Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (film)

Rosencrantz amp Guildenstern Are Dead is a 1990 comedydrama film written and directed by Tom Stoppard based on his play of the same name. Like the play, the film depicts two minor characters from William Shakespeares play Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who find themselves on the road to Elsinore Castle at the behest of the King of Denmark. They encounter a band of players before arriving to find that they are needed to try to discern what troubles the prince Hamlet. Meanwhile, they ponder the meaning of their existence. The movie won the Golden Lion at the 47th Venice International Film Festival.

The film, like the play, focuses on Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and their actions or lack thereof within the play of Hamlet. The film begins as they travel on horseback to Elsinore, contemplating fate, memory and language. Rosencrantz finds and continually flips a coin which always comes up heads, causing Guildenstern to conclude that something is wrong with reality. They meet a travelling troupe of tragedians on the way, and during their conversation with the lead Player, they are mysteriously transported into the action of Hamlet at Elsinore. They wander around the castle, trying to catch up to the action and understand what is going on by listening to other parts of the play. They are asked by the Danish royal couple to stay awhile in order to help find out the cause of, and hopefully cure, Prince Hamlets gloomy state. They spend their time outside the scenes in Hamlet trying to figure out what is wrong with the prince and what is required of them.The remainder of the play follows the Shakespearean drama whenever the two characters are on stage, while the title heroes remain largely occupied with the futile hazards of daily life whenever the main action is elsewhere. Soon the very same theatre troupe arrives to play at court, as part of the Bards tragedy. The Player simultaneously forbids them to stop watching their real play on the road, which cannot exist without an audience, and explains some of the plot and logic of conventional rules of plotstaging and writing. ........

Source: Wikipedia