film: rosencrantz and guildernstern are dead

film: rosencrantz and guilderstern are dead

i guess most people would be familiar with these characters, but i wonder how many are familiar with the film. tom stoppard - who wrote the original play of this name, then wrote and directed the film - takes these two minor characters from hamlet, and writes the story around them. all the major plot points of hamlet are covered, but the finer details are examined through the rather slow-witted eyes of r & g.

this is about the best scripted film that i've ever seen. unfortunately, due to its theatrical nature, it's not the most cinematic, however. it's pretty threadbare, in fact. but the dialogue is sharp as a knife, and you couldn't get two better actors - tim roth and gary oldman (with richard dreyfuss as the player) - to act it out. their rapport is amazing.

this is just full to the brim with little witty asides, awesome in-jokes (but they don't take too many brains to find, 'cause i got plenty...i assume there are even more for people more astute than me), and great back-and-forths. the performance in their little 'tennis' game of questions is really quite unbelievable.

this is an amazing film. think i'll have to go read hamlet again, too

Yeah this film rocks. I originally got into it on account of Gary Oldman and Tim Roth but was familair with the characters thanks to Hamlet, though I never read or saw the play the film was based on.

Got a copy of it a while back but still haven't got around to watching it yet, might have to crank it up tonight! Haven't seen it in fuckin' years. Very low budget film but very funny and well worth a watch from what I remember.

Great stuff alright... I love how Stoppard blurs the lines seperating the audience from the play, or, as here... real life from 'play-life'.

I haven't seen this in a long time. I think I may need to rewatch. :D

I have to rewatch this film. I was so unbelievably tired when I was watching it that despite my love of the film that I saw, I just had to go to bed at about the half way point.

I saw it during its limited theatrical release in 1991. I bought and read the play shortly thereafter.

It's brilliant. It won Best Picture at the Venice Film Festival in 1991. Gary Oldman and Tim Roth are at the top of their game.

Can't recommend it highly enough.

And bless you for bringing it up - I had no idea it was out on DVD. I just went out and bought it.

University literature courses routinely cover this play.

I've heard the film is fucking woeful (despite the fact it was directed by Stoppard). Considering how heavily he relies on stagecraft I fail to see how it could be brought (adequately) to screen...but hey, whatever floats your boat. I'd much prefer to see it on a stage. Brilliantly written.

^^^ you've 'heard'? have you seen it?

'cause it's got five four-star ratings here in this thread (out of five), and i've *never* heard a bad word about it personally. like i said originally, it's certainly not the most cinematic of films, but the witty dialogue is definitely helped along by some sharp editing.