Clint Eastwood as Hamlet

Since I started reading Hamlet, just over a month ago, I have been unable to shake my awe of how many ways the text can be interpreted into other settings. After spending a while contemplating Michael Almereyda's Hamlet movie, I envisioned a backdrop of my own that would truly exemplify the contextual diversity of Shakespeare's work.

I placed Hamlet in a Western ghost town, similar to Clint Eastwood movies (The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly or Fistful of Dollars). Taking the place of the kings (Claudius, and previously Hamlet), would be the mayors of such towns. Meanwhile, Prince Hamlet would take the place of the the future mayor and the son of the recently killed mayor. Likewise, Polonius would be the sheriff. This Western setting would give a whole new perspective to the text of Hamlet. The country of Norway would be a Mexican group of bandits. The movie would be set in the late 1800’s.

An example of a Hamlet scene in the wild west would be when King Claudius (Mayor Claudius) and Polonius (Sheriff Polonius) throw Hamlet into a room with the sheriff’s daughter, Ophelia, and spy on him. The mayor and sheriff would be “testing” to make sure that heir Hamlet would be worthy of being the next mayor of this town. At that point, Hamlet would give his famous “To be or not to be” soliloquy.

Which Film Is "To Be" Better?

Hamlet's "To Be or Not to Be" soliloquy is one of Shakespeare's most renowned. Through the numerous movies of Hamlet, we are able to directly see how each one interprets the scene so differently from the next. 

As I was roaming around on Google trying to find a version that I felt depicted the scene best, I ran into a clip of the soliloquy which I thought was extremely plane and almost boring to an extent. As I watched the clip above, I quickly realized that there was nothing that captivated my attention. The scene is set-up as if the actor is reading directly out of the play. Although he does show some emotion while reading, the actor doesn't help me visualize his thoughts in any way.

Luckily, I came across a version of the "To Be or Not to Be" that tremendously helped me envision the scene taking place. The actor playing Hamlet helps us understand his exact thoughts by showing several examples of what he is talking about take place right in front of him. I found this to be a lot more helpful than just watching the actor read the lines of the play. I am also able to follow the thoughts of Hamlet in the second clip a lot more easily than the first. Being able to see Hamlet's thoughts firsthand was a huge difference for me.

Although the lines were the same, the way the scene played out in the second clip was way more interesting to me!