Comparing the Opening Sections of Kenneth Branaghs and...

Comparing the Opening Sections of Kenneth Branaghs and Franco Zeffirellis Film Versions of Hamlet So exactly why is it that Hamlet is still so popular with our modern day audiences when it was written for the naà ¯ve audiences of the 17th century? Personally I believe this is because Hamlet deals with many fresh issues including corruption, love and the supernatural, which still appeal to contemporary audiences. These issues are also present in many films made recently e.g. The Exorcist, The Others and Sixth Sense all these films are also popular. Shakespeares Hamlet is a play filled with revenge, ambition and faithlessness. It was written in the 17th century though Shakespeare set it long†¦show more content†¦At the very beginning of Branaghs version the viewers see the words William Shakespeares in a Bold, prominent red, which stands out against the black background. I think Branagh has used red because red has connotations with blood, murder and killing, and black with death and misery. Then we see the title Hamlet which all together reads William Shakespeares Ham let. This is a clever way to introduce the play and is quite dramatic with good impact, it also suggests his version will stay very true and close to Shakespeares true text. The camera pans from right to left across the word Hamlet. This is unusual as we read left to right; this gives the beginning an interesting start. The word is engraved in a stone plinth, which looks like the bottom of a gravestone, in what seems like a traditional old English font typical to the era of the play. I think Branagh has done this purposely to quickly set the mood of the play. As the camera lifts off the word Hamlet we see there is blue lighting across the driveway. I think he has used blue because blue gives the impression of a bleak, frosty, eerie night. There is no music or dialogue yet but the viewers can hear a bell tolling midnight, this is pathetic fallacy because midnight is associated with the inexplicable, mysterious and miraculous. We can also hear owls hooting, faint dogs barking