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William Shakespeare's Play in Film Adaptation

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William Shakespeare's Play in Film Adaptation UNIVERZITA KARLOVA V PRAZE – FILOZOFICKÁ FAKULTA ÚSTAV ANGLOFONNÍCH LITERATUR A KULTUR BAKALÁŘSKÁ PRÁCE Tetiana Kurtiak Hamlet on Screen: William Shakespeare's Play in Film Adaptation Vedoucí bakalářské práce: PhDr. Soňa Nováková, CSc., M.A.. Praha, Srpen 2015 Declaration: Prohlašuji, že jsem tuto bakalářskou práci vypracovala samostatně, že jsem řádně citovala všechny použité prameny a literaturu a že práce nebyla využita v rámci jiného vysokoškolského studia či k získání jiného či stejného titulu. Souhlasím se zapůjčením bakalářské práce ke studijním účelům. Prohlášení: I declare that the following BA thesis is my own work for which I used only the sources and literature mentioned, and that this thesis has not been used in the course of other university studies or in order to acquire the same or another type of diploma. I have no objections to the BA thesis being borrowed and used to study purposes. V Praze dne …………… …………… Acknowledgement: I would like to express my sincere gratitude to PhDr. Soňa Nováková, CSc., M.A., my supervisor, for her support, encouragement, valuable guidance, and most importantly patience throughout my studies. Keywords: William Shakespeare, Hamlet, film adaptation, Laurence Olivier, Kenneth Branagh, Franco Zeffirelli, Michael Almereyda, theatre, film. Klíčová slova: William Shakespeare, Hamlet, filmová adaptace, Laurence Olivier, Kenneth Branagh, Franco Zeffirelli, Michael Almereyda, divadlo, film. Abstract: The purpose of my thesis is to study the process of a play-to-film adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark. It deals with the issues concerning film adaptation, the complexity of transferring drama onto the screen, and, consequently, analyses the individual filmic readings of Shakespeare’s play. The four British and American film adaptations discussed in this thesis are: the black-and-white version of Hamlet by Laurence Olivier (1948), the popularized Hamlet by Franco Zeffirelli (1990), the four-hour Hamlet by Kenneth Branagh (1996), and a modern version directed by Michael Almereyda in 2000. This study will focus on the comparison of two forms of art, theatre and cinema, and explore the given adaptations not only as an instrument of transition and improved audio-visual experience, but as a separate work of artistry. The thesis demonstrates how one play alters and redefines its narrative depending on the time period, cultural factors, and enhanced technologies. Abstrakt: Cílem mé práce je zkoumání procesu filmové adaptace divadelní hry Williama Shakespearea Tragédie o Hamletovi. Zabývá se otázkami týkajícími se filmovou adaptací, složitostí přenosu divadelní hry na plátno, a tedy potažmo také analýzou jednotlivých filmových čtení Shakespearovské hřy. Čtyři filmové adaptace probírané v této práci jsou: černo-bílá verze Hamleta Laurencea Olivier (1948), zpopularizovaný Hamlet Franca Zeffirelliho (1990), čtyřhodinový film Hamlet Kennetha Branaghy (1996), a moderní verze natočená Michaelem Almereydem v roce 2000. Tato prace se zaměřuje na srovnání dvou forem umění, divadla a kina. Zkoumá dané úpravy nejen jako nástroje přechodu a lepšího audio-vizuálního prožitku, ale také jako samostatného uměleckého díla. Konkrétní provedení mění a nově definuje svůj příběh v závislosti na časovém období, kulturních faktorech a zlepšené technologii. Table of content: INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………………………….…..7 CHAPTER 1:…………………………………………………………………………………...................8 1.1The Play……………………………………………………………………………………….8 1.2 Theatre and Film……………………………………………………………………………...9 1.3 Adaptations………………………………………………………………………………..…11 1.4 Potential Problems in Adapting a Play………………………………………………………12 1.5 Jorgen’s Adaptation Topology………………………………………………………………13 CHAPTER 2: HAMLET BY LAURENCE OLIVIER……………………………………………….......15 2.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………….15 2.2 Manipulations with the Text………………………………………………………………...16 2.3 The Forth Soliloquy…………………………………………………………………………17 2.4 The Setting and the Style of the Adaptation………………………………………………...18 2.5 The Protagonist……………………………………………………………………………...19 2.6 The Closet Scene…………………………………………………………………………….20 2.7 The Ghost……………………………………………………………………………………20 2.8 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………...21 CHAPTER 3: HAMLET BY FRANCO ZEFFIRELLI…………………………………………………..23 3.1 The Cast …………………………………………………………………………………….23 3.2 Film …………………………………………………………………………………………24 3.2.1 Appearance……………………………………………………………………….24 3.2.2 The Dichotomy of Gibson’s Hamlet……………………………………………..24 3.2.3 Gertrude…………………………………………………………………………..26 3.2.4 The Closet Scene…………………………………………………………………27 3.3 Fidelity and Film Techniques……………………………………………………………….27 3.4 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………..29 