore, amid stones—a bit of field tilled by a ploughman, the sand pouring out of Yorick's skull, and the handful of dust in the palm of the wanderer-heir to the throne of Denmark. (qtd. in Hindle)
The meaning that Kozintsev has applied to his visual metaphors shows a deep connection to the life he had in Russia. Showing the connection between the film and the director's life will give your students another route for analysis of the film. This will also begin to help students decide why Kozintsev rejects the opening scene that Shakespeare wrote for a scene of his own creation. Once the students begin examining the visual metaphors above, as well as the other elements of the opening scene, this should lead to ideas about what this opening scene gives to the film that Kozintsev believed Shakespeare's words could not.
In addition to setting up the interesting images/themes of the rest of the film the opening scene sets up a way to discuss the role of women in the film. Gertrude is one of the first people we see clearly. In fact, Kozintsev chooses to show Gertrude's grief while obscuring Hamlet's. His opening scene is all about Gertrude's loss and the reaction to that loss by others. Hamlet is first shown in a long shot, riding toward the castle. This long shot effectively separates him from the audience, and when Kozintsev does allow us a closer look at Hamlet, it is of his back. This could be a way to begin bringing out the isolation of the protagonist that is one of the defining elements of a Shakespearean tragedy. Kozintsev's Hamlet is "alienated from the audience in long shots" (Hatchuel 54). Additionally, if we are examining the women in the play, our lack of intimacy with Hamlet is a way to show us the tension created by Gertrude's relationships with men in the play. In the final shot of the opening scene everyone is reacting to Gertrude. Hamlet is embracing her, Claudius is watching her, and her grieving face is the focus of our attention as well. When considering the text of Shakespeare's play, there is much to demonstrate that the dead King, Claudius, and Hamlet all struggle with their love for this woman. Within Shakespeare's text all of the men acquiesce to her demands and do not hold her responsible for her actions. The ghost orders Hamlet "nor let they soul contrive against thy mother aught" (I.iv). Claudius creates an elaborate plan to kill Hamlet rather than just punishing him outright after the murder of Polonius because "the Queen his mother / lives almost by his looks" (IV, vii). Hamlet, while clearly upset with his mother's betrayal of his father's memory, only confronts her once in the entire play. By making Gertrude's grief the culmination of the opening scene Kozintsev is highlighting the strange dynamics of Gertrude's relationship with the men in the play.
Zeffirelli's Opening
Franco Zeffirelli's version of Hamlet starring Mel Gibson is very popular, but until recently it has been widely ignored by film critics. This is the version of the play I usually show to my students, and they enjoy it tremendously due to Gibson's energetic performance. Zeffirelli, like Kozintsev, creates a scene which occurs prior to the opening of the play. While Kozintsev shows us Hamlet arriving home upon hearing the news of his father's death, Zeffirelli shows us the dead King's funeral.
The film begins with a long shot of Elsinore castle high on a cliff above a sea. The setting is almost what one would expect for the film. A cliff side castle among rolling hills of green. However, in the opening Zeffirelli films the castle in blue black while the opening credits flash across the screen. Zeffirelli chooses to use soft, vaguely haunting music in the background. After the credits are finished there is a series of continuous shots of men in armor and subjects in full dress standing in a courtyard staring up at the castle. All of their faces are flat, expressionless. As the scene changes we hear a woman sobbing, and the funeral comes into view. This is a dark crypt, giving the impression of being deep in the ground under the castle. Gertrude is the first person we see. She is crying as she stands over her husband's body in the stone crypt. She pulls a metal comb from her hair in the shape of a flower and places it in her husband's hands. Shots of a somber Claudius are interspersed. The shot changes to a hand reaching out and grabbing a fistful of dirt. The camera follows the hand as it moves over the body of the King and sprinkles the dirt on the body. The camera slowly pans up the arm to reveal Hamlet in a hooded robe. Claudius says, "Let the world take note / You are the most immediate to our throne, /And with no less nobility of love / Than that which dearest father bears his son / Do I impart towards you." These lines are taken from Act I, scene ii of the play. Hamlet does not even look at Claudius when these lines are spoken. Instead, he turns to leave as the weighty stone covering is placed over the tomb of his father. Gertrude begins sobbing heavily and throws herself on the tomb, tears running down her face. She slowly lifts her head and looks across the tomb at Claudius. Her sobbing ceases as their eyes meet. There is a shot of Hamlet watching this exchange. Then the camera pulls away to show the scene from above as Hamlet exits.
