Act 1 Scene 2

In act one scene two of Hamlet by Shakespeare; it concluded the prince Hamlet’s soliloquy. When the king Hamlet died after almost two months, his brother Claudius took his place to become the king and married his brother’s wife. Hamlet didn’t accept this. He didn’t want his uncle to married his mother and they celebrated their marriage just after Hamlet’s father died for almost two months. But he didn’t have brave to say what he thought, so he was mourning alone, and others all celebrated the new king’s marriage. So when others outside, he stayed in the room and took out his discontented.

There are two different films about Hamlet. I think Kenneth Branagh as Hamlet was better than Laurence Olivier as Hamlet. These two films shoot in different years, so the scenery was very different. From these scenes, the first one was more beautiful than the second one, and then the first one was color and the second was black and white. So when the people see these two films, almost people think the first one is better.

In Kenneth Branagh as Hamlet, the editor explained the king and the queen nobler than in Laurence Olivier as Hamlet. There were two chairs at the top of the room. It means that only the king and the queen can sit in the room. In Laurence Olivier as Hamlet, the king’s chair just was in front of others. Otherwise, the others also can sit in the room, because there were many chairs as same as the king’s. So we can found the first film explained the king was only one.

The lines in the films were almost as the same as the book of Hamlet. But in Laurence Olivier as Hamlet, there were two lines of lines missing. (P31 #159-160) From the missing words, we can found Hamlet hated her mother. I think it was an important part in Hamlet’s soliloquy. Because of he stayed in the room and didn’t go with others, it showed that Hamlet hated them. Just after almost two months of the king died, people can very happy to celebrate the new king’s marriage. Moreover, the new king married the queen was King Hamlet’s wife. So Hamlet not only had hate about them, but also had a big angry.

I don’t think the first film was better just for its color. The most important is the actor. Kenneth Branagh used a nice way to explained Hamlet’s mood at that time. The speed of soliloquy between almost the same, but in P29 #136, Kenneth Branagh Stopped a more second to started a new sentence than Laurence Olivier. I think it was better. At the beginning of Hamlet’s soliloquy, he was thinking. He was thinking about how to take out of his angry and hate. After he side the first two sentences, he may stopped a little and then continuous. In P31 #154-155, Kenneth Branagh used a very angry to say that sentence. I think that it was very suitable to explained Hamlet’s mood at that time. He was angry about why people can so happy just the king died after almost two months. So he must very angry to say that sentence to blame the people. He made the people as the beast, so it showed how angry Hamlet. But in Kenneth Branagh as Hamlet, he just used a usual tone to say this sentence. So it wasn’t suitable the mood of Hamlet at that time. If Hamlet can say that sentence at that tone, he may be one of the happy people at that time.

In the first film, Kenneth Branagh’s soliloquy said by himself, but in the second film, it show that words just in Hamlet’s heart, and it said by others. In his soliloquy, the last sentence was “but break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue.” So Hamlet was repressing his words. But at that time, everyone was outside expecting Hamlet, so he would take out his words. So at that time, it was better to speak loudly than quiet.

Generally, the first one was better than the second one, but in some place, the second was better than the first one. For example, the music. There was a little music in the second film. So it was good to explained Hamlet’s mood at that time. When a person said something by himself, others would feel unnatural. Because others would think that he just makes a show and earns other’s sympathy. Otherwise, at the beginning of the scene, we can’t see the face of Hamlet in Kenneth Branagh as Hamlet. I think this was a bad place. Because of the face can shoe all the emotion to others. In Laurence Olivier as Hamlet, the editor took many seconds on Laurence Olivier’s face. So we can see clearly his emotion at that time. From these seconds, we can found out that Hamlet was sad at that time. He was also in an awkward situation. He didn’t have brave say his confuse about his father’s dead. He can’t find out what emotion can he be at that time. Because of his father just died two months before, and his mother married his uncle. From hid face, it seems that he wanted ask what he can do at that time. Celebrate his mother’s marriage or still sad on his father’s dead? There was another different place between these two films. It was the action of these actors. Laurence Olivier’s action was very graceful. So we just see the action of the person, we can guess the person’s identify. It means that Laurence Olivier as prince was liker than Kenneth Branagh as Hamlet. Especially, it was a big different between them when they were thinking. But we can think about their ways to express their emotion. So Kenneth Branagh was more excited, it was suitable in the film. If the first film can do these part as the same as the second one, that would be more perfectly.