Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead

Tom Stoppard - Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead

Betyg: 4

Tom Stoppard's "Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead" is just as much fun in script format as it is as a movie. Equal parts Beckett-like existentialism, metafiction and clever wordplay about the nature of play vs life and destiny vs free will. The idea is pure genius; take two tiny little characters from "Hamlet" and re-tell "Hamlet" from their point of view. Since they're only part of the action for a few seconds at a time, they spend most of the play wondering about on an empty stage (supposedly the backstage of "Hamlet") trying to figure out what is going on, what their purpose in all of it is, and why they can't simply do whatever they want.

Incidents! All we get is incidents! Dear God, is it too much to expect a little sustained action?!

And of course, since Shakespeare didn't even bother give them any personality or backstory, they don't even know themselves which is which. And so they walk about, bickering, trying to figure out how to get out of it, not realizing (despite numerous hints) that their role in the play is just to become what the title of it says.

Now I really need to re-read "Hamlet" too. Oh well.