Shakespeare in Love

When my English teacher told the class that we would be watching "Shakespeare in Love" everyone groaned, me included. We all thought it would be another boring movie, but I along with many others was pleasantly surprised. Even though the movie didn't portray the actual life of William Shakespeare, it is a very interesting interpretation of what his life might have been like. Normally I am not a big fan of Gwenyth Paltrow, but she fulfilled the role of Viola De Lesseps very well. This movie, unlike many others I have been forced to watch in school, has not been a waste of time and has informed us more about the concepts and details that could not be seen just by reading the play. Overall I think I have gained a better understanding of Romeo and Juliet by watching "Shakespeare in Love".

Every so often a movie comes along that is literate, intelligent, and has magic and charm to spare. Movies like these affirm our belief that film is a terrific art form. Shakespeare In Love is one such movie.

The movie chronicles Shakespeare's writer's block while trying to write a play entitled Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter. In desperate need of a muse, Shakespeare finds one in the beautiful noblewoman Viola de Lesseps who has a desire to be an actor at a time when women are forbidden from performing. Shakespeare and Viola fall in love thus inspiring Romeo and Juliet.

As Shakespeare, Joseph Fiennes steps out of his brother Ralph's shadow and proves what a dashing and charismatic leading man he can be. Fiennes has a Peter O'Toole quality about him and should become a big star. While his portrayal may be nothing like Shakespeare, he makes us believe in romance Shakespeare's woes.

Gwyneth Paltrow is stunning as Viola de Lesseps. She throws herself into the part and handles an English accent very well as she did in Sliding Doors and Emma. Viola is the heart and soul of the movie, she is the reason for Romeo and Juliet's existence and Paltrow truly makes us believe in romance.

The supporting cast is all terrific. Geoffrey Rush is amusing as the theater owner Henslowe. Ben Affleck is truly surprising a hammy actor, with good material, Affleck is quite a capable actor. Judi Dench and Queen Elizabeth and Rupert Everett as Christopher Marlowe round out the cast with fine performances.

The story is quite entertaining. Screenwriters invest the script with a healthy portion of Romeo and Juliet's dialogue and Shakespeare's sonnets that only make the movie more amusing. The story of Romeo and Juliet is familiar to us all, and the movie parallels the story in surprising and charming ways.

The most ingenious aspect of the movie is how elements of Shakespeare's plays have become so ingrained in our movies, television, and theater, even though they were cliches in Shakespeare's time. This movie actually manages to breathe life into all the old cliches thanks to a wonderful exuberance and a fantastic cast.

An intelligent movie that actually rewards the audience for knowing something about Shakespeare, Shakespeare In Love is a treat from start to finish. It makes literacy look sexy and makes sexiness look mature, a feat most movies only hope to accomplish Grade:A+

Tom Stoppard, who penned Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, knows a thing or two about the modern deconstruction and reconstruction of Shakespeare's work -- and it shows in the bright and vivid Shakespeare in Love, which Stoppard co-wrote with Marc Norman. Applying many of the same conventions favored by Shakespeare in his own work (including primarily the confusion over mistaken identity and gender) the screenwriters begin with the "what if" premise and run with it, speculating with wicked delight on the Bard's rivalry with Christopher Marlowe, his use of overheard phrases finding their way into his plays, and best of all, the possible sources of his inspiration. Will's muse is Violet, played wonderfully by Gwyneth Paltrow, who shows off in this film her finest acting to date and credibly pulls off the tricky task of being both an object of poetic inspiration and a genuine, down-to-earth human being.

Shakespeare in Love, the best picture winner of 1998, I know this film receives a lot of bashing due to that win. I believe that also Saving Private Ryan was nominated, which it was also an incredible film. To be honest, I couldn't pick between the two, because both were wonderful films and completely different genres. But anyways, back onto Shakespeare in Love. Everything about this film was perfect and I think that's why it received so many Oscar nods and wins, I mean, the costumes, the acting, the sets, the story was absolutely terrific and wonderful to watch. John Madden knew what he was doing and shot this film so beautifully. The cast also seemed to really enjoy doing this film and worked so well together. Gwyneth Paltrow won best actress for this film and she did a terrific job portraying Viola, she was so elegant and touching. The love story between her and William Shakespeare is truly a memorable one.

Viola is a first class lady who is about to be married to Lord Wessex, a man who she does not love. Her heart belongs to poetry, mainly the poetry of William Shakespeare. William has lost all hope though when his heart is broken by his girlfriend and he is writing a comedy called Romeo and Ethyl, the pirate's daughter. Since the plays are only played by an all male cast, Viola dresses up as a man and auditions for his new play. She receives the part of Romeo; later that night at a big party her father is throwing, she meets Shakespeare and it is love at first sight. When William finds out the truth that she is the boy who loves his poetry, he doesn't care, they have a passionate affair and continue on with the play as if she were a boy. But the plot thickens and Viola knows that she must go back to her life of an unwanted love and marriage.

Shakespeare in Love is without a doubt a fine film and should have a higher rating in my book. I don't understand why so many people hate this film, I thought it was extremely clever and witty. It had a beautiful love story, it was funny, it was sad; there's nothing wrong with this film, but hey, everyone's a critic, right? I highly recommend Shakespeare in Love, just trust me, if you enjoy Shakespeare and his poetry, I'm sure you'll love this film. Just give it a chance, who cares about the Oscars? They make mistakes at times, but Shakespeare in Love is a great movie and I enjoyed watching it.

10/10

Saving Private Ryan? Pants. Thin Red Line? Pants. Shakespeare In Love cannot and should not be compared to these movies for one simple reason - it isn't one of these movies. And why war films should be singled out for distinction when they are themselves rehashed or strangely and continually perceived as being 'powerful' or 'artistic' or 'sensitive' is beyond me. I'm not saying that they are necessarily bad films in themselves, but I think it's time you tried to broaden your horizons a bit. Shakespeare In Love seems certainly to have been received on two levels. Historical relevance and accuracy is not the aim of the film - no more than it was with Braveheart. The latter seems consistently raved-over, and not without some cause - I rank it as one of my favourite films, even though it is essentially a pure flight of fantasy (I love one reviewer's comment - "I look forward to the sequel". Come off it!). SIL contains a continual stream not just of 'in-jokes' but of humour at its cleverest and driest. It is an engaging and almost plausible theory of how the great bard came to write one of the great plays, and how others may have followed. The very fact that it is almost a convincing film singles it out as an achievement in inventive, entertaining script writing. The fact that it has been so well received on this side of the pond precludes the theory of its Englishness appealing to the Academians; it is simply an engaging love story whose humour suits the background knowledge and style of humour found here. Sorry guys - but if I wanted a decent war movie, I'd take Where Eagles Dare; if I wanted a trip into the surreal I'd settle for Jacob's Ladder; if I wanted a poignant, historically accurate, and powerful war movie I'd take Schindler's List. And if I wanted a clever, witty and original twist on two old themes, I'd take Shakespeare In Love. It deserved to win recognition, and failure to observe this precludes criticism of all but the most basic films to be found on the silver screen.