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Shakespeare in Love
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Shakespeare in Love (1998) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
7.4/10   71,593 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 8% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
John Madden
Writers (WGA):
Marc Norman (written by) and
Tom Stoppard (written by)
Contact:
View company contact information for Shakespeare in Love on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
8 January 1999 (USA) more
Genre:
Comedy | Drama | Romance more
Tagline:
...A Comedy About the Greatest Love Story Almost Never Told... more
Plot:
A young Shakespeare, out of ideas and short of cash, meets his ideal woman and is inspired to write one of his most famous plays. full summary | full synopsis
Awards:
Won 7 Oscars. Another 43 wins & 60 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(169 articles)
Shelved! Why ‘Killshot’ Deserved Better
 (From FilmSchoolRejects. 15 May 2009, 9:57 AM, PDT)

Paltrow Picks Coldplay For Party Playlist
 (From WENN. 14 May 2009, 9:15 AM, PDT)

User Comments:
Excellent more

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

MPAA:
Rated R for sexuality.
Runtime:
123 min
Country:
USA | UK
Language:
English
Color:
Color
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Dolby Digital
Certification:
Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Iceland:L | Philippines:PG-13 | Brazil:14 | USA:R (certificate #36421) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Denmark:7 | Finland:K-12/9 | France:U | Germany:6 (bw) | Hong Kong:IIB | Hungary:14 | Ireland:15 | Italy:T | Netherlands:AL | New Zealand:M | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:M18 (re-rating) | Singapore:R(A) (original rating) | South Korea:18 | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Tom Stoppard added several characters in his work on the screenplay, including Christopher Marlowe. Some of his additions, including those regarding John Webster, were handled with caution, as it was feared some references would be too obscure. more
Goofs:
Continuity: When Romeo drinks the poison, he first opens the bottle, says what he has to say and in the next shot he opens the bottle again before he drinks the stuff. more
Quotes:
Third Auditioneer: [after every auditioneer has recited "Faustus"] I would like to give you something from "Faustus."
Philip Henslowe: [exasperated] How refreshing!
more
Movie Connections:
Featured in The 56th Annual Golden Globe Awards (1999) (TV) more
Soundtrack:
The Play & the Marriage more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
44 out of 53 people found the following comment useful:-
Excellent, 14 February 2003
Author: tjowen from London, England

Those who are looking for a historically accurate portrayal of Shakespeare's life had better look elsewhere - but then this was never intended to be a serious look at the life of the man. Those who attack it for its' fanciful relation to history have missed the point entirely. It is a romantic comedy obsessed with nothing more than making references in storyline and plot to the plays of Shakespeare and his contemporaries, and those references are made so seamlessly it could almost be assumed that what we see on the screen actually happened to the man.

In fact the overall story we are presented with is not new. Anyone who had read or seen `Romeo and Juliet' will have a pretty shrewd idea of the path the narrative takes - the twist is that in the film, Shakespeare writes the play `Romeo and Juliet' in parallel to, and based on, his `real life' relationship with Lady Viola.

The opening sees Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) desperately trying to write the masterpiece `Romeo and Ethel, the Pirates Daughter', a comedy he hopes will rival anything by Christopher Marlow (Rupert Everett). Words fail him until his muse appears in the shape of Lady Viola (Gwyneth Paltrow), a noblewoman whose love for the work of Shakespeare's leads her to dress as a boy (since at the time women were not allowed on stage) and attend an audition in disguise (mistaken identity and women dressing as men are devices Shakespeare often used in his comedies). She is given the role of Romeo and begins a forbidden relationship with Shakespeare, the only one who knows her real identity, in spite of the fact that she is betrothed to the villainous Lord Wessex (Colin Firth) at Queen Elizabeth's (Judi Dench) command.

Fiennes portrays Shakespeare wonderfully and not as the infallible master of rhetoric. He takes the Bard from the pedestal and brings him down to a human level that we can all sympathise with. His relationship with Paltrow is handled sensitively, although many of the scenes that are exclusively their own did have enough a little too much `Chick-Flick' for my liking. Paltrow's R.P. accent is technically very good, and though I normally like my English to be played by the English, I was as happily surprised by her performance as I was by Ben Affleck's brief, but memorable portrayal of the self-important Ned Alleyn. Much of the credit, though, must go to Michelle Guish for the wonderful supporting cast including: Judi Dench, Simon Callow, Imelda Staunton, Jim Carter, Martin Clunes and Geoffrey Rush, to name but a few.

John Madden directs hypnotically and constantly keeps the camera on the move but most credit for the film must go to Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard for their cunning and often self-parodying script. The only comment I would make is regarding the sheer number of theatre references. Those who have worked in the theatre will be aware of many, if not all, of the in-jokes that the film is littered with. Those who have not may be left with the feeling that they have been excluded from much of the content.

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Tired of the hating towards this film skylab23
How did this beat Saving Private Ryan for the Oscar? patchdyer
Sandra Reinton cuauhtemocfulgencio
MY FAVORITE LINE IN THE FILM. Edwardslcn
Anon? EskimoDoll
Mistake or Wessex being a jerk pepsigirl5184
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