Zeffirelli's opening scene is interesting in that it exhibits elements of the Shakespearean tragedy, but it primarily focuses on Gertrude. Zeffirelli shows Hamlet isolating himself by placing him in a hooded cloak and refusing to make eye contact with any other characters. This Hamlet is choosing isolation, while Kozintsev's Hamlet is placed in isolation by the way he is shot. Another interesting thing that Zeffirelli does in this scene is use lines from scene two to speak about Hamlet inheriting the throne. While Hamlet ignores Claudius's statement, this brings up the interesting issue of why Hamlet is not crowned King later in the film. This calls our attention to an important element in Shakespearean tragedy, the Great Chain of Being. This idea states that there is a specific hierarchy in the world, and when this hierarchy is disrupted through unnatural events, things go bad, very bad. In this play the chain is clearly disrupted by Claudius's murder of his brother and subsequent theft of the throne. When Zeffirelli has Claudius speak these lines in the opening scene it calls attention to the disruption. It also sets up additional tension between Claudius and Hamlet. As a teacher I am happy to see Zeffirelli call attention to the throne issue in his opening scene. Many students miss this while reading the text because lines about this are embedded in long speeches or soliloquies.
Zeffirelli's opening scene also makes it easy to find a way to focus on the women in the play. Gertrude is center stage in this scene, and the audience gets a better view of her grief, fleeting as it is, than of Hamlet's. It is her sobs we hear first, her tears we see. In fact, throughout the first scene Zeffirelli continually turns the camera on Gertrude. "Our first close-up is of Close's Gertrude, whose pale, sobbing face is wreathed by thick blond braids" (Crowl 50). The braids frame Gertrude's face, focusing our attention on her visible grief. Samuel Crowl in his book Shakespeare at the Cineplex, believes that this opening scene "establishes Zeffirelli's decision to focus on Hamlet as a family romance, to place Gertrude firmly at its center, to compete extravagantly with Olivier's oedipal version of the play" (51). This opening sets up the strange relationships that Gertrude has with Hamlet and Claudius in the rest of the film. If students examine this scene properly they may see that a love triangle will appear within this film version of Shakespeare's play.
Almereyda's Opening
Michael Almereyda created his version of Shakespeare's play in a modern setting. I chose to use it because it is one of the few films of Hamlet that uses the modern setting and maintains some semblance of the original text. While Almereyda's film chops out much of the text and moves much of what remains around, his adaptation is clearly an adaptation and not a "film inspired" by Shakespeare as is the case with many other modern versions of Shakespeare plays. Almereyda's version will enable my students to see a modern twist still within the realm of adaptation.
Within his opening scene he takes full of advantage of our modern society to give us an idea of the shape his adaptation will take as he rejects the opening scene that Shakespeare created. Almereyda begins with a continuous shot of New York at night filmed through the sunroof of a moving vehicle. Across this shot a textual summary is flashed to give the audience some context for what has come before this point. His summary ends with "The King's son, Hamlet, returns from school, suspecting foul
play . . ." The shot changes to someone walking through Times Square as pulsing music plays in the background. A highly reflective glass and metal building comes into view. The camera focuses on the flashing glass and metal revolving door at the entry way before sliding to the side to show us the words Hotel Elsinore in polished metal on the shiny building. The film abruptly switches to a shot of Hamlet on grainy black and white video mumbling lines "I have of late, but wherefore I know not, lost all my mirth" from Act II, scene ii of the play. He pauses in his delivery to hold a glass of clear liquid in front of him. He looks through the glass into the camera before putting the glass down and continues delivering the lines from the speech from Act II. The lines are delivered in a low, rough voice and the audience must strain to hear them clearly. While he speaks the lines, seemingly random images appear on the screen. There is a skeleton of an animal, a shot of cave painting, a stealth fighter jet etc. The camera switches to a short shot of Hamlet off of the black and white screen. He is in color, although in shadow, wearing sunglasses and manipulating an editing program on a video deck where we see the video we have been watching up to this point. The camera focuses on the video deck and the black and white video screen of Hamlet. We see that Hamlet is increasing the volume on his video, and the video shuts off and goes to fuzz. The word Hamlet appears in large letters on a red background that fills the entire movie screen as the title sequence begins and the opening scene ends.
