The three very different films on Hamlet clearly show the divergence that each individual director was trying to portray.
In the Zeffirelli version there was a very dark and dreary feel to it. The setting takes place at night on the roof of Hamlet's castle. It begins with Hamlets friends trying to warn Hamlet about searching for his recently deceased father. He didn't heed his friends warnings and looked for his fathers ghost anyways. Before finding his father, there is a dramatic change in lighting as well as an increase in wind. When looking upon the ghosts silhouette, there was a very theatrical use of chimes and other bells to cause a stir in the audience. Hamlets father then appears from the fog and explains to Hamlet, that he was murdered by a serpent, The new king. This version in my opinion is the most realistic and my preferred Hamlet interpretation.
In Branagh's version there was definitely a more melancholy and sad tone to the film in comparison to Zeffirelli's eerie version. This version has quite a lot of special affects and more background music. You can often here loud intense stringed music as well a other instruments. In my opinion it was to introduce the ghost as more intimidating. The ghost wears armor as well as in the original script which also adds to the intimidating factor. I didnt enjoy this version as much because I think the presentation of all the added affects took away from the actual story. It was just artificial and fake in my opinion.
In Almereyda's modernized version, it was definitely easier to interpret the story because it had a very humanistic and relatable feel to the film. Hamlets father looked like a normal human and was absolutely more emotional and "handsy" in this version. In the other films the ghost never touched Hamlet, in this version Hamlets father was shaking him around trying to explain his predicament. In this version it took place in a hotel room wear a television played in the background depicting destruction. This version was easier to understand and appreciate in my opinion, however i still preferred Zefferellis depiction overall of the Hamlet ghost scene.
