... a funeral for old king Hamlet. Young Hamlet, played by Mel Gibson, wearing a dark cloak and hood pours a handful of dirty into the stone coffin. His manner suggests and accentuates a theme of madness that will later in the movie become central to the tone. The first words spoken are a slight modification of the original text well into Act 1 Scene 2, "Hamlet think of us as a father; for let ... be Zeffirelli's way of suggesting that the queen had a high degree of culpability in the death of old King Hamlet. Perhaps she helped mixed the poison or aided in the formation of the plot. This i...

• Word Count: 1694
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School