Hamlet's Dilemma

     I feel Hamlet was right to wait and that his dilemma sure is a difficult one. His mission given to him by his MURDERED father is a mission of revenge. I'm sure, well at least I know I would, he wants to get the most out of it. So why would he kill him then when if he did Claudius would have even the slimmest chance to go to heaven? Hamlet knows that's not what he deserves so he waits. So catch him in a moment of committing a sin or any moment where he's not ready for his passage to heaven. Wether it's him snooping on a conversation (this is a foul act because Hamlet killed Polonius for it, thinking it was Claudius, while he was spying on his conversation with Gertrude), sleeping as his father was, adultery, murder again, robbery, lying, or anything of that nature then bam. Hmet should take his life right there and then. At any of those situations Hamlet could not let himself hesitate otherwise it would be too late. Claudius could repent again and it would be back to square one once again. The religious beliefs back then in that time were very strong and any little thing about religion made a big deal. That's why hamlet even believes that Claudius repenting will send Claudius to Heaven even though he committed murder. Who knows? However, in my opinion I feel Hamlet was right to wait and should definitely kill Claudius the next chance he gets.

To be or not to be post

I liked all four of the "to be or not to be" scenes from the four movies but each has their own special trait that made them different and worth seeing. 

    In my opinion, and once again, I liked the Mel Gibson one the best. I loved the setting (inside the catacombs with tombs), and as always Mel Gibson's acting was on point. He made the scene emotional with his actions of walking from place to place and looking at the tombs. It was dark also which made the scene more serious. However, it wasn't really how I pictured it in my head.

      The Olivier one was the one who showed me the portrayal of the scene of how I would have put it. It was set on the roof of a castle looking down on crashing waves with mist all around. At first, he was thinking the speech and it transitioned into him saying it aloud. I thought that was the best part of it to be honest. I also really liked how he would stand on the edge of the castle. It enforced the speech and how it was about contemplating wether suicide or choosing to live is the best choice.

     The branagh's scene was set in the castle with the actor playing Hamlet was staring at himself in the mirror. This, to me, was the best part of the scene. It made the scene thought-provoking because of what the speech is talking about and how the character stares at himself while speaking. It shows a true sense of the contemplation of wether or not suicide is better than living one's life.

      The Almereyda scene, or the most modern version of the "to be or not to be" scene was not as bad this time. I'm not too sure why they would set it in a blockbuster and what the significance of blockbuster is but on one of the TV's it showed someone getting shot and killed. I feel as if that had significance to what the speech was about. Also, in the background the music made the scene that just more emotional and serious, along with the good acting and body language by the actor.

The ghost scene (Ricca)

   In my opinion, I really hated the third version of the ghost scene in Hamlet. It was way too modern and just no where near fit my visual expectations of the scene. I did not like the body language and facial expressions of the actor who was playing Hamlet and the actor who played the ghost was way too serious and seemed as if he was hurting Hamlet. On the other hand, the background music and the use of the camera definitely helped the scene out a little but not enough. The music made the scene eerie and scary, while the close ups and angles with the camera made it serious. 

     The second and first version of the ghost scenes are the ones I liked the most. Even though each had their faults, I feel if both directors put their ideas together for one ghost scene, they would create the perfect portrayal of it. The Mel Gibson version had great acting and great special effects with background music. I really liked how the ghost cried and so did Hamlet towards the end of ther conversation, it really brought emotion into the scene. What I didn't like about it was the lighting. It was way to dark and you couldn't see as much especially because it was in a dark castle. In the other version, the scene was placed in a forest and the lighting was a bit lighter so you could see more. I didn't like the acting but I liked how the ghost looked. He really looked like a ghost compared to the other two versions. The dialogue was so fast to make the scene intense and the close-ups on the ghost's mouth made the scene scary. Yet, with all of that my favorite part about this version and what makes it the best version is the fact it had flashbacks. The flashbacks clearly showed how King Hamlet died and how the uncle had remorse. Those are things that one would not be able to know without those flashbacks.