Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Undead |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 2009 |
| length | 95 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Jordan Galland |
| script | Jordan Galland |
| production | Mike Landry Carlos Velazquez |
| music | Sean Lennon |
| camera | Chris Lavasseur |
| cut | Connor Kalista |
| occupation | |
| |
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead (English for "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are undead") is an American comedy from 2009 by director Jordan Galland based on his own script. Dustin Hoffman's son Jake played theleading role, while John Lennon's son Sean was responsiblefor the soundtrack.
action
The film
Julian Marsh, an unemployed young womanizer, is persuaded by his father, a doctor, to accept a job as a theater director for the play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Undead . The play, an unusual adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet , was written by a mysterious and very pale Romanian named Theo Horace. Initially unaware of the danger posed by the play, Julian casts Hamlet with his best friend Vince as Hamlet and uses his job to make an impression on his ex-girlfriend Anna, an aspiring actress. Much to Julian's displeasure, however, she is now with the seedy businessman Bobby Bianchi, who is said to have ties to the Mafia. After Anna finally gets the role of Ophelia, she begins an affair with Theo Horace, who seems to be strangely attractive to women. The roles of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are cast with Carlo and Mickey, two narcissistic actors who are made for the characters to be played. Eventually the premiere draws nearer, and as deaths begin to pile up, two bumbling New York detectives start a hunt for suspects. Julian finally makes the acquaintance of Charlotte Lawrence, a member of a secret society for hunting the undead, and learns the true background of the play, which he directed and written by a vampire.
The play within the film
The play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead is made visible within the film via short excerpts, the underlying plot itself can be summarized as follows:
Horatio, friend of Hamlet and played by Theo, is a 2000 year old master vampire who once lived in ancient Rome. In a series of surprising twists and turns, Hamlet and his simple-minded friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, become vampires themselves. When Horatio tries to turn Ophelia into a vampire too, she eludes him by drowning herself. Hamlet angrily confronts Horatio, but realizes that one vampire cannot kill another vampire. His only hope of undoing the curse of being a vampire is to find the Holy Grail and drink from it. Both then go in search of this, Hamlet to drink from, Horatio, however, to destroy him. The battle for the Grail dragged on for centuries and led to the creation of four plays, each of which had a secret message:
- The first version is William Shakespeare's Hamlet , which is written by him at the behest of Horatios.
- The second version is WS Gilbert's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern from the nineteenth century.
- The third version is Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead from 1964.
- The fourth and final version is Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead , with the Horatio (alias Theo Horace) aiming to lure the real Hamlet for a final confrontation.
background
According to Jordan Galland, the idea of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Undead first came to him after a high school production of Tom Stoppard's play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead , in which he played Rosencrantz at the age of 14. Several years later he met Stoppard himself, who encouraged him to pursue the idea further. The film itself was shot entirely in New York City in late 2007 using a Red Digital Cinema Camera (also known as Red One), an ultra-high-definition 35mm digital cinema camera . Gallard, Connor Kalista, who was responsible for editing, and cameraman Chris Lavasseur presented their experiences with this camera on April 15, 2008 at the conference of the National Association of Broadcasters . The film celebrated its world premiere in January 2009 at the Sundance Film Festival , in the USA the film will be released in theaters on June 4, 2010 via Indica Pictures .
criticism
Mike Orren criticizes some characters in the film that seem superfluous in places and the occasional excessive tempo of the film, but describes this as only minor disruptive factors in a clever film that is both fun for the viewer and the actors visibly enjoyable; He also praises the good production values and acting performances despite the low budget. Dennis Harvey praises the overall professional production of the horror comedy, which, far from slapstick, is more based on Edgar Wright and Christopher Guest .
Awards
- 2010: Received the Comedy Award at the Washington DC Independent Film Festival
- 2009: Nominated for Best Production Design at the Strasbourg Film Festival
Individual evidence
- ↑ John Del Signore: On the Set: Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Undead. (No longer available online.) In: Gothamist. December 22, 2007, archived from the original on March 17, 2010 ; accessed on May 2, 2010 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ VFX, Animation & New Digital Workflows: Case Study - "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead" - Production and Post with the Red Camera. In: NABShow. Archived from the original on June 16, 2008 ; accessed on May 2, 2010 (English).
- ↑ Mike Orren: AFI Dallas movie review: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Undead. (No longer available online.) March 28, 2009, archived from the original on March 31, 2009 ; accessed on May 2, 2010 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Dennis Harvey: Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Undead. (No longer available online.) In: Variety. April 21, 2010, archived from the original on April 27, 2010 ; accessed on May 2, 2010 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ 2010 Award Winners. (No longer available online.) In: Washington DC Independent Film Festival. Archived from the original on April 1, 2010 ; accessed on May 2, 2010 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Films in Competition 2009. (No longer available online.) In: Strasbourg International Film Festival. Archived from the original on February 24, 2010 ; accessed on May 2, 2010 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