Almereyda's opening scene may be the most difficult for students to analyze, but Almereyda, like Kozintsev, gives us all of the visual images that will become recurring motifs throughout his film. This would be the best way to begin to analyze this scene that is such a departure from Shakespeare's original and the other two films. Clearly technology is a focus of Almereyda's film. The fact that the opening scene is almost entirely made up of us watching a video that Hamlet has created shows this immediately. This video within a film concept recurs frequently. Almereyda has made Hamlet a filmmaker and Ophelia a photographer. So it important to consider what it means to watch an image or a video within the structure of another film. Almereyda may be commenting on the façades created by the characters in the play, he may be talking about the modern obsession with images, or this may relate to the constant surveillance of people in modern society. In addition to his use of video within a film there are the random images within Hamlet's video to examine. Almereyda said that his movie is "an attempt at Hamlet—not so much a sketch but a collage, a patchwork of intuitions, images, ideas" (qtd. in Crowl 189). Having the students think about this quotation may be an interesting way to have them approach their analysis of this scene.
Beyond the technology used in the opening scene the glitzy world of New York City is displayed. We are first introduced to New York looking up through a car sky light like an excited tourist. Then we move to Times Square, considered the center of New York to most tourists. Finally we see the shiny glass and metal "castle," Hotel Elsinore. David Denby says, "The black towers of Times Square, fretted with neon, tessellated with ledges, balconies, and catwalks, make a sinister and elegant setting for the power struggles" (qtd. in Crowl 190). Denby talks of New York as a setting, but I believe this setting becomes more of a character in the film. Almereyda constantly reminds us that Hamlet is surrounded by this modern city, and we are introduced to the film through the city. In addition, the shiny glass and metal of Hotel Elsinore are startlingly reflective in an otherwise darkly lit opening scene. This persists throughout the film as "the city, through Almereyda's camera, becomes one huge, glittering mirror, refracting light and reflecting images" (Crowl 190). This idea of reflection and mirrors connects well to Hamlet's constant internal reflection within the play, as well as the strange function of mirrors. Mirrors can show us an image of ourselves, but that image may not necessarily reveal truth. The theme of hiding from ones true self is a persistent theme within Shakespeare's play.
One difficulty to Almereyda's opening scene is the lack of women characters. His opening scene is about Hamlet, New York, technology, images, and reflection. The women are absent. Since my unit will also focus on the portrayal of women in the play I will have my students discuss the effect of the absence of women in the opening scene. Kozintsev and Zeffirelli both chose to show us Gertrude grieving in the opening scene, but Almereyda chooses to show us only Hamlet discussing his grief via a video screen. This choice says much about Almereyda's positioning of the women in the film, or at least of Hamlet's relationship to the women in the film. Almereyda has already isolated Hamlet from his audience by giving us access to his grief through the filter of a video screen, perhaps Hamlet is also isolating himself from the women in the play. Regardless, the absence of women from this opening scene seems peculiar because of the focus on Gertrude in the other two opening scenes.
An interesting twist to Almereyda's opening scene that is also a bit problematic is the summary he gives the audience. The final line "The King's son, Hamlet, returns from school, suspecting foul play . . ." is an unusual interpretation of what is going on at this point in the play. In Shakespeare's version Hamlet has left Wittenberg to attend his father's funeral and he stays for his mother's wedding. When he leaves school he does not suspect anything, and that is why his meeting with the ghost later in the play is so important. It is quite a departure from the text for Almereyda to tell his audience that Hamlet is suspicious of his father's death. This is an important discussion to have with students. This line of text across the screen at the beginning of the film pushes a certain interpretation and impacts the audience's reaction to characters when they meet them.
