What was once the source of pride and fame can with time begin to look like the source of infamy. One of such examples could be provided by Shakespeare in Love, 1998 period comedy directed by John Madden. This film, although very popular among critics and public alike, was considered to be an underdog in 1999 "Oscar" race, dominated by Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan. However, the world was shocked when Shakespeare managed to defeat Spielberg's film. Later the news media began to cover stories about "Oscars" being won less due to film's quality and more due to aggressive publicity campaign by Miramax. 1999 "Oscar" race was considered great triumph of Harvey Weinstein, but subsequent attempts to win golden statues with increasingly questionable methods has created backlash and some of it affected even the reputation of this film.
The plot is set in London 1593, during the rule of Queen Elizabeth (played by Judi Dench), authoritarian yet enlightened monarch. English culture is blossoming, but all that matters little to William Shakespeare (played by Joseph Fiennes), young playwright who is trying to finish his next play titled "Romeo and Ethel, the Sea Pirate's Daughter". Shakespeare is hit by a severe case of writer's block, while loveless marriage and series of brief and meaningless affairs provide little inspiration. Everything changes when he meets Viola De Lesseps (played by Gwyneth Paltrow), beautiful merchant's daughter whose hand is promised to impoverished yet arrogant aristocrat Lord Wessex (played by Colin Firth). Viola tries to find escape from her loveless marriage through her passion for theatre. She even defies social conventions by pretending to be a man in order to act on stage. She takes name of "Thomas Kent" and gets role of Romeo. Shakespeare begins affair with her and finally finds the inspiration to transform his play into romantic tragedy "Romeo and Juliet".
William Shakespeare is one of the most important and most influential figures of world's literature, but very little is known about his life and some scholars even doubted his existence. That void left screenwriters Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard with freedom to speculate about who Shakespeare really was, what he did and whether real life served as any kind of inspiration for his work. The film provides interesting look at Elizabethan England - the period is presented with great deal of accuracy and some other important writers of the era appear in the film - this includes Christopher Marlowe (played by Rupert Everett), whose mysterious death is explained in the film.
However, the more fascinating thing about Shakespeare in Love is its ability to reconstruct the past and to make it reflection of the present. The world of Elizabethan theatre, with actors and playwrights desperately trying to win favour of mass audience and make ends meet, isn't that different from the cut-throat world of Hollywood and its blockbuster philosophy. Some of the funniest moments in the film happen when the protagonist use anachronistic lines of dialogue more suitable for offices of present-day Los Angeles than streets of Elizabethan London. Even more effective is use of John Webster, post-Elizabethan playwright famous for the excessive bloodbath in his plays; in the film he appears as blood-obsessed street urchin who would become 17th Century equivalent of Tarantino.
The greatest enjoyment of the film is for those who are familiar with Shakespeare's plays. Large sections of characters' dialogue and some of the plot elements are borrowed from the plays and used here in different context and with great comic effect.
The most memorable part of the film is, however, acting. Shakespeare in Love brought "Oscar" to Gwyneth Paltrow. She more than deserved it, because the role was more demanding than usual. She had not only to master English accent but also to deal with the complex task of playing a woman that plays a man playing a woman. Her charm and talent is well-matched by comic abilities of Joseph Fiennes with whom she has a great chemistry. The rest of the cast is very effective, including Geoffrey Rush in the role of Shakespeare's producer. On the other hand, Judi Dench is less than impressive in the role of Queen Elizabeth and her appearance too brief for "Oscar".
Main problem of Shakespeare in Love is in the script, though. Norman and Stoppard handle comedy very well, but the romantic subplot isn't very convincing and works only thanks to magic of the film's leads. The ending is unsatisfactory and the shift from comedy to drama too quick.
However, although Shakespeare in Love, just like so many "Oscar" winners, doesn't fit the criteria of the undisputable cinema classic, it is very entertaining, intelligent and educational film.
RATING: 7/10 (+++)
(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.films.reviews on May 25th 2004)
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