Laurence Olivier's wonderful 1948 film, with music by Sir William Walton. The entire film may be downloaded from movieberry.com (membership fees apply)
Olivier's version really inspired me to get into Hamlet when we studied it at school this year. His performance brings out so much of the play, all the anguish and confusion; he was truly a great actor who understood his material.
I agree with you. People tend to forget a lot of modern films were based on Shakespeare's plays. His work is timeless because the his insight on human behaviour and the politics that go with it still apply today.
This is the definitive performance of the soliloquy. He's pondering it and then realises, for many reasons, he shouldn't. It's quiet, thoughtful and sad, which I think is what Willie The Shake intended. Olivier was and still is unsurpassed.
haha you must be kidding, this comes across almost as satire it's so bad, so clueless, I don't think he had any idea what the words he was repeating meant
I don't think you can ever have a definitive performance ...cos every year new actors come along and perform it and add their own unique interpretation of it...I guess the only definitive interpretation is the one officially rubber stamped by the bard himself...unfortunately thats gonna be a bit tricky to get ..so we just have to go with the one we like the best
@@petrudiaconu1565 I love Benedict Cumberbatch in movies and series, but if you think he did this soliloquy well you missed the point of it entirely. He overacts and goes into full despair, while the entire text is about how you start convinced and then quietly and cowardly turns back. This text is about realizing what he perceives as self-control is just survival instinct rationalized. Even the words are carefully chosen: "Must give us pause", "there's the respect", "enterprises of great pith and moment (...) lose the name of action". Benedict's take would have worked in an Edgar Allan Poe's text where the anxiety usually takes over the characters and leads them to a state of panic or illogical perception. For this soliloquy, he's missing the point entirely. He's not just a lot worse than Olivier who basically nails down every line, but he's also doing a bad job of understanding the text for what it is.
Another Olivier Shakespeare soliloquy that's fun to learn and recite is the one that opens his Richard III: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--5JF9Gq5tL4.html
KT…It is a wonderful text, isn’t it? And one well worth remembering. Great that you still have it in memory. I had to watch it to refresh myself, but I’ve still got most of it in my head. It’s a classic scene, isn’t it?
This was the only thing I was able to use that actually helped me study the soliloquy for my test. I was actually able to recite the entire thing. He does this brilliantly and is truly inspiring.
A charismatic and atmospheric performance from Laurence Olivier. Shakespeare was a perfect playwright and Olivier was a perfect actor. With a combination like that you can't go wrong!
No, that's not quite true. It was John Gielgud, who was also on that film. Gielgud was a magnificent, possibly better, performer of the spoken word by William Shakespeare; but most of his best performances were never captured on film.
Personally, this viewer prefers the stage presentation of Hamlet by Richard Burton. Richard did not portray him specifically as a Dane - which Olivier does...however he better animates the conflicting passions within a powerful man.
Older movies always have an interesting quality of the silence being loud when the music ends that I think a lot of modern movies lack. The atmosphere always feels stronger in these movies to me
This is an awesome representation of the 3rd. I like how he really shows that he is excited and wants to kill himself at first. To end all the shit he's been dealing with and then he becomes depressed because like everything else in life, his mind prevents him from quick action--he talks himself out of it, and it pisses him off. This actor showed these emotions plainly, too many times this soliloquy is portrayed as if hammy dreads the "bodkin" at first and is triumphant when he turns it down
( 1 ) "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? To die: to sleep; No more; and by a sleep to say we end The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep; "
This is the best version for me. He shows the real wish for death to avoid life, as well as the unresolvable suspicion of existence, which two later raise the hesitation and anxiety for him. This is exactly how one felt in real life.
We're talking of times when moral purity was the norm, and people did not live exactly for the flesh only, which means, the humans were sensible to the movements of the spirit, which they wouldn't be if they were not of those dispositions.....In such a case, the horizon widens, and the soul creates in the Beauty of its Pure Feelings, even if sometimes temptation arises and the soul enters trial and tempest, It will still be measuring itself under the Right Judgement....So, in this freedom it breathes, and creates, and everything comes of Perfection..... ✝️
dude, you don't get it. I used to be like that til I read King Lear and Hamlet. The symbols, themes, and motifs are actually so amazingly educational about all of life. Real cool stuff
Dicen que Brando fué el más grande, pero para mí el mejor Olivier es el más grande actor de la historia del cine, y no soy la única persona que lo piensa.
I am amazed to find this rendition of the soliloquy so inauthentic... as if it were the very famous actor listening to himself and admiring his looks and his voice, and not the profound existential reflection which is forever held for us in Shakespeare's work.
There are many creative interpretations of this soliloquy, however Sir Laurence’s version is the golden standard when it comes to the musicality of the poetic language. Not that he necessarily has to be the golden standard of how the soliloquy ought to be performed. But if you want to hear what Shakespeare ought to sound like in terms of the language, this is probably the closest to it.
Wow! This might be the best version I've seen yet! I am watching different versions for my research report. I love Tennant's intense emotion, as well as Cumberbatch's. I can't figure out what's going on with Branagh: he seems thoughtful and almost happy during this speech. I really like this Olivier version -- it captures Hamlet's weariness of living so well. Gibson's performance doesn't really move me at all, and Ethan Hawke's is just a dull monotone. Burton is good: at first it seemed a bit rushed, but then you can see he's portryaing Hamlet's anger and self-loathing. I really like Christopher Plummer's take on it -- just a good, solid job. Lester also makes a really good performance -- he really sells the weariness.
Agree that Burton is most outstanding - His performance, however, does not specifically express the DANISH mode of being as Olivier focused upon - which is the only reason why Olivier presents a better DANISH Hamlet.
Ha,ha,ha!.!.I've always thought the same!.But Olivier still is the best actor ever.And he played this immortal character like nobody else did.In my opinion,of course.
Many people disregard this performance as petty, precious. But I believe that it's appropriate for the role. Hamlet's contemplation of suicide is essentially decadent and death obsessed. It's in reality a very pitiful, immature view of life.
@LeCommedieDellArte ( 2 ) "To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub; For in that sleep of death what dreams may come When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause: there's the respect That makes calamity of so long life; For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely, The pangs of despised love, the law's delay, "
I love the pace of this, gives the viewer chance to take it in. But how about dropping the knife on 'lose the name of action' surely an apt time for it?
that right ,,, he loses the name of action , as he loses the battle and dies ,,,, that was a sign ,,, this movie is the best of all .... I don't remember how many times I have seen it ... yet I long for it ...
“Only the unintelligent mind has free will”... It doesn't mean that you were stupid in the first place, it's means that you are intelligent enough to know that there is plenty left to learn.
No, it means that as you are more intelligent, your options are narrowed because there is only one correct path. By knowing the correct path, you no longer have any other path to take. Hamlet knows the path that he must take (murdering Claudius), but he cannot bring himself to do it.
I believe the best way to perform it is to really think about the meaning of the monologue and see if you ever felt that way (forget big academic interpretations for a while) and try to remember how did you react in those occasions. I know, it sounds like a cheesy answer, but it worked for me (at least in other kind of roles)
@LeCommedieDellArte (3 ) "The insolence of office and the spurns That patient merit of the unworthy takes, When he himself might his quietus make With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear, To grunt and sweat under a weary life, But that the dread of something after death, "
