Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead

William Shakespeare committed a terrible sin against them. From nothingness, he suddenly brought them into a world they do not understand (but sometimes strange foreign lines come into their mouths), a world that does not behave according to the rules of logic. And those two don't even know which one is which, but did you really care when you watched Hamlet? In short: Stoppard's masterful theatrical apocryphal, which plays with the Shakespearean image of the world as a theatre and extends it to the absurd dimension of theatre in the theatre (see the puppet scene, which further enhances the subtlety of Hamlet's play with the King). The humor of Stoppard's piece is dry and whooping like a cough, and Roth and Oldman's performances are perfect. Moreover, the language of the play/film can compete boldly with the language of the master in its playfulness (the "verbal tennis" of both protagonists is one of the most brilliant dialogues heard in the film). Parody in its genre equals perfection to Hamlet. Great, funny, intellectual and yet not condescending! (01/02/2004)

“Heads it is three hundred and sixty-four times in a row; that must be a record..." Tom Stoppard, originally born in Zlín, Czechoslovakia, and his best-known work adapted for the movie screen. Brilliant acting and a spectacular cast. The whole movie depends on the dialogs which are unbelievably playful, meaningful and in the best possible Shakespeare style. A sort of behind-the-scenes “Hamlet"; the Prince of Denmark through the eyes of his best friends. It is excellent, despite knowing full well from the original how this duo ends up. Despite the fact that this massively enriches the classic story of Hamlet, it would work on its own, too, because it is mainly and primarily about the central duo and their eternal and unsolvable philosophic questions and the “Game of Questions". Ingenious and unforgettable. Close to my heart, I won’t hear this criticized. If it were more “movie-like", then it would be a perfect movie. This way, Stoppard’s theatrical direction is too manifest. (07/11/2007)