Hamlet vs Hamlet

I don't know how Shapeskpeare would react to the modern version of his work if he was still alive. Well, that doesn't really matter, because I really enjoyed it. It's a bit of a pity that I do not have much time to continue watching the movie, but yet I think I've watched enough to compare both movies.

In terms of similarities, both actors were good. Words fail me a little because it is hard to depict the energy emitted by both actors in one word, but anyhow they were talking in perfect old English, their body gestures revealed their overwhelming emotions directly, and most significantly they adjusted their voice tones at different emotional periods. Both actors raised their voices when the level of anger reached their peaks, lowered them down when both Hamlets regained calmness. Also, despite the fact that these two movies had completely different themes, both lines were very similar.



David Tennant



On the other hand, the amount of differences heavily outnumbers that of the similarities. First off, the actors were dressed differently. While David Tennant was dressed up as a very modern person - with a t-shirt and a pair of pants -  Kenneth Branagh was dressed formelry with a tuxedo. Personally, David Tennant (first link) gave me an impression of a famous comedian actor Jim Carrey so the overal mood of the clip was somewhat funny, especially when he closes up on the camera and rhetorically asks "Am I a coward?". Plus, he goes wilder than Kenneth Branagh, as proven by the facts that he thrashes the CCTV, jumps around the room, screams in anger and waves his hands harder. The fact that he added some modern phrases in between the lines also made the scene unique. Notwithstanding, Kenneth Branagh kept his dignity as publically renowned Hamlet, and was less wild than Tennant. At first, he remains calm and goes through his current situation logically although he loses his temper as he starts to get enraged. True, the setting was also modern, but the movie itself seemed less progressive and stern in comparison to the prior clip.

Kenneth Branagh