“Hamlet, think of us
As a father, for let the world take note,
You are the most immediate to our throne,
And with no less nobility of love
Than that which dearest father bears his son
Do I impart toward you.”
The very opening line of the movie quickly establishes that this is to be Zeffirelli’s vision of Hamlet rather than Shakespeare’s. In the text of Shakespeare’s play, over one-hundred lines are spoken before this…in Scene 2. Once the entirety of Scene 1 is added, the movie starts over 150 lines into the story. Abridging is a common enough occurrence on the stage in performances of the play since, after all, Hamlet is the longest play Shakespeare ever wrote and very likely the longest single play that is continually performed every year. Zeffirelli will continue beyond abridgment, however, so that even inclusion of lines is altered by performing them out of order.
“To be or not to be—that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And, by opposing, end them.”
This is, of course, the single most famous line in the history of drama. If there is anyone no longer in elementary school who is not familiar with at least the words and the character if nothing else, then someone should check the schools those people attended and immediately have them shut down. What is significant in this version, however, has nothing to do with the actor’s delivery or even particularly interesting cinematic framing (as in, for instance, Kenneth Branagh’s version) or because the film is espousing any unconventional and rebellious interpretation. Instead, what makes the most famous monologue that will likely ever be written by any human being of interest here is its placement within the narrative. Shakespeare felt very strongly—and he should know—that it was most ideally situated psychologically speaking prior to giving Ophelia the boot by advising her to get herself to the nearest nunnery. Zeffirelli chooses to completely rearrange the psychology at work by having Hamlet get near-suicidal after rejecting Ophelia.
“I shall obey, my lord.”
Ophelia is generally portrayed as a somewhat ethereal and submissive young girl in love who goes stark raving mad as a result of Hamlet’s cruelty. In other words, Ophelia is not the toughest piece of jerky in the pouch. Another of the stamps that the director placed upon his interpretation of the play is the quite obvious strengthening of both important female characters. In particular—as a result of a universally-praised performance by Glenn Close—Hamlet’s mother Gertrude comes across as pretty much running Denmark. She’s got Claudius either wrapped around her finger or under her thumb or possibly both, but she is most definitely not merely a queen in name. To a lesser extent, but perhaps more noticeable as a result of where she started from, Ophelia is still allowed to go starkers, but not because she is too fragile. The fragility of Ophelia before she loses her mind is not present here and this is established very early in the scene when her father Polonius is questioning her about Hamlet’s displayer of “tenders” toward her. As always, the scene ends with Polonius telling her to forget Hamlet; he’s Chinatown. And, as always, Ophelia responds with the above promise. The proof is in the pudding, however, and the pudding in this case is the look Helena Bonham Carter gives Ophelia when she says the line which suddenly, in this case, takes on an irony it rarely given.
“Good night, sweet prince,
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.”
Horatio, who knew Hamlet, gets the closing lines in the movie. In the play, there are still another good fifty lines or so after Horatio’s quick eulogy before the story officially comes to an end. By then, the honor of closing down the shows to Fortinbas. Extending that honor to Fortinbras in the movie would have been, well, just plain weird because it would have been the first and last appearance. Imagine a guy suddenly showing up at the end who has never been seen or spoken of at all and he gets to say the closing lines. Beyond weird, so instead the honor goes to Horatio, whom the audience has gotten to know. One of the substantial alterations in the text made by Zeffirelli was to completely cut the character of Fortinbras. Admittedly, he does actually show up pretty late in the proceedings, but he is considered rather important because his present lends the story a political dimension that is absolutely missing in the film.
