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Gary Oldman, Tim Roth, Richard Dreyfuss, Iain Glen, Joanna Roth ... see more see more... , Donald Sumpter , Joanna Miles , Ljubo Zecevic , Ian Richardson , Sven Medvesck , Vili Matula , John Burgess , Livio Badurina , Tomislav Maretic , Mare Mlacnik , Srdjan Soric , Mladen Vasary , Zeljko Vukmirica , Branko Zavrsan

Much as he would later do with Shakespeare in Love (1998), writer Tom Stoppard delivered a tale of Shakespearean origin from a skewed and unexpected perspective. In this case, it's the perspective of ... read more read more...two relatively minor characters from Hamlet, Rosencrantz (Gary Oldman) and Guildenstern (Tim Roth), courtiers who, in the original play, were dispatched offstage before the narrative's conclusion. In Stoppard's script (which he also directed), the two supporting players take center stage as the events unfold in Elsinore Castle. Unable to determine the source of the prince's tortured despair, the duo ponders the question of fate as their predetermined roles are played out. Meanwhile, they dabble in a little verbal tennis and some ill-advised science experiments, and endure the puzzling attentions of mysterious wandering thespians led by (Richard Dreyfuss). Ordered to accompany Hamlet (Iain Glen) to England, the pair learn that the letter they carry instructs that nation's king to decapitate their mentally unbalanced and irksome charge, a revelation that Hamlet overhears. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

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87% liked it

15,594 ratings

Critics

64% liked it

28 critics

PG, 1 hr. 58 min.

Directed by: Tom Stoppard

Release Date: February 8, 1991

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DVD Release Date: March 22, 2005

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Stats: 1,143 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (1,143)

  • matertenebraum
    December 7, 2010
    matertenebraum
    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 seamle... read moress 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.
  • liquidchick76
    November 23, 2010
    liquidchick76
    I loved the cast and love Tom Stoppard's work, but this predecessor to "Shakespeare in Love" was much less stimulating, even though it was equally clever.
  • jjnxn
    May 23, 2010
    jjnxn
    Humorous take on two minor characters in Hamlet is a bit extended but Oldman and especially Tim Roth are excellent and make a great team of if not exactly buffoons than simple minded couriers. Richard Dreyfus is also full of puckish fun as the leader of an itinerant troupe.
  • MovieGeek13
    March 19, 2009
    MovieGeek13
    Two side characters from Hamlet wander around unaware of their destiny as the events of the tragedy unfold around them. Oldman and Roth are great, and the scene where they play Questions on a tennis court is hilarious.
  • arashxak
    July 5, 2008
    arashxak
    Intelligent, Cute & Thought provoking
  • Camus123
    July 20, 2007
    Camus123
    This is one of my all time favorites. One needs to digest it and really it must get more than one view. A true thinking person's comedy. Two side characters from Hamlet...who cares right? Wrong! This movie (first a play) follows the lives of Rosencrantz & Guildenstern after ... read morethey have left the spotlight. The conversations, the wit, the Word Tennis...truly a magnificent movie and the magic starts right away...no waiting. Add this to Gary Oldman, Tim Roth starring and you get a glorious film. put this in your collection.
  • garyX
    February 25, 2007
    garyX
    Very witty and intelligent deconstruction of Shakespeare; Roth and Oldman are a superb double act. Everything Shakespeare In Love could've been, but isn't.
  • gator681
    July 7, 2006
    gator681
    [font=Century Gothic]At the start of "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead", Rosencrantz(Gary Oldman) and Guildenstern(Tim Roth) are very much alive and on their way to Elsinore Castle, summoned by King Claudius(Donald Sumpter) to look into the madness of their old pal Prince Ha... read moremlet(Iain Glen). On the way there, they have a long discussion about probability and are briefly entertained by a group of actors.[/font]

