Dan Brongo:Eulogy for Ophelia

Today we are brought together to honor Ophelia. She was a beautiful girl and was in suffering because of the recent death of her father. Its known to be believed that this was a case of suicide. However, we like to think not that she took her own life. Gertrude was near enough to see her drown but not save her. Its a question of curiosity whether she let her die or she thought it would be right for her to die? She was going through a mad state and struggling very much with the death of her father. No one really knows what she was enduring during that time. It is unknown if she had killed herself, so it is not fair to not give her a Christian Burial.

Ophelia dedicated her life to others, she was always there when needed. She was not a prestigious figure at all, she was just a normal girl. She was loved by most especially Hamlet. It is a shame the two can not be together , maybe one day in the after life. The way she died is not important to us, it is just tragic that she is gone. If I were there i would have saved her, it hurts my heart saying she is gone. It was told by Gertrude that she could hear her singing a song as she was slowly being undertaken by the water. It seems as if she were happy to go and end her life during the suffering. There is no proof though whether she wanted it or she knew she had no way to save herself. 

We here though to praise her for everything she has done for others. No matter of your opinion on her lately , with her absurd actions and outright behavior. We can all say she was a lovely girl at one time. Ophelia was dear to my heart and to others too. Such as her brother Laertes and her recent deceased father Polonius. She always followed all commands given to her, she was a very dependent person but was very reliable to get something done. She was just an all around great girl. So maidenly, even dying in such maidenly fashion picking flowers from a tree, 

Its a shame to lay her to rest knowing she will never be with us again, only in memory and heart. Ophelia you will be missed by all. It hurts saying goodbye but it must be done. One day we will meet again in the after life and we can reminisce on old memories. I will miss you everyday. Goodbye my friend. We love you.  

Dan Brongo :Hamlet's Dilemma

Hamlets decision whether to kill his uncle (Cladius) or not was a difficult one to him at the time. To kill a man is a sin alone but to kill a man while he is praying you are guaranteeing yourself an afterlife down under. For Hamlet this is about revenge and he feels that since his father never got his chance to pray and forgiven for his sins, why should his uncle. Killing his uncle while he is praying guarantees that he is going to heaven because he is clearing himself of his sins. If I were Hamlet I would wait until he is in a sinful moment. A sinful moment would be one of rage or one filled with lies. I think Hamlet made the right choice of not killing his uncle while praying. Should he kill his uncle? Yes, his uncle killed his father for the crown and took his wife. The right thing to do in his fathers honor would be to kill him and become the king himself.  Everyone already thinks he has gone mad with the way he is acting. Why not show everyone the reason you are mad, the man who is causing it all? Hamlet has such grief and hatred towards his uncle. I agree with him if he wants to kill his uncle Cladius he has to do it at the right time. Doing it now would only send him to heaven and he would not suffer any real punishment, well besides being dead. Although when Cladius was praying for forgiveness for killing his brother shows he does care about what he did, He still did it though. The crime has already been committed, God may forgive you but if I were Hamlet I would never. Murder is illegal, well it is today, I'm not sure how things worked back in Hamlets time. What real punishment would the Prince endure though, he killed the king and he is next in-line.I am not sure how that would work. I would assume he would go to jail but than who would take over the kings duty. Yet he could be waiting to long and be sent away to England before he has the chance. The next chance Hamlet gets he should do it. How will everyone else feel if Hamlet were to kill his uncle? No one else knows the truth of why he would be doing this and how his father truly died. To kill his uncle is the right the choice for in the honor of his father, to get revenge and to end his madness. The consequences he could face are worth it in my opinion.

Dan Brongo's "TB or NTB"

