Hamlet The Play vs. the Movie

October 1, 2008

Jim Schulz

It's amazing how directors will take a movie and alter it and delete scenes. This isn't the first time I saw Zeffirelli's version of the movie "Hamlet" but this is the first time it was brought to my attention that so much was changed in the movie verses the original play. During our discussion in class many ideas surfaced as to why this would be done. Personally, out of all the ideas that were discussed, I feel this is done to streamline the plot and make the movie easier to follow. Directors know that they need to do what ever possible to make a movie popular. Today's audiences like movies that are easy to follow and move along quickly. They depend on drawing viewers of all ages and they know that by making it easier to follow will make it a hit with all. Is it wrong to change things? No, I don't believe so, as long as it doesn't completely change the meaning of the work.