Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are DeadDo you believe in fate? Is "fate" just another word for being doomed? ("Rhetoric! Game and match!") Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead is a self-aware comedy directed and adapted from the stage play of the same name by Tom Stoppard, which in turn is an adaptation (of sorts) of William Shakespeare's "Hamlet". (Plays within plays are a common thing here.) The story follows two heretofore minor characters from "Hamlet"--Rosencrantz (Gary Oldman) and Guildenstern (Tim Roth)--as they pontificate on their role in the drama of Elsinore and the significance of their lives in the great wheel of life, while an actor (referred to as the "Lead Player", and played by Richard Dreyfuss)--who bears a remarkable likeness to the Bard himself--alludes to their inevitable end through poetry and prose.
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At its heart, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead is a love letter not just to Shakespeare's most renowned play, but also its audience. When the eponymous Rosencrantz and Guildenstern arrive in Denmark, they have walked into the play in medias res--Act II, Scene 2, for those keeping track at home. They are brought solely to keep an eye on their erstwhile friend, Prince Hamlet (Iain Glen), at the behest of the scheming King Claudius (Donald Sumpter), and only here have their lives been given any meaning. To wit, they seemed to simply manifest in the woods en route to Denmark, already debating their own existence along with other philosophical and logical conundrums. Shortly after encountering the Player, they are magically whisked away to the castle, which becomes as much of a claustrophobic and labyrinthine prison as Hamlet claims it to be--getting lost in corridors, and going up and down a lot of stairs. When the duo are not actively involved in scenes from "Hamlet" to which they are a part, they move around "backstage", watching the play go on without them. It is in these moments where they speculate on what their real purpose is...in Denmark and on a larger, metaphorical level. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern play a game of "questions" between the scenes, comically performed like a round of tennis. This questions game is revisited after Hamlet greets his former school chums and becomes guarded, aware that they are concealing their true purpose in visiting from him. The pair uses their scoring method to understand just how competently Hamlet evaded their questions with his own--a comedic kind of analysis no doubt appreciated by Shakespeare scholars and enthusiasts. The Player also plays the part of the leader of the acting troupe that conspires with Hamlet to "catch the conscience of a king", and later performs a pantomime of "Hamlet" for backstage guests, including Rosencrantz and Guildenstern--creating a "play within a play within a play" paradigm, like a theatrical nesting doll. The Player coyly hints at the pair's unfortunate end in his performance; although Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are unaware of their fate, fans of "Hamlet" know different. (The title's a bit of a giveaway, too.)
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead derives most of its appeal from the protagonists' cognizance that they are merely supporting characters in someone else's story, and that their existence outside of it doesn't matter. The start of the film is actually the very beginning of their lives, a detail which Guildenstern tries to investigate with the seemingly dim Rosencrantz; they can't remember anything earlier than their ominous summons to Denmark. These questions begin to surface when Guildenstern happens upon a gold coin in the road, and opts to flip it again and again, and every single time it lands on "heads". Guildenstern is often the first to question the unlikelihood of a situation, and hypothesizes what this statistical anomaly could portend. Rosencrantz tries to recreate similar anomalies that defy the laws of the physical world, often with deflating (yet comical) results. Absurd wit accompanies the pair like an invisible companion, drawing comparisons between Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead and the comedy stylings of "Monty Python". Rosencrantz and Guildenstern borrow comedy cues from the likes of Laurel and Hardy and even The Odd Couple--a couple of mismatched fellows who share the misfortune of being out of their element among the intrigue at court. The Player has a jovial amiability to him, showing the travelling pair his catalog of bloody plays, which he describes as appealing to all tastes "in times such as these". His mischievous mannerisms and nigh-supernatural presence--not to mention his role in gentle Rosencrantz and Guildenstern's fates--makes him a parallel to Death, closest to the incarnation from Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal. The Player is a puppet master--over the play of "Hamlet" as much as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. He surprises them by manifesting ahead of the duo, and is clearly informed about the fate that will befall them long before it happens. If there is a God in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, it is the Player; but what kind of "God" is he? If he is trying to warn the duo before things get too far gone for them, he is too cryptic. Or is he deliberately leading them to their doom, as he has done with others before them? He speaks of himself and his accomplices as "tragedians"; what could be more tragic than cutting short the thread of life? As much as Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead is an exploration of the behind-the-scenes moments of "Hamlet", it is also a meditation on the meaning of life, and the inscrutable motivations of a higher power in command of it.
Recommended for: Fans of a witty and self-aware comedy that both embraces and pokes fun at philosophy, existentialism, and of course, Shakespeare. Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead isn't so much a "CliffsNotes" for "Hamlet" as it is an extension of the play; audiences who have seen or read "Hamlet" will get more out of it. And the dry humor, like a good white wine, will make you feel erudite and apt to fits of giggling.
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead derives most of its appeal from the protagonists' cognizance that they are merely supporting characters in someone else's story, and that their existence outside of it doesn't matter. The start of the film is actually the very beginning of their lives, a detail which Guildenstern tries to investigate with the seemingly dim Rosencrantz; they can't remember anything earlier than their ominous summons to Denmark. These questions begin to surface when Guildenstern happens upon a gold coin in the road, and opts to flip it again and again, and every single time it lands on "heads". Guildenstern is often the first to question the unlikelihood of a situation, and hypothesizes what this statistical anomaly could portend. Rosencrantz tries to recreate similar anomalies that defy the laws of the physical world, often with deflating (yet comical) results. Absurd wit accompanies the pair like an invisible companion, drawing comparisons between Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead and the comedy stylings of "Monty Python". Rosencrantz and Guildenstern borrow comedy cues from the likes of Laurel and Hardy and even The Odd Couple--a couple of mismatched fellows who share the misfortune of being out of their element among the intrigue at court. The Player has a jovial amiability to him, showing the travelling pair his catalog of bloody plays, which he describes as appealing to all tastes "in times such as these". His mischievous mannerisms and nigh-supernatural presence--not to mention his role in gentle Rosencrantz and Guildenstern's fates--makes him a parallel to Death, closest to the incarnation from Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal. The Player is a puppet master--over the play of "Hamlet" as much as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. He surprises them by manifesting ahead of the duo, and is clearly informed about the fate that will befall them long before it happens. If there is a God in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, it is the Player; but what kind of "God" is he? If he is trying to warn the duo before things get too far gone for them, he is too cryptic. Or is he deliberately leading them to their doom, as he has done with others before them? He speaks of himself and his accomplices as "tragedians"; what could be more tragic than cutting short the thread of life? As much as Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead is an exploration of the behind-the-scenes moments of "Hamlet", it is also a meditation on the meaning of life, and the inscrutable motivations of a higher power in command of it.
Recommended for: Fans of a witty and self-aware comedy that both embraces and pokes fun at philosophy, existentialism, and of course, Shakespeare. Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead isn't so much a "CliffsNotes" for "Hamlet" as it is an extension of the play; audiences who have seen or read "Hamlet" will get more out of it. And the dry humor, like a good white wine, will make you feel erudite and apt to fits of giggling.