Oh, why, oh, why?

Posted by AliciaGee , Thursday, May 6, 2010 9:39 AM


To whomever's ears lie open today,
why must my thoughts be spread throughout the world?
Father spreads them so very callously,
releasing them to the wide, open skies
when they would like so much to stay with me.
What man is given the right to remove
from a woman's heart words only she hears?
Must be he who acts on only his own motives.
Remember, the fowl that remains dissembled,
will never reach its full wingspan and fly.
Am I to be like the doomed Icarus,
who flew so far from the fatherly earth,
only to have the sun bring him back down?
Still, I must continue to wonder if I
will ever have that bless'ed moment
of weightless and independent freedom.
Why, oh, why, must everything be so uncertain?
Left forlorn and grounded,
fasdfasdfassssssssssssOphelia

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Almereyda, You Have Been True to Shakespeare

Posted by AliciaGee , Thursday, April 29, 2010 6:35 PM



While the Franco Zefirelli and Ken Branagh versions of Hamlet each have aspects that reflect different themes and key elements of the play, Mike Almereyda's version pulled the real essence out of Shakespeare's words. The setting is completely unlike that of which the story takes place in, but it gives the tale a scenario that is more comparable to modern life. Instead of dealing with kings, queens, and heirs to the throne, the movie deals with corporate executives and film students. This gives the viewer a better chance of understanding the key plot elements and relationships, rather than having the viewer try to place himself in the past and try to understand how the setting affects what the characters are doing.
Also unlike the other two directors, Almereyda chose to make Hamlet's soliloquy a thought, instead of having him recite it aloud. This makes the character seem much more real. Soliloquies are meant to express what a character is thinking when alone, which is one of the problems that comes with performing a play. Instead, Almereyda took advantage of the benefits of film, and used Hamlet's soliloquy to express his inner thoughts without speaking. In modern days, talking to oneself for extended periods of time would be a cause for concern of the person's mental health.
This version of the film also makes Hamlet's mental state easier to recognize. At the press conference after his father's death, Hamlet moves around the outskirts of the room, filming as uncle make a speech about the future. He hardly speaks his mind, except in the films he makes of himself. This shows how Hamlet is holding his tongue around others, yet is still trying to get out his emotions and feelings. In the other two versions, Hamlet seems bitter, yet stoic. He does not feel like a broken man, burned by his father's death and mother's betrayal of his father's memory. Although Mike Almereyda's version of Hamlet strays from the setting the most, its innovative ways of portraying the characters and plot make it the most interesting and easiest to understand, even though it still uses Shakespearean language.

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