Hamlet - David Tennant, Patrick Stewart, Penny Downie. Act 5, Scene 1. -...

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By next Thursday (Assignment!!!)

Hi All,

So.  No class tomorrow (day 6).

You WILL have class on Monday.  Brandon will be with you; you will be doing a writing exercise.

You WILL NOT have class on Tuesday.

You WILL have class on Wednesday.  Brandon will be with you; you will continue the writing exercise.

You have TWO THINGS YOU MUST DO FOR HOMEWORK between now and next Thursday (when I return):

1) Please READ AND ANNOTATE Hamlet, Act Two Scene Two

2) Please choose an adaptation of Hamlet you'd like to study for your final assignment.

You will be asked to consider whether the "adaptation" IS a true adaptation, whether it is faithful, and whether it is successful.

Note: no more than three of you can choose the same version to discuss.

Here are a few you might consider:

FEATURE FILMS CALLED HAMLET

Franco Zepherelli’s 1990 Hamlet, with Mel Gibson in the lead role

Kenneth Branagh’s 1996 Hamlet, with himself in the lead role

Michael Almereyda’s 2000 Hamlet, with Ethan Hawke in the lead role

MADE-FOR-TELEVISION FILMS (year, star provided)

Christopher Plummer (1964)

Richard Chamberlain (1970)

Derek Jacobi (1980)

Kevin Kline (1990)

Campbell Scott (2000)

David Tennant (2010)

BY ANY OTHER NAME

Der Rest ist Schweigen (The Rest is Silence), dir Helmut Kautner

Warui Yatsu Hodo Noku Nemuru (The Bad Sleep Well) dir. Akira Kurosawa

Ophelia, dir Claude Chabrol (France, 1962)

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, by Tom Stoppard (read with “No Exit”) (film and/or stageplay)

Hamlet/Machine by Heiner Muller

Strange Brew, 1983, dirs. Bob and Doug Mackenzie

The Lion King (Disney Movie or Disney Stage Musical)

Fortinbras by playwright Lee Blessing

Dead Fathers Club by novelist Matt Haig

Hamlet II: Ophelia’s Revenge by novelist David Bergantino

Too Too Solid Flesh by science fiction novelist Nick O’Donahoe

Ophelia, written by playwright Dustin Wills

Twelve Ophelias: A Play with Broken Songs by playwright Caridad Svich

Gertrude and Claudius by novelist John Updike

2 posts in One (class hw + assigned day at the same. time.)

1)
when reading the book, one thing in noticed was how effectively Conrad used metaphors and similes to describe the senses in order to bring the reader in and let them 'experience' along with Marlow. I think the use of sound in the movie did a really good job of harassing the different senses, and really makes the experience of the journey 'real' the viewer, as it is in the book. The chopper sounds, the ominous music, the gunfire and explosion, the screaming; everything came together to create the confusion and insanity described in the book.

2)
One thing we talked about in class (and I blogged about earlier) was whether Heart of Darkness is a psychological journey into Marlow's mind, or a commentary on European colonialism. The first thing i noticed about the movie was how it also could be separated into both these paths. In the opening of the movie, Captain Ben's face is faded over scenes of explosions and concealing smoke. The close up of Ben's eyes and face indicate a psychological experience taking place, but at the same time it is a literal representation of colonialism in Vietnam.

Thesis

To accurately adapt something from one medium to another the adaptation must contain and be able to convey the same feelings as the original, even if the setting and characters are changed. In both Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness and Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now there is a feeling that our main character could snap at any time. Ultimately his adaptation is successful because even though almost everything about the story is changed except for the bare bones of the plot through his use of light and sound Coppola is able to capture the same sense of mystery and fear of the unknown.

A Thesis Statement

An “adaptation” is something that while having name changes, story changes, or even setting, still manages to echo themes of the work it is adapting. In this regard, Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now manages to be an adaptation that differs from Conrad’s Heart of Darkness with its transplantation from Darkest Africa to Vietnam, yet still manages to capture the sense of dread, darkness, and fear that such primitive places have over men. Like in Conrad’s seminal novel, the end result of the movie is an apocalypse where the mind, physical body, and souls of men are completely and utterly destroyed by their situations.

Any suggestions would be helpful.

Melina

Apocalypse Now is filmed in a way where structure and sequence play an important role. At first I was distracted by the superficial scenes such as the scene where Captain Willard strips off his clothes, depressively dancing, and then punches a mirror. However, as the storyline developed I realized the importance of the self-destructive episode--it transcribed the outside description of the charcter Marlow mentioned in Heart of Darkness. Only the audience and Willard know what happened in that room, therefore we become the omnious narrator describing Marlow as "not typical (if his propensity to spin yarns be expected), and to him the meaning of an episode was not inside like a kernel but outside, enveloping the tale which brought it out only as a glow brings out a haze" (pg.6). Likewise, almost all the other scenes are introduced in a confusing way, where we don't quite understand until another scene explains its importance. This occurs all throughout the novel, where many moments are unrecognizable until another occurence makes the light bulb go on. So far, it's been faithful.