10-3-08 Hamlet: In Defense of Mr. Gibson

It seems that just about everyone in the class thought Mel Gibson’s performance in the Zeffirelli Hamlet was laughably poor. I was surprised to see people actually laughing out loud at the movie. I didn’t think it was that bad. It’s no surprise he didn’t win the Oscar for best actor that year but still it’s not as bad as people make it out to be. The performance isn’t memorable for being great or being awful. Gibson was 33 or 34 years old when shooting Hamlet so I don’t think his age is all that unusual for an actor playing a 20 year old character. He was overacting to an extent but I think that could be attributed to the movie being based off a play. Play actors actions are generally embellished so an audience can understand what’s happening. I think the criticism of Gibson’s performance has a large part to do with recent controversies surrounding his personal life. The DUI incident where he made several anti-Semitic remarks coupled with his most recent films of the Passion and Apocalypto that allegedly contain anti-Semitic and racist overtones. Not to mention the homophobia and Anglophobia from the past that was rehashed because of the recent controversies. Gibson has become a punchline. If Gibson wasn’t such a controversial figure and you had just watched Braveheart right before watching this, I think one would be much more lenient to Gibson’s performance. He is so loony in real life that maybe his portrayal of a madman on screen is the most accurate that has ever been done.