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Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990)

 -  Comedy | Drama  -  8 February 1991 (USA)
7.4
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Ratings: 7.4/10 from 12,748 users  
Reviews: 115 user | 25 critic

Two minor characters from the play, "Hamlet" stumble around unaware of their scripted lives and unable to deviate from them.

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Title: Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990)

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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
...
...
Livio Badurina ...
Tragedian
Tomislav Maretic ...
Tragedian
Mare Mlacnik ...
Tragedian
...
Tragedian (as Srdjan Soric)
Mladen Vasary ...
Tragedian
...
Tragedian
Branko Zavrsan ...
Tragedian
Joanna Roth ...
...
...
...
Ljubo Zecevic ...
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Storyline

Showing events from the point of view of two minor characters from Hamlet, men who have no control over their destiny, this film examines fate and asks if we can ever really know what's going on? Are answers as important as the questions? Will Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (or Guildenstern and Rosencrantz) manage to discover the source of Hamlet's malaise as requested by the new king? Will the mysterious players who are strolling around the castle reveal the secrets they evidently know? And whose serve is it? Written by Mark Thompson <mrt@oasis.icl.co.uk>

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Genres:

Comedy | Drama

Certificate:

PG | See all certifications »
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Details

Country:

|

Language:

Release Date:

8 February 1991 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Eles Morreram  »

Filming Locations:

 »

Box Office

Gross:

$739,104 (USA)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Color:

(Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
See  »
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Did You Know?

Trivia

The opening song at the beginning of the movie is Pink Floyd's "Seamus" (Meddle, 1971). The version included in the movie is an instrumental version. The album version has vocals. During the theatre company's performance of pseudo-Hamlet, a sound bit from Pink Floyd's "Echoes" (also from Meddle, 1971) can be heard. The sound of the rapier sword is the first note heard in "Echoes". See more »

Goofs

When Rosencrantz and Guildenstern first encounter The Player, it is day, and then suddenly changes to night. At times, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are in a night-time setting, but when the shot changes to show the The Player and his Tragedians, the sky is blue/grey. However, this is probably intentional. Absurdist drama often features a vague or ill-defined setting, including time of day. Tom Stoppard also wrote the stage play on which his screenplay is based, which features several such apparent jumps in time continuity as a means of promoting or maintaining a sense of confusion in the audience. See more »

Quotes

[first lines]
[Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are riding horses down a path - they pause]
Rosencrantz: [to Guildenstern] Umm, uh...
[Guildenstern rides away, and Rosencrantz follows. Rosencrantz spots a gold coin on the ground]
Rosencrantz: [to horse] Whoa - whoa, whoa.
[Gets off horse and starts flipping the coin]
Rosencrantz: Hmmm. Heads. Heads. Heads. Heads. Heads. Heads. Heads. Heads. Heads. Heads. Heads. Heads. Heads. Heads. Heads. Heads. Heads. Heads.
[Guildenstern grabs the coin, checks both sides, then tosses it back to Rosencrantz]
Rosencrantz: ...
[...]
See more »

Connections

Referenced in City of Heroes (2004) See more »

Soundtracks

"Seamus"
Performed by Pink Floyd
Courtesy of EMI Records UK Ltd.
See more »

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User Reviews

 
A comedy... about tragedy
4 February 2001 | by (Michigan) – See all my reviews

Imagine if you will, two talented actors. They are playing quite small roles... the smallest roles in the play so are given no form of direction or motivation for their parts. They are simply told they are "sent for". They are told they are "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern" but no one fully indicated to them which of them were which. No they are thrust bodily into the play itself (Hamlet) and stripped of all their memories of their life before... they have become the characters. They know their cues, instinctively know their lines, but no one bothered to tell them the plot of the play, leaving them to figure it out (or not) for themselves. Their only source of any kind of direction is a player (Dreyfuss) who gives them a rudimentary crash course on dying and tragedy itself ("Generally speaking, things have gone about as far as they can possibly go, when things have gotten about as bad as they can reasonably get.")... and ("We are tragedians. We follow directions. There is no choice involved.") This is Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. And it is the funniest intellectually stimulating comedy I've ever seen. Oldman and Roth deliver a wonderful performance, always desperately struggling "get it" but never quite fully understanding what's going on around them. Oldman's portrayal of the existentially distracted Rosencrantz... or is that Guildenstern... was brilliant! (G: Is that you? R: I don't know! G: (disgustedly) It's you.) Viewers who delighted in the "verbal tennis" match might also notice that this really goes on through out the movie. (Player: But why? R: Exactly! G: Exactly what? R: Exactly why. G: Why what? R: What? G: Why? Why what, exactly?) It's truly sad that this movie doesn't get the recognition that it deserves. See Hamlet... become familiar with the story line... and then see this movie. It is quite worth the effort. I give it a 10 out of 10.


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