Adaptation of a Play is a Free Translation: William Shakespeare's Hamlet Adapted in the Impact of Chinese Culture Under the Name of The Banquet

Abstract

The Banquet, directed by Chinese filmmaker Feng Xiao Gang, was officially the first Chinese-adapted version of Hamlet when it was displayed in 2006. The Chinese culture has a great impact on the adaptation of Hamlet, such as Chinese uniqueness i.e., martial art which is good for self-defense, healthy body, relieving stress, and self-confidence are given to the play and including the Chinese Nuo mask and its variations in Feng Xiaogang's movie is the interpretation of the play. Feng seeks to sinicize the play and interweave cultural components. The filmmaker highly emphasizes the martial arts cinema frame as the Chinese cultural touch used to change a Western play into a Chinese film. This technique works well to replace Western cultural aspects with philosophy, values, and the significance of Chinese culture. The current paper explores how much the adaptation version (The banquet) is sinicized to connect the Chinese culture to the Western culture. The paper also explores the differences between various characters in The Banquet and Hamlet.