Going Medieval: 25 films to watch while waiting for Game of Thrones season 8

9) Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (1990)

Who says the Middle Ages were all about doom and gloom? How about we leave the grime and gore behind for a bit and suggest a fun one set in Denmark in the late 1500’s? Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead is a fun romp, especially if you’re a fan of Shakespeare or Hamlet. The film won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.

The concept of the movie (adapted from director Tom Stoppard’s hit absurdist play of the same name) is cool: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two very minor characters in Hamlet, still exist when they are offstage, unaware that their ultimate fates are already written. Actors Gary Oldman and Tim Roth are brilliant as they bumble around in the wings, locked in a doomed effort to unravel the nature of their existence while the unstoppable play progresses around them.

This film, as much as some fans like it, certainly isn’t for everybody. Much of the criticism leveled against it has to do with its failure to translate well from stage to screen, as pointed out in New York Times critic Vincent Canby’s review. He found much of the film “amusing” but noted that, “On the stage, this sort of thing can be great fun, an end in itself, somewhat like music. In the more realistic medium of film, so many words can numb the eardrums and weigh upon the eyelids like old coins.”

Still, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead gets more positive reviews than negative ones, with a Rotten Tomatoes  score of 64% and an audience score of 88%. And if you are a fan of either Roth or Oldman, their performances are the heart of what is great about this movie, along with the witty writing. Richard Dreyfuss also appears, as do two Game of Thrones Alumni: Iain Glen (Jorah Mormont) as Hamlet and Donald Sumpter (Maester Luwin) as Claudius.