''Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead'' is a 2009 American independent film written and directed by

Jordan Galland Jordan Galland (born 1980) is an American filmmaker and musician based in New York City. Early life Born in Farmington, Connecticut, Galland was raised in New York City and graduated in 2002 from New York University, where he studied film, anim ...

. The film's title refers to a fictitious play-within-the-movie, which is a comic reinterpretation of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

’s ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

'' and its aftermath and whose title is a reference to the play '' Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead'' by

Tom Stoppard Sir Tom Stoppard (; born , 3 July 1937) is a Czech-born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and politi ...

. The cast includes Devon Aoki, John Ventimiglia,

Kris Lemche Kris Lemche (born February 23, 1978) is a Canadian actor. Career At 17 years old, Kris Lemche answered a newspaper casting call and won a role on the Disney series '' Flash Forward''. Abandoning plans to study biochemistry in university, Lemc ...

, Ralph Macchio, Jeremy Sisto and Waris Ahluwalia. The film stars Jake Hoffman (son of

Dustin Hoffman Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor. As one of the key actors in the formation of New Hollywood, Hoffman is known for Dustin Hoffman filmography, his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable charac ...

). An original musical score was composed and performed by

Sean Lennon is a British-American musician, songwriter, and producer. He is the son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and half-brother to Julian Lennon. Over the course of his career, he has been a member of the bands Cibo Matto, the Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tige ...

. Shooting began in late November, 2007, and principal photography was completed on December 23, 2007.

Plot summary

Julian Marsh ( Jake Hoffman), an unemployed young

lothario Lothario is an Italian name used as shorthand for an unscrupulous seducer of women, based upon a character in '' The Fair Penitent'', a 1703 tragedy by Nicholas Rowe.

, is forced by his doctor dad (

Chip Zien Jerome Herbert "Chip" Zien (born March 20, 1947) is an American actor. He is best known for originating the lead role of the Baker in the original Broadway production of the musical ''Into the Woods'' by Stephen Sondheim. He appeared in all of ...

) to accept a job directing an off-Broadway play called ''Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead'', which is described as a weird adaptation of ''Hamlet''. The play has been written by a mysterious, pallid Romanian named Theo Horace ( John Ventimiglia), a vampire who has just killed a young woman ( Bijou Phillips). Unaware of the danger that surrounds Theo's play, Julian casts his best friend Vince (

) as Hamlet and uses his new job to impress his ex-girlfriend, Anna ( Devon Aoki), an aspiring actress. To Julian's dismay, Anna has taken up with a shady businessman named Bobby Bianchi ( Ralph Macchio), who has reputed ties to the Mafia. When Anna is cast as Ophelia, she slowly gets involved with Theo. The roles of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in Theo's play are filled by Carlo ( Carlos Velazquez) and Mickey (Mike Landry), two narcissistic actors as foolish as the characters they are cast to play. Opening night draws near and people begin to die. Two bumbling New York City detectives ( Jeremy Sisto and Lou Carbonneau) chase suspects as the movie builds to its climactic sequence.

The play within the film

Theo's play, ''Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead'', is revealed in short segments throughout the movie. Its basic plot points are that Hamlet's friend Horatio (played by Theo) is a master

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

, over 2000 years old, who had once lived in ancient Rome. Through a series of twists and turns, Hamlet and his simple-minded friends,

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are characters in William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Hamlet''. They are childhood friends of Hamlet, summoned by King Claudius to distract the prince from his apparent madness and if possible to ascertain the cause of ...

, become vampires themselves. When Horatio attempts to turn Hamlet's girlfriend

Ophelia Ophelia () is a character in William Shakespeare's drama ''Hamlet'' (1599–1601). She is a young noblewoman of Denmark, the daughter of Polonius, sister of Laertes and potential wife of Prince Hamlet. Due to Hamlet's actions, Ophelia ultima ...

into a vampire, she thwarts him by drowning herself first. Hamlet angrily confronts Horatio but discovers that one vampire cannot kill another. His only hope of reversing the curse that rendered him a vampire is to find the

Holy Grail The Holy Grail (, , , ) is a treasure that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. Various traditions describe the Holy Grail as a cup, dish, or stone with miraculous healing powers, sometimes providing eternal youth or sustenanc ...

and drink from it. Horatio also becomes obsessed with finding the Grail in order to destroy it. The battle for the Grail between Hamlet and Horatio lasts for centuries and leads to the creation of four plays, each concealing a secret message. The first is

's ''

'', written at Horatio's bidding. The second is ''

'', written in the nineteenth century by

W. S. Gilbert Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (18 November 1836 – 29 May 1911) was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his collaboration with composer Arthur Sullivan, which produced fourteen comic operas. The most fam ...

(half of the duo of

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) and to the works they jointly created. The two men collaborated on fourteen com ...

). The third is

's '' Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead'', written in 1964. The final play in the cycle is this one, ''Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead'', written by Horatio himself under the name Theo Horace, with the purpose of luring the real Hamlet into a final confrontation.

Cast

Production

first conceived of the name, ''Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead'', after playing Rosencrantz in a high school production of

's play '' Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead'' at the age of 14. Several years later he was introduced to Stoppard, who encouraged him to pursue the idea. The film was shot in New York City at the end of 2007. Galland, along with his editor, Connor Kalista, and cinematographer, Chris Lavasseur, presented their experience with the Red One at a content panel ("Case Study: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead") at the

National Association of Broadcasters The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is a Industry trade group, trade association and lobbying, lobby group representing the interests of commercial and non-commercial over-the-air radio and television broadcasting, broadcasters in th ...

convention (NABShow 2008), on April 15, 2008.

Soundtrack

Galland's longtime collaborator

has created an original musical score for the film.

Awards and nominations

*2010 Comedy Award at the Washington DC Independent Film Festival *2009 Nominated for best production design at the

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

Film Festival

Release

The film ran in a limited cinema release in the United States on 11 June 2010. It is distributed by Indican Pictures.

Film festivals

*World premiere at a special screening at the Slamdance Film Festival in January 2009. * Canadian premiere at the Canadian Music Week Film Festival, March 14, 2009. * Special Presentations screening at the American Film Institute Dallas International Film Festival, March 27 and 29, 2009. * Feature film presentation at Newport Beach Film Festival, April 26, 2009. * Feature film presentation at the Delray Beach Film Festival, May 24, 2009. * East Coast premiere at the Stony Brook Film Festival, July 24, 2009. *European premiere, Strasbourg International Film Festival, September 6, 2009. * Spotlight screening at the Friars Club Comedy Film Festival, September 26, 2009. * Feature film screening at the Hollywood Film Festival, October 24, 2009. * Middle East premiere: Icon Film Festival, October 10, 2009. * Asian festival premiere at the Kaohsiung Film Festival, October 18, 20 and 24, 2009. * Feature film screening, San Francisco Independent Film Festival, February 5 and 9, 2010. * Feature film screening, Washington DC Independent Film Festival, March 13, 2010. *United States cinema release, June 11, 2010.

Critical reception

Website

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

assigned the film a 45 out of 100, indicating "mixed or average reviews". '' Variety'' gave the film a fairly positive review stating: "''Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Undead'' is one sly slice of the ridiculous."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Undead Films shot in New York City American independent films 2009 comedy films Vampire comedy films 2009 films American comedy films 2009 independent films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films English-language comedy films English-language independent films