Out of all the three movies of Hamlet, my favorite was the 19th century version, directed by Ken Branagh. This version delineated my view of the play. When the beginning started off mysterious, dark, and ominous, I felt it captured the mood by the use of shadows and camera angles for the ghost. The use of music also contributed to tone since the tempo, dynamics, and articulations of the music reflected the emotions of the frenetic guards.
In the sumptuous wedding, I loved how Hamlet contrasted greatly from everyone through the director's choice of colors. The court was bright, elaborate, and joyful while lonely Hamlet wore all black, signifying his depression from his father's recent death. Furthermore, the camera angles really emphasized the emotions of the characters. I could feel the tension between Claudius and Hamlet after the camera zoomed up on each of their facial expressions.
The character choices were quite accurate for my taste. Hamlet seemed neither too old or too young. The actors/actresses did quite well in their role also. As Hamlet emphasized important words, I felt the raw emotion during his soliloquy, which made me understand his complete disapproval with his mother's marriage. Finally, I enjoyed the fact that this version stayed true to the original script of the play with little to no alterations.