    [font=Century Gothic]Written and directed by Tom Stoppard, "Rosencrantz and Guildernstern Are Dead" is an entertaining bit of intellectualizing on the nature of watching a play(One of the characters even refers to himself as a spectator.) but this is no more than a thin conceit stretched to the breaking point. The movie takes the above minor characters from "Hamlet", and pushes them to the lead but they are still on the periphery of the action with which they are interwoven. And the film sadly does not flesh out the characters any. However, Roth and Oldman do a wonderful job acting in tandem.[/font]
  • itbegins2005
    August 31, 2008
    itbegins2005
    Existential comedy. It sounds like a contradiction in terms, when you think about it- people contemplating the vagaries of existence hardly sounds like the makings of a laugh riot. And an existential comedy based on Hamlet, one of the most famous stage tragedies in theatre histor... read morey, sounds even less feasible. But somehow, probably due to the incredible wit of writer-director Tom Stoppard and the fantastic pairing of Gary Oldman and Tim Roth, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead manages to overcome its potential shortcomings, achieving a level of philosophical sophistication that is belayed by its lighthearted sense of humor. From seemingly out of nowhere, we are greeted by two riders, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern- friends who find themselves wandering aimlessly with no memory of who exactly they are (or more specifically, which is which), where they've come from, or where they're going. Finally, they come across a rabble of traveling actors (slash prostitutes), or "Tragedians", led by a nameless Player, and shortly thereafter are stranded in the castle of Elsinore, watching as the events of the play Hamlet unfold mystifyingly around them (and trapped within the span of those events) while the Player alludes to truths that neither man can understand- that they aren't the architects of their own fate, and that they are simply bit players in a far grander story. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are a comic duo who are a lot like Laurel and Hardy, Ren and Stimpy, or, most accurately, C-3PO and R2-D2 (inconsequential characters weaving through an epic tapestry). Rosencrantz (or Guildenstern), played by Gary Oldman, is an innocent, simple character, taking simple pleasures out of his situation and never really looking past the immediate (though he often shows startling flashes of insight that catch us off guard, such as with his preponderance of death at the end of act two). He's sort of a childlike character, and the fact that Gary Oldman is able to channel that so convincingly is astonishing (especially considering the number of evil bastards he's played); he really keeps the film from getting too morbid and serious. The straight man to Oldman's clown, Guildenstern (or Rosencrantz), played by Tim Roth, is a more analytical, hot-headed guy who finds the inexplicable nature of their situation infuriating and is consistently exasperated by his more obtuse companion. While it's not as fun of a part as Rosencrantz (or Guildenstern), Roth does get some good bits as the brighter of the two wits, and all of the dramatic beats originate with him (especially by the end). The pair find themselves subject to the whims of a reality that they have no memory of or control over, forced to take their situation for granted in the hopes of finding a deeper meaning to their presence or, at least, a way out of it all. The key to this would seem to be the mysterious Player, played by Richard Dreyfuss, a burlesque character who mocks their search for truth and seems to be the orchestrator of their situation (even if he, too, is bound by his own part- or parts- in it). Dreyfuss is fun as the all-too-knowing showman whose whole existence is defined by his craft (hence his lack of a proper name), a seemingly obscene character (especially after his first scene) who is blunt and uncaring- representative, maybe, of an indifferent world. The funny thing is that the play (upon which this is based) seems to tackle the idea of "what do Rosencrantz and Guildenstern do between their scenes in Hamlet" from a sort of ironic standpoint- that what their doing between their Hamlet scenes is trying to justify their own existence until another scene crops up (in which they are suddenly playing the parts assigned to them naturally and unquestioningly). The fact that these are characters defined solely by what's been written about them makes it interesting when they become befuddled by the gaps in their information (such as who is Rosencrantz and who is Guildenstern, since, in their Hamlet scenes, they are virtually interchangeable) and question exactly where it's coming from. The script is unbelievably good, filled with machine-gun dialogue that toys with the basic structure of language with zeal and wit; it poses some heady philosophical points wedged between almost incomprehensibly fast games of Questions between our heroes. Technically speaking, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead is a simplistic film: while a lot of the film is shot on location, the sets stand out when they do appear (particularly the boat set at the end of the film) as, well, sets- the film feels enclosed at times, like it's on a soundstage. Also, the few effects that pop up are far from convincing, but then, that's probably not the point (we see during the Tragedian's faux-Hamlet performance how even the most rudimentary effects can be effective). The cinematography is pretty decent, playing very naturalistically (firelight is the only noticeable source for any non-daylight); the compositions are also decent, sticking to standard two-shots and close-ups (it's actually quite proficient, considering that this is playwright Tom Stoppard's directorial debut); editing-wise, the use of juxtaposition is excellent, especially to show the jump between performance and "reality". Overall, it's sort of a bittersweet tale, which skirts the edge of tragedy and comedy at the end, but its very premise makes it impossible to feel too disheartened when the inevitable finally happens (after all, it's in the bloody TITLE- it shouldn't come as a big surprise), because, as the film establishes, neither Rosencrantz nor Guildenstern really have a life outside of the one Shakespeare created for them, and technically they are reborn each time someone watches the play/movie- which, considering the sharp, clever humor at work here, should be quite frequently. It's a thinking person's comedy, a self-referential exploration of the nature of life and death itself. That, and it's damn funny.
  • simeondeutsch1
    August 15, 2010
    simeondeutsch1
    An interesting riff on Hamlet that benefits from good performances from Roth and Oldman and an amazing script, but I feel as if this did not survive the adaptation from stage to screen fully intact. 51/100