CHAPTER 4: HAMLET BY KENNETH BRANAGH………………………………………………….30 4.1 Widescreen Opulence Four Hours Long……………………………………………………30 4.2 The Setting…………………………………………………………………………………..31 4.3 The Cast……………………………………………………………………………………..32 4.3.1 The Protagonist and his Milieu…………………………………………………...33 4.3.2 Ophelia……………………………………………………………………………35 4.4 Insets………………………………………………………………………………………...35 4.5 “To be or not to be” and Mirrors……………………………………………………………36 4.6 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………..37 CHAPTER 5: HAMLET BY MICHAEL ALMEREYDA………………………………………….......38 5.1 Alterations…………………………………………………………………………………..38 5.2 New Take on Familiar Figures……………………………………………...........................39 5.3 Signs, Tone, and Cinematic Devices………………………………………………………..41 5.4 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………..43 CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………………..45 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………………..47 Introduction This thesis deals with film adaptations, based on the eminent play by William Shakespeare. Its aim is to acquaint the reader with the concept of adaptation, provide an insight into two different forms of art such as play and a film. Moreover, to demonstrate how and in what way their specific devices are utilized in the following adaptations, corroborated by the various examples. This work will reference Shakespeare’s renowned tragedy Hamlet as its primary source. As this play continued to intrigue the minds of filmmakers, it resulted in a wide scope of cinematic works to examine. This thesis will analyse four selected English-speaking adaptations filmed by Olivier, Zeffirelli, Branagh, and Almereyda, as they offer diversity in their adaptation technique, style, and a date of production. The purpose of this work is to analyse four given adaptations, compare and contrast them with the original play and in relation to one another. To be more precise, the first chapter provides a shortly summarized central theme of the given play and some of its motifs. It describes the theatrical and cinematic methods and techniques used in the respective forms of the performing art, as well as its comparison, the material for which is provided by the representatives of the world of the Cinema. It introduces certain topologies of adaptations and theorists devoted to this subject, such as Linda Hutcheon, Jack J. Jorgens, Timothy Corrigan, who are referred to in the thesis. Successive chapters deal with the analysis of the chosen film production, cross-comparison with the other works along with the assertion of the effect the alterations have on the plot. The analysis of each adaptation will focus on points idiosyncratic for a specific film. The second chapter is concerned with Hamlet, directed by Laurence Olivier in 1948, the peculiar aspect of which resides in the Freudian interpretation of a mother-son relationship. The third chapter explores Franco Zeffirelli’s Hamlet (1990), whose main purpose was to bring this literary work to the masses again. Hamlet (1996) by Kenneth Branagh, the fullest film production of the play, is reviewed in a chapter four. His adaptation is usually compared to Olivier's Hamlet, and juxtaposed to Michael Almereyda's film (Hamlet (2000)), noted for its time and place transition. 7 CHAPTER 1 1.1 The Play Hamlet, the play, deals with the excruciation of a human soul in a state of helplessness and capability to make choices regardless of a possible failure. Hamlet’s ideas of moral principles are distorted and destroyed. He was betrayed by his family and important women in his life, which resulted in an inner conflict that manifested itself into a state of constant hesitation (whether his actions were justified or not). The kaleidoscope of human emotions is a prime concern. Hamlet is shrewd, sincere, and passionate. He is a true friend, a loyal son and has a strong sense of justice, since he cannot get his revenge and kill Claudius until he is completely certain of the King's guilt. There are several interesting factors, which influenced the text, and one has to bear them in mind and make use of them for further interpretation of the play and its cinematic versions. Shakespeare was an adherent supporter of the Renaissance Humanism and demonstrated a great interest in human nature, which can be observed in many of his works. He tried to get below the surface of a human being and extract the complex diversity of man’s virtues and flaws. These ideas are also present in Hamlet, which does not lack an assortment of allusions to Ancient Greece, its mythology and history. Shakespeare’s plays, in general, are typically “saturated with his favourite classical authors, especially Ovid, Virgil, Seneca, Plautus, Cicero, Terence and Plutarch.”1 A point to remember is that the notion of a ghost was treated differently during the Elizabethan period than it is nowadays. They were an ordinary
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