Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Hamlet's Mommy Issues

With filmmaker Zeferelli's Freudian glasses on, Hamlet's "closet scene" is rife with juicy Oedipal possibilities. Before the prince enters his mother's chamber, he says "now I could drink hot blood." Hmmm, mother's milk? Hamlet says, "I will speak daggers to her." Phallic allusions? Mel Gibson quickly ramps up the emotion to a full state of id release as he expresses his frustration and rage towards his mother, and in this state,he pulls out his sword and thrusts it. (Into what he thinks is his false father figure, the uncle, but who is actually Polonius). Zeferelli stages the controversial kiss just before Hamlet sees the ghost of his father. Is the ghost a projection of Hamlet's guilt for harboring sexual feelings towards his mother?

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