Dude. Gary Oldman and Tim Roth (back when they were young and so goddamn pretty) and Richard Dreyfuss (deeply talented, reputedly-difficult-to-work-with and never accused of being pretty) together on a shoestring budget. Written and directed by playwright Tom Stoppard, this movie is a nonstop onslaught of hilarious, mind-bending existential dialogue.
In Shakespeare’s Hamlet (1599), Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are bit characters. They’re cannon fodder called into existence to move the story (and Hamlet) along (to England). As title characters, the story of Hamlet flows around them while they simultaneously come to grips with having self-awareness thrust upon them and arriving at the inexorable conclusion that they lack free will.
If you’re not already familiar with Hamlet, I recommend absorbing the Cliffs Notes highlights before watching this movie.
Two of my favorite (of many, many) interactions:
Rosencrantz: Do you think death could possibly be a boat?
Guildenstern: No, no, no… Death is “not.” Death isn’t. Take my meaning? Death is the ultimate negative. Not being. You can’t “not be” on a boat.
Rosencrantz: I’ve frequently not been on boats.
Guildenstern: No, no, what you’ve been is not on boats.
The Player: The old man thinks he’s in love with his daughter.
Rosencrantz: Good God. We’re out of our depths here.
The Player: No, no, no! He hasn’t got a daughter! The old man thinks he’s in love with his daughter.
Rosencrantz: The old man is?
The Player: Hamlet… in love… with the old man’s daughter… the old man… thinks.
Rosencrantz: Ah.