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magicalhippotoday at 8:54 AM1 replyview on HN

> “Rosencranz and Guildenstern Are Dead”

I love that movie. Never got to see it on stage though, which I've read was superior.


Replies

tucnaktoday at 1:23 PM

You're not losing much; the film is really good, and features Oldman... among other very good acting. There is elitist cohort bent on signaling how they cannot stand films, and how live theater is superior, blah blah. Well, usually the films are vastly superior to productions, in both interpretation of the script, and complexity of execution. The film starring Oldman is an instance of that, I think. But it's all secondary to reading the text itself.

R&G is a nice play, but honestly it doesn't come off the page nicely. The same is true for late-Beckett. I'm a huge fan of these guys, but I never understood the obsession literary teachers have with only a handful of plays, like R&G, or Waiting for Godot. These are very specific, nerd-like, I would even go as far as calling superficial—pieces of art. At any rate, Stoppard is best appreciated when read off the page, or on radio.. he's just one of these guys. Indian Ink is really good.