Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
Movie Quote Quiz

Guildenstern: You can't do death!
The Player: On the contrary. It's what we do best. We have to exploit whatever talent is given to us, and our talent is for dying. We can die heroically, comically, ironically, sadly, suddenly, slowly, disgustingly, charmingly or from a great height!
(01:11:52)

Player: Events must play themselves out to aesthetic, moral and logical conclusion.
Guildenstern: And what's that, in this case?
Player: It never varies - we aim at the point where everyone who is marked for death dies.
Guildenstern: Marked?
Player: Between "just desserts" and "tragic irony" we are given quite a large scope for our particular talent. Generally speaking, things have gone about as far as they can possibly go when things have gotten about as bad as they can reasonably get.
Guildenstern: Who decides?
Player: Decides? It is written.

The Player: We can give you rapiers, rape, or both.

Rosencrantz: Do you think Death could possibly be a boat?
Guildenstern: No, no, no. Death is not. Death isn't. Take my meaning? Death is the ultimate negative. Not-being. You can't not be on a boat.
Rosencrantz: I've frequently not been on boats.

The Player: We're more of the love, blood, and rhetoric school. Well, we can do you blood and love without the rhetoric, and we can do you blood and rhetoric without the love, and we can do you all three concurrent or consecutive. But we can't give you love and rhetoric without the blood. Blood is compulsory. They're all blood, you see.
Guildenstern: It's what people want, then?
The Player: It's what we do.

Ambassador: The sight is dismal. And our affairs from England come too late. The ears are senseless that should give us hearing, to tell him his commandment is fulfilled. That Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead.

Revealing mistake: During the pirate attack, Rosencrantz sits up in bed, narrowly avoiding a sword that's thrust through the wall next to him. Just before the sword appears, the film jumps a little. It also jumps again just after the sword has been withdrawn and he lies back down. Clearly these two motions (him sitting up and down in bed and the sword appearing/disappearing) are two separate takes that were spliced together.

Twotall

More mistakes in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

Trivia: Even though the characters themselves are constantly confused as to which of them is Rosencrantz and which is Guildenstern, there is a way for the audience to make sure: In the scenes where they take part in "Hamlet" and interact with others, Gary Oldman always delivers the lines of Rosencrantz, and Tim Roth always delivers Guildenstern's.

Twotall

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