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Critic Reviews

Vincent Canby
May 20, 2003
Vincent Canby, New York Times

As happens at the opera, one usually laughs (if one laughs at all) not because something is funny, but because one has successfully recognized that it is supposed to be funny. Full Review

Roger Ebert
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

As a movie, this material, freely adapted by Stoppard, is boring and endless. It lies flat on the screen, hardly stirring. Full Review

Hal Hinson
January 1, 2000
Hal Hinson, Washington Post

Staged as they are here, the jokes and the fourth-wall gamesmanship don't seem as funny as they did on the page. Full Review

July 3, 2008
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Unfortunately, Stoppard the director does not match the invigorating brilliance of Stoppard the writer. Full Review

July 3, 2008
Film4

A disastrous adaptation of an excellent play. Full Review

Mark Bourne
April 5, 2006
Mark Bourne, DVDJournal.com

...On stage, the sprightly teleological riffs and bebop dialogue delight as ends in themselves. Here they're leaden and compromised. What happened? Full Review

Geoff Andrew
February 9, 2006
Geoff Andrew, Time Out

Both Oldman and Roth turn in flat and uninspiring performances. Full Review

Dan Lybarger
May 13, 2004
Dan Lybarger, Nitrate Online

Really head-twisting adaptation of the play with fine work from Oldman and Roth.

Widgett Walls
August 15, 2003
Widgett Walls, Needcoffee.com

Probably the best stage to screen adaptation I've ever seen. Essential.

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
July 10, 2003
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice

Tom Stoppard's 1967 morality play has been translated into a high-spirited and well-acted film. Full Review

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    • Rosencrantz: To sum up: your father, whom you love, dies. You are his heir. You come back to find that hardly was the corpse cold before his young brother pops onto his throne and into his sheets, thereby offending both legal and natural practice. Now... why exactly are you behaving in this extraordinary manner?
    • Guildenstern: I can't imagine.
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Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead Trivia

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are De... Trivia

  • In what film did Tim Roth and Gary Oldman play a pair of existentialist, half-wit, Hamlet characters?   Answer »
  • Which of the following is not based on a play by William Shakespeare?  Answer »
  • Which two well-known actors starred in the Hamlet spinoff movie "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead?"  Answer »
  • Which Tom Stoppard movie featured both Richard Dreyfuss and Gary Oldman?   Answer »
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