(Tom Stoppard/1990/UK)
Stoppard’s
screen adaptation of his own play focusing on the two minor and
interchangeable character’s from Hamlet. It is a theatrical riff on
Beckett’s Godot with many similar aspects and themes. The two
lead’s dialogue often focuses on confusion at who they are and what
they are doing and there is a sense of waiting for the inevitable
conclusion of the piece. It’s darkly comic with shades of
existential querying and a great mash up for fans of Hamlet and
Beckett, or just theatre in general. Stoppard transitions the play to
screen effortlessly. The tennis scene is hilarious and the device of
the “play within the play” is given extra layers and deepened and
played with brilliantly. Oldman and Roth are great too in roles far
and away from their usual.
(3.5/5)
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