Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead

I love this movie. I remember first watching it in a college class talking about different takes, different points of view. Watching it again now and I find myself liking it even more. It's such an interesting film with an anti-narrative and such a wonderfully, deliberately bizarre structure. Rose & Guild follows the story of our titular characters but it's really more about what they're doing off to the side of the main story of Hamlet. So much so that they just randomly show up in places when the story demands it and they don't even know how they got there.

It's weird and it absolutely isn't going to work for some people but I love this one. It's so unique and fun, creative and inventive and I try to give props to any movie setting out to be as different as this one especially when it actually succeeds at what it's trying to do. Strong recommend here, whether you're familiar with Hamlet or not, though a loose understanding of the play would likely be beneficial.

Okay, so you may want to brush up on your knowledge of "Hamlet" before viewing "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead", Tom Stoppard's big screen adaptation of his own classic play. Please don't let that frighten you away, or you'll miss out on a seriously funny movie.

The lead roles are extremely well cast. Gary Oldman is hilarious as sweet, befuddled Rosencrantz. Tim Roth's angry, frustrated Guildenstern is the perfect complement. They make a great team.

Stoppard's film has a sprightly step even when raising a few cosmic questions. It's the perfect tonic for some of the more pompous cinematic takes on Shakespeare, and even the Bard would appreciate its sparkling wordplay.

A wonderfully witty film masterfully transferred from a marvellous stage script to the screen.

The dialogue is constant and highly entertaining, the meshing of Stoppard's modern day speech of the original parts of the story and Shakespeare's original Hamlet practically seamless and masterfully worked.

Gary Oldman gives a superb performance as Guildernstern (or is it Rosencratz - and, at the end of the day, does it matter?) outstanding in a fabulous cast. All in all this film cannot be recommended highly enough.

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.

This film is one of the most glorious and intriguing examples of modern cinematic art I have ever encountered. I am not going to run you through the entire movie, as that has been done several times on here already, but I would like to clear up a few misunderstandings and harsh words that I have read in previous comments.

First and foremost, I have not seen or read the play (although I am looking forward to it) and I was perfectly able to understand all of the so-called "high-brow" concepts like fate, time, freewill, self-awareness, and the light peppering of existential musings (my favorite of which is the "...well at least I'm not dead." speech). The first time I watched this film I was very fascinated, amused, and slightly confused. These Pythoneon nonsensical scenes that some of you are reffering to were a bit difficult to understand, but after a second viewing they all made perfect sense. It does not take a genius to see the multiple layers and metaphors being used in this film. As for being totally lost without first seeing the play, that is rediculous. It took a bit of thinking and rewinding, but it is comprehensible, and after you figure it all out for yourself it is very rewarding and adds to the enjoyment, and genius, of the film. For example, the first time i watched this movie I was very confused by the pages of manuscript randomly floating around after R&G encounter the players for the first time. But once you realize that the lead player is fully self-aware, has been through these scenarios (the play "Hamlet") several times with a full consciousness and memory of the events (demonstrated rather obviously by his full knowledge of future events, the play that his troupe rehearses in front of R&G wich is an exact copy of "Hamlet", etc.) it makes for a wonderful metaphor demonstrating what has happened to the original play (Hamlet) now that some of its more flat characters are starting to think outside the script, so to speak, and become a bit more round.

Well, I could go on forever about this masterpiece, and maybe I will at a later date, but for now I just wanted you know that this film is anything but simple. If you can manage to put a little thought into what you are seeing and hearing you will find that it is perhaps the most complex, multi-layered, intuitively rewarding film ever created.

P.S. I am afraid this film is not widely accessible to the majority of movie watchers, which really saddens me because it is truly an amazing work of art. I would very much like to remedy this. So, if you have watched this movie at least 2 times, and are still puzzled by some of the scenes, please feel free to email me and I would be happy to explain anything that might heighten your understanding of the film.