HAMLET meeting his father's GHOST
HAMLET
Play by W. Shakespeare (1603)
Film by F. Zeffirelli (1990)
L’Histoire__The Plot
Un nouveau monarque règne sur la cour du Danemark, Claudius,
qui vient d'épouser la reine Gertrude.
Le remariage hâtif et incestueux de son oncle avec sa mère
n'est pas fait pour plaire au jeune prince Hamlet.
Une nuit, le spectre de son père lui apprend qu'il a été empoisonné
par Claudius et lui impose le devoir terrible de le venger...
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Zefferelli does yet another Shakespeare, with less success
than he had with Taming of the Shrew or Romeo and Juliet.
Hamlet returns to Denmark when his father, the King, dies.
His mother Gertrude has already married
Hamlet's uncle Claudius, the new King.
They urge Hamlet to marry his beloved Ophelia.
But soon the ghost of Hamlet's father appears and tells Hamlet
that he was murdered by Claudius and Gertrude.
Hamlet must choose between passive acquiescence
and the need for a vengeance which might lead to tragedy.
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Réalisateur du film
Franco Zeffirelli
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franco_Zeffirelli
http://french.imdb.com/name/nm0001874/
http://www.premiere.fr/premiere/cinema/films-et-seances/fiches-personnalite/franco-zeffirelli
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Sites on the film
in English:
http://www.worldsgreatestcritic.com/hamletnf.html
in French:
http://www.premiere.fr/premiere/cinema/films-et-seances/fiches-film/hamlet__1
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet_(film,_1996)
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Principal Actors / Actresses
Mel Gibson
http://french.imdb.com/name/nm0000154/
Glen Close
http://french.imdb.com/name/nm0000335/
Alan Bates
http://french.imdb.com/name/nm0000869/
Paul Scofield
http://french.imdb.com/name/nm0006890/
Ian Holm
http://french.imdb.com/name/nm0000453/
Helena Bonham Carter
http://french.imdb.com/name/nm0000307/
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on Shakespeare:
http://shakespeare.palomar.edu/
http://www.shakespeare-online.com/
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on “The Globe” (le théâtre de Shakespeare)
http://www.videojug.com/film/london-shakespeares-globe
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Sites on the Play:
in English:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet
http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/hamlet/
http://www.folger.edu/template.cfm?cid=916
in French:
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet
http://www.intellego.fr/index.php?PageID=document&blog=3446&document=12422&from=recherche
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Read the play on line:
in English:
http://www.online-literature.com/shakespeare/hamlet/
Lire la pièce en ligne en français:
http://www.inlibroveritas.net/lire/oeuvre2066.html
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For those wanting to learn more about Hamlet on the Internet
1. Hamlet on line
http://www.tk421.net/hamlet/hamlet.html
2. Enjoying "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare
http://www.pathguy.com/hamlet.htm
3. Hamlet - Criticism
http://www.enotes.com/hamlet/s724
4. A site which presents the language of Shakespeare's plays side-by-side with a facing-page translation
into modern English
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Famous Quotes :
· "Frailty, thy name is Woman!"
· "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark"
·
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio
than are dreamt of in your philosophy"
· "The play's the thing wherin I'll catch the conscience of the king"
·
"... the time is out of joint. -
O cursed spite," that ever I was born to set it right !"
· “Let me be cruel, not unnatural;
I will speak daggers to her, but use none …”
· There is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow .
If it be now, 'tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now,
if it be not now, yet it will come .
The readiness is all.”
· “Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t.”
· "When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions"
· "The rest is silence"
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Avis des Spectateurs :
- I saw the movie version of HAMLET just over a week ago
and I think it was worth the $7.50 I shelled out for it.
It always interests me to see Shakespeare transported
into different media, and what Zeffirelli was most successful
in doing (this goes for ROMEO AND JULIET also)
was convincing me that the text was written as a movie.
