Hamlet

Grigori Kozintsev's Hamlet is an utterly beautiful masterpiece, and the greatest rendition of Hamlet ever put to screen. Shakespeare’s Hamlet opens Act 1 with the Ghost on the battlements, establishing an atmosphere of supernatural mystery and political unease (Shakespeare 1.1). Kozintsev’s Hamlet begins in an unusual way: the Ghost on the battlements scene is excluded. Instead, it opens with a shot of the sea below Elsinore Castle; its waters darkened by the shadow of the castle (Kozintsev 00:00:09–00:00:49). Rather than beginning with a moment of supernatural mystery, the film places the tragedy within a world defined by political instability. From the first image, Kozintsev reframes Hamlet as a meditation on authority and the individual’s position within an oppressive state, minimizing the supernatural aspects of the story emphasized in Shakespeare’s opening. In Kozintsev’s Hamlet, soliloquies and scenes are contextually altered and shortened, shifting emphasis away from Hamlet’s deep philosophical inquiries and towards his own reaction to the political instability and tension around him. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet’s “To be or not to be” soliloquy is expressed as an extended meditation on the philosophical struggle of living (Shakespeare 3.1.64–98). However, Kozintsev visually reframes Hamlet’s soliloquy against the raging sea smashing the rocks on the shore, situating Hamlet’s reflection as a meditation shaped by external forces and the chaos of his environment. By staging the metaphor of a “sea of troubles” against a raging and chaotic sea, Kozintsev pulls figurative meaning and literal representation into one, externalizing Hamlet’s reflection against the world. Additionally, Kozintsev cuts the final lines of Hamlet’s soliloquy, “The fair Ophelia. — Nymph, in thy orisons be all my sins remembered.” (Shakespeare 3.1.97–98). In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, this line shifts the soliloquy from philosophical thought to grounded human relationships and emotion, but Kozintsev’s exclusion of it emphasizes Hamlet’s isolation and focuses on his existence in the oppressive space he occupies. Rather than presenting Hamlet’s meditation as exclusively internal, Kozintsev highlights the external nature of Hamlet’s position within Elsinore by staging it against a visibly turbulent and chaotic environment (Kozintsev 00:45:42–00:49:22). In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the soliloquy is staged as a direct avenue to his inner thoughts, creating an emotional connection to the audience (Shakespeare 3.1.64–98). Contrarily, Kozintsev chooses to have Hamlet deliver his soliloquy via voiceover with his back to the camera, creating emotional isolation through distance and placing the character in an inherently more isolated world, as if he is alone in his suffering in Elsinore. This staging externalizes tragedy and reframes suffering in a politically charged and unstable world, rather than internal conflict and personal inquiry, as in Shakespeare’s Hamlet (Kozintsev 00:45:42–00:49:22). In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the soliloquy functions as access to the interior conflict, emphasizing Hamlet’s emotions, whereas Kozintsev’s Hamlet emphasizes visual imagery and dramatic staging, placing greater significance on Hamlet’s existence in the world and how he acts within it. Towards the end of Hamlet’s soliloquy, he walks up the staircase with deliberate slowness, with his back still to the camera as he returns to Elsinore. As his soliloquy concludes, Hamlet slows his ascent further, suggesting a tension between Hamlet’s desire for action and his hesitation and emotional reservation towards moving forward. This scene visualizes the complexity of decision in a politically unstable world (Kozintsev 00:45:42–00:49:22). Hamlet’s final words in Shakespeare’s play consist of him telling Horatio to tell his story and electing Fortinbras as the new leader of Denmark, highlighting the political complexities of succession and its implications (Shakespeare 5.2.376–395). Kozintsev significantly alters Hamlet’s final words, isolating “the rest is silence”, removing the political framing present in Shakespeare’s, contextually and visually reframing how the scene plays out. After Hamlet kills Claudius, he walks with deliberate slowness out of Elsinore Castle with Horatio, silently passing through the stone gate and into the open air just outside the castle. As they walk, Hamlet gives Horatio a confused, almost shocked look, implying a release from the oppressive political environment and subdued acceptance for what has transpired. Hamlet speaks, “the rest is silence” and then passes away. The shortening and reframing of Hamlet’s final words suggests his own peace with what has happened because he is not dramatizing his death and simply lets it happen. In this way, Hamlet’s death functions as a visualization of the tangible consequences of political oppression and instability (Kozintsev 02:16:15–02:17:45).