If Branagh used Zeffirelli’s technique it would be too jerky and difficult to watch the entire film. In most scenes Branagh’s lengthy and sweeping camera shots correspond with the pace and length of the movie. Zeffirelli’s camera shots between two characters goes back and forth and conveys the conversation and pace clearly. “Zeffirelli moves the camera very little but uses far more shots per minutes than any of the other directors-his average shot lasts less than six seconds”(Taylor 192). Zeffirelli’s shots are shorter whereas Branagh’s are longer and more fixed. The camera shots and angles are also a dramatic difference between the two directors. The result is Branagh’s very long version filled with lengthy pauses that is really a replication of Shakespeare’s Hamlet or Zeffirelli’s shorter and untraditional film that neglects much of the original text. His 129 minute film contains only thirty-one percent of the lines”(Taylor 192). In his essay “The Films of Hamlet” Neil Taylor writes, “Zeffirelli is by far the most radical re-shaper of the text. Branagh stayed closer to the text of Shakespeare and did not cut out as many lines as Zeffirelli.
The difference is significant, Branagh’s film runs over 242 minutes while Zeffirelli’s truncated version is 129 minutes. When seeing Branagh’s film it is obvious how modern and the adaptation is and makes it seem less Shakespearean.Īnother surprising difference is how accurate each film stayed to Shakespeare’s text. The differences between the costumes and scenery are a stunning one that shocks the audience. The costumes are the same as the scenery Branagh’s costumes are ornate and very modern, whereas Zeffirelli’s costumes are more fitting for the time period. Zeffirelli’s scenery and props are more appropriate for Shakespearean time period and illustrate a more traditional setting. In Branagh’s the architecture is modern, there are sweeping staircases, electricity, and a train that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern ride in on. Branagh’s version is more modern than Zeffirelli’s. The first and most obvious difference between the two films is the scenery and costumes. The disparities between the two plays outweigh any similarities that exist. Wells suggested the two directors excite the audience and make their own unique versions of the classic Shakespearean play Hamlet. The directorial differences are obvious in the camera shots, costumes, scenery, lighting and specific scenes. If that means playing Hamlet on a flying trapeze or in an aquarium, you do it.” It is evident in the two film versions of Hamlet by Frank Zeffirelli and Kenneth Branagh both directors are interpreting and portraying the same play in very different ways. The famous director Orson Wells said, “The essential is to excite the spectators.
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