Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead ** (1990, Gary Oldman, Tim Roth, Richard Dreyfuss) – Classic Movie Review 9727

Writer Tom Stoppard turns director to supervise the 1990 film Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, the movie of his wordy (or dialogue driven) play about two of the minor characters from Hamlet – courtiers who are mysteriously summoned to Elsinore Castle by Hamlet (Iain Glen)’s Uncle Claudius (Donald Sumpter) to await their fate.

Gary Oldman (as Rosencrantz), Tim Roth (as Guildenstern) and Richard Dreyfuss (as the Player) give actory performances, but their enthusiasm is infectious, and Stoppard showcases his play with pretty visuals.

If you enjoy the well-regarded Stoppard play, based on Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, you might like a filmed record of it, but it comes over as very flat and dull on the screen.

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead was filmed in Yugoslavia.

Dreyfuss stepped in when Sean Connery pulled out of the film.

It was the winner of the Golden Lion at the 1990 Venice Film Festival.

Also in the cast are Joanna Roth as Ophelia, Joanna Miles as Gertrude, Ian Richardson as Polonius, John Burgess as Ambassador from England, Vili Matula as Horatio, Sven Medvesek as Laertes, Ljubo Zecevic as Osric, Livo Badurina, Tomislav Mlacnik, Zeljko Vukmirica and Branko Zarsan.

Joanna Roth was born in 1965 in Århus, Denmark, and is married to John Hannah since 20 January 1996.

 © Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9727

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