       After Viewing the four versions of Hamlet's infamous scene "To be or Not to Be", I have depicted each version into my own opinion. The four directors are Zeffirelli, Branaugh, Olivier, and Almereyda. Each director portrayed the scene in a different way all resembling the same aspect of will Hamlet kill himself. Each version stuck to the script which was a very good idea, not to destroy the scene.
      Olivier's version was very interesting. It was directed clearly before color which was not a problem to me. The person who played Hamlet did a rather okay job. I liked how the director portrayed it having him look down at the sea. Also the multiple times it looked like he was going to stab himself but did not. The music they played made it suspenseful every time he drew the dagger close to his body. How the director looked down towards the rocks showing how far his fall would be after wounding or possibly killing himself with the dagger or if he were to jump. The setting of this play was a good one but not great. Hamlet was all alone which was good and him standing on the cliff looking over the sea was a good idea.The music at the begging giving like a dark feeling of what is going to happen was a good idea. I liked how Hamlet spoke slowly so every word could be heard. When he says "to sleep" the second time and the music plays and his voice gets light as if he were going to do it made me suspenseful. There was not a whole lot of emotion but it was a rather good rendition of the scene.
        In Zeffirelli's version was the better version of the four. The setting in a tomb with dead people seemed like the right place to film this. With Hamlets mind on  death what other place would someone be than there to get an understanding and feel for what its like to be death. When Gibson gets on his knees and prayers and face shows so much emotion and struggle. That is not only great acting but directing, he seems so passionate. Hamlet is extremely upset, he says every word with such pronunciation it just pours his emotions and how hes feeling. However there was no sign that he wanted to kill himself other than be in a tomb. Again we see him alone talking to himself about what decision to make. Zeffirelli's version was a grabber I did not want to stop watching thanks to the heartfelt performance by Gibson.
    Branaugh's version seems to disappoint again, I am just not a fan of the actor, which is himself. I liked though how he stared down himself in the mirror and pulled out the dagger. The dagger is an important key to show how close he was to doing it. He is facing himself in the mirror. As Micheal Jackson said "I am starting with the man in the mirror, I am going to change his ways," or something of that nature. Hamlet needs to change his ways. Branaugh's version of this scene was better than the ghost scene, it seemed more to my imagination or how i pictured it.  I did not like the camera view. I would have rather liked if it seemed like we were in the eyes of Hamlet and we could see exactly what he saw as he looked at himself. The music, should I say it, what the heck is that , sounds like someone cannot hit a note. Hamlet just seems extremely focused in this version. It did not do much for me, kinda boring.
    Almereyda's version which is the most recent and perceived in a modern take was not bad. I liked how he was walking through the movie store and could not decided on what to do. It resembled the "to be or not to be" in a different path but with the same meaning the choice to live or die. It showed mass destruction on the TV screens which deciphered the anger and sadness within him. The actor perceived the same stupid look like last time this guy puts barley any emotion. I enjoy the directors views and his creation but not so much the actor. I liked how Hamlet did not speak , it seemed like he was thinking it at first than later on went and spoke the speech. When the man got blown off his feet on the TV from getting killed , he said to sleep a chance to dream, that if he was dead like the man who was just killed he would be able to sleep and dream. It was decent portrayal of the scene.
    The Infamous scene is displayed in similar themes all expressing death, with the daggers, the man being killed and being in the tomb with he dead. All of the directors focused on which is the most important part. The amount of Hamlets created is because of how powerful it is to the audience and in all the different ways it is viewed by people.Zeffirelli's again was the best to me, the setting was a smart idea and Gibson played a great part showing so much emotion.

The Ghost scene

      After viewing three different versions of the ghost scene in Act 1, each version had its own rendition and portrayal of the infamous scene. Each director of the three movies all use the base dialogue composed by Shakespeare.The directors Zeffirelli, Branagh, and Almereyda all basically use the dialogue, although it was slightly different in all except Branagh's version who followed it right out of the book. Creativity is a plus but sticking to the script is also good. Branagh's version is not the worst thing I have ever watched although it was pretty bad. The acting was awful, the special effects were the only plus. I hated how they talked and whatever that sound was. I could barley hear anything they said over the terrible music in the background. It was like a bad 80's movie. I thought aliens were about to come down from their mother ship. Hamlet played by Branagh himself seemed so afraid and I just disliked how he portrayed it. The flashbacks were a good idea until they had a second one, never have more than one flashback in a scene or it gets stupid, just stay in the flashback. It was awful after seeing six minutes of that movie I did not want to see anymore,
      The better of the three was Zeffirelli's, his rendition was not great but more understandable and clear. Gibson who played Hamlet did a better job. The eerie music in the background like Branagh's was a good touch it gave a little sense that Hamlet was afraid of what was to happen. Zeffirelli's was simple which was good because you cannot over do it adding all these sounds and trying to make it futuristic like Branagh was doing I presume. It was clear, i could easily hear what the actors were saying and feel as though this could have been broadcast-ed as a play in Shakespearean time.  Although the ghost was not great, they could have done something to make it look more like a ghost rather than a guy sitting down, it was the only minus of this version. Otherwise it was exceptional to my standards.
      Last but not least Almeredya's, it was to portray a more current version which was honestly enjoyable. Seeing it in modern time gave me more of an idea of how it could be played out in current times. Although it was not great , I liked it, it was simple and i felt more of a connection towards Hamlet and his father in this one. Hamlet seemed closer to his dad and showed that Hamlet would have grievance towards his uncle for doing it. It did not stick completely to the script but that made it better being portrayed in modern times. Hawke who played Hamlet did a decent job acting as if he was surprised by the appearance,but his face seemed frozen with that look throughout the scene. The best was by Gibson who switched emotions and showed so many different emotions about seeing his dad again and how his uncle betrayed him. Overall Gibson and Zeffirelli had the best take on the ghost scene and is actually enjoyable to watch.
       If I were the director I would use Zeffirelli's idea,Branagh's special effects and make up department for the ghost and the Almeredya's filming aspect and long pauses to make it more dramatic along with the slow paced of the actors. Setting is important but at the same time Almeredya made a decent modern day version which was better than Branagh's version who had a better more realistic setting. Branagh's was just bad acting, and the sound effects and music was just awful, they destroyed the ghost using a voice alternator or whatever that was. Zeffirelli would be something more ideally that I would try to match if I were to create my own version.