The 'to be or not to be' speeches in all the movies we have watched are different but yet the same in some ways. The extremely older Olivier version was very dry to watch. The music was not so dramatic really. It was really as though the actor was thinking outloud and realistic, and at a point there was a voice over and zoom up close to the actos forhead which made it seem it was more inside the actors head that he was thinking such words, and really questioning life or death. The setting around him was really suspensful because he was sitting over a cliff on a rock, so it made you feel like you didn't really know if his emotion would cause him to want to jump off the cliff towards his death. Another good prop that went with the speech was the knife that was unsuspectingly pulled out. It was different towards some of the other version whereas the actor was sitting down majority of the time, in thought. Whereas in the Zeffereli version the actor walked around making it more beliavable he was questioning his motives, in the Branaugh version the acto was still just looking at himself in a mirror, and in the Almeryda version he also was walking around in a public place.
Something else that was different in all the versions but maybe two was that in the Almeryda and the Zefferreli version they were both walking around, but in the Almeryda version which was more modern the actor was walking around in a public movie store. Whereas in the Zefferreli he was walking around in the catacombs of his castle, so it was less public. In the other two version Branuagh and Olivier it was way more subtle with the actor staying in one place through the whole speech. Olivier the actor stayed on the rock near the cliff, in the Branaugh version the actor stayed in front of the mirror the whole time, without realization that he was being spied on by Poloniaous and Claudious.
The Branaugh version seem quite dry to me too, just like the Olivier version. The actor didn't really interact or move around much. He stayed still which made it seem more simple. It seemed less threatening because the setting isnt so scary since he is in his mansion just looking at himself in front of the mirror. There was no visible prop so at first you didn't really think he'd kill himself anyway, until he pulled out his dagger and points at his reflection in the mirror, which made it more beliavable. He bring the dagger up to his face in the reflection making you think that he probably wants to slice into his skin. The emotion in the actors voice wasn't so beliavable and upsetting sounding as the others.
The music in all the version weren't so dramatic. I think the Almeryda version and the Zefferreli version is more beliavable and intresting to watch. The music tends to get louder during the part where they really speak of death or choosing life, and why death would be better. In the Zefferreli version the actor sounds more sad. He is walking down into the catacombs which makes you think, gee he must really be questioning this if he's walking around where dead people rest. The emotion in his voice was deffinitly more beliavable as well. He genuinely sounded like he was depressed and it was leading him to such thoughts about life. It makes it more interesting and really makes you have a feel for the charactor. In his words there was even a hint of anger for him having thoughts as such. In the Almeryda version it was a bit similiar but also very different. Although the setting is very modern and odd for such a dated speech I really think it fits the setting with him walking around. Many people in todays life go out to public places, stores, malls whatever and walk around thinking about something that is bothering them. So with the version of the movie it seems exactly like that, which makes it very realistic. He walks around in the movie store and which goes with his speech directly is that he is walking in the action section and the speech is also action packed in a way. He seemed deep in his thought in the middle of the night I'm guessing because no other people where in the movie store too.
Throughout all the version I think the Zefferrelli version is best with the way things are set up. It's also more beliavable in a sense that you actually feel like the speech is a questioning thought. It's less dry and makes it more appealing towards wanting to watch it. I think all versions have differences that make the scene a good scene with all that is included. The lightening for each scene was different and played a role in most of the factors of the speech.It shows that however the director pairs up props and lighting and even the setting and music makes the whole scene better or worse.
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