- All too often I find Shakespeare boring on the silver screen,
specifically Olivier's HAMLET or the BBC's series,
which are no more than recordings of theatrical productions.
- Perhaps the larger budget allows for some"movie magic."
In both HAMLET and ROMEO AND JULIET the scenery
and costuming is beautiful.
Zeffirelli's films are, if nothing else, a pleasure to watch.
- Aesthetics aside, the movie has a lot going for it.
Mel Gibson surprise me with his skill in the role,
bringing the poetry out in the language but not obtrusively
so--Shakespearean English sounded very normal.
- And Mr. Gibson was able to bring new perspectives to the role,
which is not easy for this part.
The supporting cast (and by that I mean everyone else) was very good.
Alan Bates, as Claudius, was outstanding.
Ophelia was wonderful, giving a convincing transition to lunacy.
(something too rare in productions of this play).
- Shakespeareans would be horrified by the amount of text cut
(I would guess about 50%), but it is a movie,
and perhaps not all of HAMLET but some of the more important parts,
or some of the parts were shifted.
Ex.: “No Fortinbras, no "O what a rogue and peasant slave am I ”
They didn't cut out "To be or not to be".
And some scenes stand out in my mind
as particularly exciting, specifically the Player scene.
All in all a wonderful film of a wonderful play.
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Pour mieux comprendre:
Hamlet, fils du roi du Danemark qui vient de mourir,
est ulcéré du remariage de sa mère, la reine Gertrude,
avec Claudius, frère et successeur du défunt.
Il apprend de son fidèle ami Horatio que le château d'Elseneur
est hanté la nuit par le spectre de son père.
Lui apparaissant, celui-ci lui révèle qu'il a été empoisonné par Claudius
avec la complicité de la reine, et lui demande de châtier le coupable.
Profondément troublé, le jeune prince se prostre dans son épouvante
et se fait passer pour fou. Cette folie étant attribuée à son amour
pour la pure et douce Ophélie, fille du grand chambellan Polonius,
ce dernier et Claudius épient les deux jeunes gens dans l'espoir
de voir Ophélie arracher à son soupirant son terrible secret.
Pour confondre Claudius, Hamlet fait jouer devant lui une pièce,
dont l'action met en scène un assassinat similaire à celui dont le roi a été victime.
Claudius en est irrité, et sa sortie précipitée l'accuse définitivement
aux yeux d'Hamlet qui pourtant, dès lors,
ne cesse d'hésiter à accomplir l'acte vengeur.
Le spectre réapparaît, ravivant sa volonté.
Au cours d'une altercation avec la reine sa mère,
Hamlet croit que Claudius se cache derrière la tenture.
Il frappe, mais c'est Polonius qu'il tue ainsi par erreur.
Claudius envoie alors Hamlet en Angleterre sous la garde
de ses courtisans Guildenstern et Rosencrantz, ceux-ci étant porteurs
d'un message ordonnant la mort du prince.
Lequel déjoue la ruse et remplace le message par un autre
ordonnant la pendaison de ceux qui en sont porteurs.
De retour à Elseneur, il apprend qu'Ophélie, devenue folle en son absence,
s'est laissée mourir, noyée.
Le fils de Polonius, Laërte, rentré de France, veut venger son père.
Hamlet l'affronte en duel.
Tous deux vont périr, non sans qu'ait pu être révélé le complot
ourdi par Claudius, qui tombe sous les coups d'Hamlet
tandis que la reine Gertrude meurt empoisonnée
en buvant par erreur le breuvage destiné à son fils.
“Hamlet" leaves us with the message
that life is indeed worth living,
even with imperfect people
in an imperfect world.”
Why not watch the film again
by buying the DVD ?!
THE
EPILOGUE
in
PICTURES
THE
EPILOGUE
VIDEO
Why
you should
READ
"HAMLET"
HAMLET
SCENE FINALE__FINAL SCENE