Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Tom Stoppard

Writer:

Tom Stoppard (written by)

Release Date:

8 February 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Coin | Destiny | Existentialism | Cult Favorite | Adaptation Directed By Original Author

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Gary Oldman	...	Rosencrantz
Tim Roth	...	Guildenstern
Richard Dreyfuss	...	The Player
Livio Badurina	...	Tragedian
Tomislav Maretic	...	Tragedian
Mare Mlacnik	...	Tragedian
Serge Soric	...	Tragedian (as Srdjan Soric)
Mladen Vasary	...	Tragedian
Zeljko Vukmirica	...	Tragedian
Branko Zavrsan	...	Tragedian
Joanna Roth	...	Ophelia
Iain Glen	...	Hamlet
Donald Sumpter	...	Claudius
Joanna Miles	...	Gertrude
Ljubo Zecevic	...	Osric

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:12 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-8 | Germany:12 | UK:PG | USA:PG (certificate #30638)

Filming Locations:

Brezice, Slovenia

Company:

Brandenberg

Trivia:

The title comes from one of the final lines of "Hamlet", where a British ambassador enters the Danish court to find Hamlet, Claudius, Gertrude, and Laertes all dead. The ambassador's line is, "...To tell [the King] his commandment is fulfilled, that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead."

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as 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.

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: Heads.
[Guildenstern pulls a coin out of his own pocket and flips it]
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Chasing Amy (1997)

Soundtrack:

Echoes

one of the best movies ever made

This is a truly unique movie, comic, sarcastic, tragic, ironic, and definitely hilarious. based on tom stoppard's play of the same name (stoppard also directs the film), "rosencrantz and guildenstern are dead" delves into the tragicomic lives of minor characters everywhere, on-stage and off. ros and guild's lives are thrown into turmoil every time they interact with the regular cast of hamlet, leaving them with few clues as to what their purpose is in the play and in life. stoppard's script is dizzying with puns, plays, feints and twists. the cinematography is minimalist to say the least (remember, the script was originally intended for the stage) but the "stage-presence" of the actors more than makes up for any lacks. if you like theatre and the absurd, this movie is for you.