Review of Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1991) by Walter M — 06 Jul 2006

[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 Hamlet(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].