Space Construction in Adaptations of Hamlet
Space Construction in Adaptations of Hamlet

Summary/Abstract: Spatial turn has also taken place in film theory: research orientations dealing with the relationship between film and space, with the construction of cinematic space constitute a significant domain of contemporary film theory. Starting from the space constructing specificities of the Elizabethan emblematic theatre (the absence of realistic illusion, temporal and spatial relations expressed by the dramatic text itself), the study investigates cinematic space, namely the significance of horizontal and vertical space division, the creation of symbolic/stylised/abstract, realistic and simultaneous spaces, the role of scenery in expressing states of mind and in conveying ideological messages in particular adaptations of Hamlet, created in various moments of film history, directed, among others, by Laurence Olivier (1948), Grigori Kozintsev (1964), Tony Richardson (1969), Franco Zeffirelli (1990) and Michael Almereyda (2000). An approach to the adaptations of Hamlet from the viewpoint of space construction completes the existing thematic, stylistic and generic typologies and highlights those films which, through the exploration of (meta-)cinematic space as a powerful means of creating meanings in the language of the film, go beyond cinematic realism and initiate an intermedial dialogue with the spatial purport of the Shakespeare text and with the (meta-)theatrical specificities of the Renaissance Theatrum mundi.

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