Anonymous (I) (2011)

The theory that it was in fact Edward De Vere, Earl of Oxford, who penned Shakespeare's plays. Set against the backdrop of the succession of Queen Elizabeth I and the Essex rebellion against her.

Director:

Roland Emmerich

Writer:

John Orloff

Stars:

Rhys Ifans, Vanessa Redgrave, Sebastian Armesto

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 7 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rhys Ifans	...	Earl of Oxford
Vanessa Redgrave	...	Queen Elizabeth I
Sebastian Armesto	...	Ben Jonson
Rafe Spall	...	William Shakespeare
David Thewlis	...	William Cecil
Edward Hogg	...	Robert Cecil
Xavier Samuel	...	Earl of Southampton
Sam Reid	...	Earl of Essex
Jamie Campbell Bower	...	Young Earl of Oxford
Joely Richardson	...	Young Queen Elizabeth I
Paolo De Vita	...	Francesco
Trystan Gravelle	...	Christopher Marlowe
Robert Emms	...	Thomas Dekker
Tony Way	...	Thomas Nashe
Julian Bleach	...	Captain Richard Pole

Storyline

Edward De Vere, Earl of Oxford, is presented as the real author of Shakespeare's works. Edward's life is followed through flashbacks from a young child, through to the end of his life. He is portrayed as a child prodigy who writes and performs A Midsummer Night's Dream for a young Elizabeth I. A series of events sees his plays being performed by a frontman, Shakespeare.

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Plot Keywords:

earl of oxford | play | flashback | author | queen | 

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Taglines:

Was Shakespeare a Fraud?

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Genres:

Drama | History | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some violence and sexual content

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [jp]

Country:

UK Germany USA

Language:

English French Italian Greek, Ancient (to 1453)

Release Date:

28 October 2011 (UK)

Also Known As:

Anónimo

Filming Locations:

Studio Babelsberg, Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$1,012,768 (USA) (28 October 2011)

Gross:

$4,463,292 (USA) (9 December 2011)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Relativity Media, Centropolis Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

130 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS Datasat

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Vanessa Redgrave and Joely Richardson play the older and younger versions of Queen Elizabeth respectively. In real-life they are mother and daughter.

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Goofs

The music at Oxford's wedding in 1571 is Mozart's Requiem, composed in 1791. However, at the time of protestant Elizabeth I, music was not performed at weddings at all. Furthermore, Mozart's requiem is reserved for solemn occasions such as funerals and would never be played at a wedding, protestant or otherwise. Regardless of these facts, it is simply part of the movie's soundtrack, and it is not implied that the musicians in the film are playing it.

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Quotes

William Shakespeare: ...and the whole bloody thing in verse.
Ben Jonson: It's really not that difficult... if you try.
William Shakespeare: Oh, and have you ever tried? But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun...
Ben Jonson: You. Cannot. Play Romeo.
William Shakespeare: What! Why not? I'm perfect for the role. I'm perfect! I will not let that oaf Spencer have another go at one of my roles. No! Only Will Shakespeare can pump the life into Romeo's veins!... And his codpiece.

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Connections

Featured in Last Will & Testament (2012)

User Reviews

Inventive, Compelling, Emmerich's Masterpiece

The Earl of Oxford (Rhys Ifans) is a talented playwright whose position forces him to publicly abandon his endeavors. He seeks to sign over his plays and sonnets to Ben Johnson (Sebastian Armesto), but that's easier said than done. When William Shakespeare takes credit (Rafe Spall), that's the least of concerns as the words of Edward affect the political climate.

Rhys Ifans is an unrecognizable powerhouse, and though the rest of the cast fairs well, he shines. As does director Roland Emmerich, who uses every trick at his disposal to make a highly sophisticated drama littered with elaborate costumes and set decoration to be admired.

The theatre experience is very well represented in Anonymous, with the narrator barely making the curtain. Believe it or not but this does actually happen and there are actors who specialize in. The workings of the theatre coincide with the events described and eventually merge. In the time of Edward, the Globe is shown with spectacular accuracy and the familiar faces of the troupe appear across plays.

The future of England is put at stake as the insight into Edward's inspiration is penned on a relationship with Queen Elizabeth (Vanessa Redgrave and in younger form Joely Richardson). These secrets showcase the power of words to win over love and country.

Is it cheating to inject stolen verse into a screenplay? To some extent yes. We're talking about a movie that lifts words, then says they came from a thief. A bit of a paradox if anything. Similarly, it would be silly for J.J. Abrams to direct a movie that's filled with scenes from every Steven Spielberg film, yet that happened with Super 8.

If Anonymous has a fault, it would be in jerking around the audience. The movie starts with an inventive use of a framing device, and quite appropriately in a theatre. We go back and Ben Johnson is jailed, only for us to go back 5 years to see him getting jailed. Then we go back another 40 and when we next see Johnson he's being set free. So… in which time is he released? Thankfully Anonymous is long enough to allow an audience to gain bearings.

Anonymous is Emmerich's masterpiece, a radical far from his usual environmental apocalypse works. There could be a stigma surrounding the subject, which will be viewed as blasphemy by many. I'd like to reassure you that most popular cinema is an act of fiction. Shakespeare isn't available to rebut, and most moviegoers are not concerned with historical accuracy so long as the story is compelling and filled with drama, which Anonymous delivers.