The Women
Now that we have looked at the opening scenes of the film it is time to turn to the women. The students' examination of the opening scenes will help them learn the focus of the film, which will enable them to effectively analyze the scenes with the women. We will watch the scenes with Gertrude where she encourages Hamlet to stay in Denmark, the bedroom scene, and the final scene where she dies. For Ophelia we will watch her conversation with her family about Hamlet, her scene with him where they are spied upon, and her insanity scene. If there is time we will also watch the play within a play scene.
Kozinstev creates two very interesting women in his play. Gertrude, played by Elza Radzin-Szolkonis a puzzling creation and not as clearly drawn as Ophelia, played by Anastasiya Vertinskyaya. Kozinstev goes to great lengths in his opening scene to show Gertrude's grief. We seemingly have a clear picture of who Gertrude is at this point in the play, yet the next time we see her she is distant and preoccupied. After the announcement is made that she and Claudius have married, Kozinstev shows her speaking to her son. They walk quickly through the castle, and she barely looks at him. Instead she looks at her image in a mirror, preparing herself to be seen by the court. This woman who was clutching at her son in their previous scene together is clearly keeping her distance. Perhaps this is from guilt, or maybe she is refusing to admit her actions are wrong, or perhaps she is a selfish woman. Our introduction to Ophelia is just as strong as our introduction to Gertrude, yet Ophelia's character seems much clearer. She is plainly being portrayed as a young, innocent victim in the play. When we first meet her, Vertinskyaya, a very pale blond girl, is bathed in white light. She appears to glow from within as she dances to music with her father watching in the next room. Her dancing is "like a mechanical doll" (Rothwell 186). This creates the impression that she is controlled by her father who is watching from the next room. Kozinstev continues to suggest that the innocent Ophelia is manipulated by encasing her in hard, unyielding corsets and strangling her in heavy veils. Within the film Ophelia is clearly a victim and we are meant to sympathize with her. In contrast Gertrude, after the opening scene, is "cold and lifeless" (Crowl 60). Her portrayal is not as clearly defined as Ophelia's.
This vague impression of Gertrude and clearly defined Ophelia should lead to some interesting discussion in the classroom. Gertrude, in Shakespeare's play, is a confusing character. One is never sure whether she is guilty of something beyond marrying too quickly, but she is a character who is suspicious none-the-less. Kozinstev's illusive Gertrude may have been created with this idea in mind. Our initial sympathy for the character is challenged by her behavior in the rest of the film, and this may create resentment and suspicion toward Gertrude. However, Kozinstev ensures that there can be no suspicion that Gertrude is involved in the plot to kill Hamlet. She actually arrives late to the duel, automatically making her innocent and leading to her death. Ophelia, on the other hand, is usually interpreted as an innocent victim in the play. Kozinstev takes this idea and enhances it by enveloping her in confining costumes, surrounding her by observers, and pouring clear white light over her. She becomes more than just a girl who is pushed around, she becomes a symbol of innocence abused and destroyed. Her pitiful funeral solidifies this idea. Kozinstev takes Shakespeare's female characters and enhances their most intriguing characteristics.
Zeffirelli's women are quite a contrast to Kozinstev's. Zeffirelli pits Gertrude against Ophelia in his film by making Gertrude the focal point in the movie. Gertrude, played by Glenn Close, is sensuous, passionate, and sexual. Kenneth Rothwell notes that Close turns "Freudian subtext into hypertext by rarely missing opportunities to kiss fervently both her husband and son full on the mouth" (141). In fact she is so physical with her son that it is hard to believe that there is not a sexual relationship between them. Ophelia, played by Helena Bonham-Carter, is certainly less physical and also less visually compelling in the film. Where Gertrude touches, caresses, and kisses, Ophelia steps back, casts her eyes to the floor, and wrings her hands. Zeffirelli dresses Gertrude in sky blue, airy creams, and sparkling silver and gold trims. Ophelia is rarely seen in anything other a dingy white or rough brown. When the two characters are in the same scene it is hard to look away from Gertrude, who under Zeffirelli's lighting and costumes, appears more youthful and energetic than the uncertain, bland Ophelia.
