Almereyda’s Hamlet is a perceptive modern-take of Hamlet where the empire is replaced by an industrial empire. This film was directed to be more relatable for teenagers: heavily symbolized to represent the adolescents feeling of isolation, inability to express, and infantilization by adults. Hamlet’s emotional barriers, Ophelia’s inability to cope and habit to idealize, and the infantilization are heavily symbolized in this film to put stress on the maladaptive behaviors that lead to tragedy within the play, as well as better relate the play to adolescence.
In Almereyda's Hamlet, Hamlet struggles the entire film with screens and mirrors, symbols for his emotional barrier that inhibits him from directly expressing himself through how he reveals his feelings and how he kills his victims. Hamlet shows all his feelings through screens and reflections, not shown in reality directly what his emotions are. One of the first scenes, Hamlet argues with his…show more content… Her dress is very childlike and she seems to dress somewhat randomly as a child would. Back to the argument between her father, Hamlet’s stepfather and mother, and her, she is forced to stand by as her privacy is invaded and disrespected, like a child’s privacy is taken so lightly. Whenever she tries to interject and has something important to say, her father dismisses her even though her input is vital. This refusal to acknowledge her by any of the adults presents reinforces her childlikeness and hinders her maturity. When her father is murdered, she throws a fit at museum; Claudius and Gertrude see this as a childish act as she descends into madness. They fail to acknowledge her actual distress over her father being murdered and everyone dismissing his death. This tantrum and her suicide show that she is emotionally ruled more so in film than in
