Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead Movie Review 1990

Playwright Stoppard adapted his own absurdist 1967 play to film--which at first look makes as much sense as a "Swan Lake" ballet on radio. Patience is rewarded for those who stick with it. Two tragicomic minor characters in "Hamlet" squabble rhetorically and misperceive Shakespeare's plot tightening fatally around them. Uprooted from the stage environment, it's arcane but hilarious if you're paying attention. Roth and Oldman are superb as the doomed duo.

Distribution

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Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 118 minutes.
Originally from British.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Adapted from a Play, Modern Shakespeare, Plays to Film: Tom Stoppard

Screenplay

Tom Stoppard

Cast

Gary Oldman, Tim Roth, Richard Dreyfuss, Iain Glen, Joanna Roth, Donald (Don) Sumpter, Sven Medvesck, Joanna Miles, Ian Richardson, John Burgess, Vili Matula, Ljubo Zecevic

Cinematography

Peter Biziou

Director

Tom Stoppard

Music

Stanley Myers

Producer

Cinecom Pictures, Michael Brandman, Emanuel Azenberg

Awards

Venice Film Fest. 1991: Picture.