Zeffirelli's film creates a love triangle between Gertrude, Claudius, and Hamlet, and poor Ophelia becomes a random distraction for Hamlet. This is clearly shown in the bedroom scene which is startling in its violence and sexual nature. Hamlet is on top of Gertrude doing a disturbing mock rape as he lambasts Claudius and her relationship with him. Gertrude then does something rather interesting; she kisses her son on the mouth. This kiss goes far beyond the light kisses on the mouth we have seen before in the film. This kiss is extended, becoming extremely passionate and is only interrupted by the appearance of the ghost. After this scene Zeffirelli makes it hard not to believe that Hamlet is on a quest for revenge not simply because his father was murdered, but because his mother was stolen from him. This firmly places Gertrude at the center of the film and Ophelia off on the side.
Despite Zeffierelli's clear intentions to make Gertrude the focus of the film, Carter's powerful performance challenges Gertrude. "Carter is so compelling as Ophelia that she almost runs away with the film, a rare thing for poor Ophelia" (Anderegg 19). Zeffirelli only places her front and center in two scenes, but she is captivating in both. One is her mad scene which should always belong to Ophelia, and one is the play within a play, which should be about Hamlet and Claudius. To create this shift Zeffirelli moves lines from an early point within the play to the performance of "The Mousetrap." Hamlet stays with Ophelia for much of the scene when he should be concerning himself with Claudius. Then, when Claudius does react and Hamlet is celebrating his victory, the latter stops to focus on Ophelia. Here he delivers lines from an earlier scene in Shakespeare's text telling Ophelia to "get thee to a nunnery, go." Hamlet's interaction with Ophelia throughout this scene makes this scene "less about Hamlet's power struggle with Claudius than about the conclusion of his relationship with Ophelia" (Crowl 58). Zeffirelli's focus on Ophelia rather than Claudius in this scene may show that his version of Hamlet is really about the women.
Almereyda presents a rather contemporary approach to the women of the play. Gertrude is played by Diane Verona. This Gertrude is a modern, professional, well dressed woman. She is "bright, alert, stylish" and she "positively glows in Claudius's company" (Crowl 197). One of our first images of her is at a press conference where Claudius announces their marriage. She sits below him on a dais, looking up at him in admiration. She smiles perfectly for the press snapping photos of her. Her simple white blouse and elegant jewelry continue this image of perfection. She seems to be the perfect trophy wife. Ophelia, played by Julia Stiles, is also very modern in her portrayal. We first see Ophelia sitting in the audience of the press conference. She tries to get Hamlet's attention to set up a time to meet him later. She consistently resists her father and brother's attempts to keep her and Hamlet apart. Both of these women evolve throughout the film in unexpected ways. Gertrude, the image of perfection eventually cracks, and Ophelia's resistance crumbles and destroys her. After the murder of Polonius Gertrude begins drinking heavily, showing the audience the humanity underneath the image she strives so hard to create. This image she creates slowly dissolves throughout the film until the final scene. Here is seems clear that Gertrude knows the drink is poisoned, but she drinks it anyway to save her son. At this point the perfect trophy wife is replaced by a mother. Ophelia attempts at resistance seem futile. When Polonius is waving her letter from Hamlet in front of Hamlet's parents she tries to snatch it away. She stands on the edge of a pool and thinks about jumping in to escape her father. "Stiles resists her brother and father, but the price of her resistance is repression" (Crowl 196). When her father and Claudius use her to spy on Hamlet she cries as they hook up the wire, but does not pull away. She has become broken by their commands and manipulation. Her mad scene is placed in a very public arena, a show at the Guggenheim. Almereyda films her running up the various levels of the museum in a long shot, showing the effect of her pain and grief on everyone at the museum. It is her last attempt at resistance, forcing the private family affairs into a public arena, but it ends with her suicide.
Comments: