


While its whimsical tone delivers hilarity, its comedic approach in a story about tragic revenge can also be off-putting for many people who know the Hamlet story by heart. Though the film upholds the friends' primary task to figure out what Hamlet is doing, it ups the antics with these characters as they utter subtle jokes to lighten up the play's eerie mood.

Unlike Hamlet's serious and melodramatic versions, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead is actually a tragicomedy that pokes fun at the ill-fated characters.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are actually two minor characters in the original Hamlet and were once his childhood friends - only for that friendship to stain as Hamlet kills them. Still, the best adaptations according to Rotten Tomatoes succeeded in capturing the true essence of Hamlet's eerie and vengeful spirit, supported by a masterclass performance and top-notch production.Įven though most adaptations focus on the main hero, Hamlet, some movies like Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead have given the side characters time to shine. The visual interpretation and character study may vary between filmmakers with some choosing a modernized approach or a changed framework that promotes the supporting characters to central figures. The words may seem simple, but there is deep meaning behind them as they convey Hamlet's inner thoughts as he comes to terms with his father's death.Īdapting Shakespeare's tragedy for the screen requires delicacy, not just with the Renaissance backdrop but the discourse and vernacular that impassion Hamlet to seek his arduous journey. "To be or not to be" is Hamlet's iconic line that has been uttered by esteemed actors such as Kenneth Branagh and Laurence Olivier over the years. Shakespeare's definitive themes of revenge, love, and betrayal, as well as elegant and passionate dialogue, define Hamlet's epic tale. William Shakespeare's classics like Romeo and Juliet are the best stories to receive the movie treatment, but a powerful tragedy that is difficult to illuminate is Hamlet.
