Hamlet is a well-known play by William Shakespeare, truly a piece of his fine work. With many interpretations, there is always a basis of tragedy, love, jealousy, and deceit conveyed in each film. In the Mel Gibson and Ethan Hawke versions of Hamlet, the cinematic elements that make up each film are quite different from one another concerning camera movement, lighting, and camera angles.

In Act I Scene 4, Hamlet meets with both Horatio and Marcellus on the battlements of the castle. Hamlet foreshadows what is to come by stating that something is rotten in the state of Denmark. Hamlet wonders if the ghost `airs from heaven or blasts from hell"' (line 45). Hamlet recognizes the ghost as his father and asks the ghost to speak. The ghost beckons Hamlet to follow while his two comrades ask him to be cautious, unaware of the ghost's motive. Hamlet, however, determined...