Mike Almereyda is the winner!

Hamlet, a Shakespearean play, has been performed and changed around for generation after generation. Quiet a few versions of Hamlet have been created in a film, which gives new meaning to the play. Mike Almereyda directed the most interesting version of a movie Hamlet. Different from other filmmakers, Almereyda made this film the modern version of Hamlet. I enjoyed this version, not only because of the modern twist, but also because of the way the director incorporates the language of the past with a modern day setting.

In Act I, the one scene that catches my eye the most is Hamlet's first soliloquy. Almereyda has his Hamlet have his words through thoughts. Every other version has the soliloquy in plain words, which are awkwardly said while Hamlet is alone. In the modern day film, Hamlet is reflecting on his past, with clips of his father and Ophelia. I feel that his soliloquy has more meaning when its being expressed through thoughts because he truly misses his father, while viewers start to understand his hatred for his mother. He also sees clips of his "girlfriend" Ophelia, which the director goes back to show her sitting alone at a fountain waiting for Hamlet. In every other version, including the play, readers, viewers, or listeners only see Hamlet alone, which takes away from the intensity of his soliloquy.