Shakespeare in Love (1998)
Director: John Madden Cast: Joseph Fiennes, Gwyneth Paltrow, Geoffrey Rush, Ben Affleck, Colin Firth, Judi Dench, Simon Callow Screenplay: Marc Norman, Tom Stoppard Producers: Donna Gigliotti, Marc Norman, David Parfitt, Harvey Weinstein, Edward Zwick Runtime: 122 min. US Distribution: Universal Rated R: sex, nudity, brief profanity
Copyright 1998 Nathaniel R. Atcheson
Playwright Tom Stoppard and screenwriter Marc Norman took on an astonishingly difficult task: they wanted to write a script about William Shakespeare that parallels Shakespeare's works. They also wanted to poke fun at the way all of us envision Shakespeare: I mean, really, who doesn't think of Shakespeare as a guy seething with so much passion that he can barely write a play without exploding into a passionate, introspective verbal couplet of iambic pentameter? Stoppard and Norman are men who love Shakespeare, and they wanted to make a movie for everyone else who loves Shakespeare.
And, despite the difficulty of their task, they have succeeded. Shakespeare in Love is one of the smartest, funniest, most touching films of the year. It's so rare that a picture with such high aspirations succeeds in all of its endeavors, but here we have a movie that defines success: it is at once charmingly acted and flawlessly written. It could have been a smug, self-important movie that panders to die-hard Shakespeare fans, but the appeal of this film is almost universal: if you've ever read a play by Shakespeare, or know anything about his life, it's likely that you'll find grand entertainment in Shakespeare in Love.
Joseph Fiennes, brother of Ralph, stars as Shakespeare himself; he's a delightful, irresistible lad, concerned mostly with women and detached from life's more serious problems (debt, plague, etc.). He's commissioned to write plays for various people: Queen Elizabeth (Judi Dench) wants comedies, while local slimeball Philip Henslowe (Geoffrey Rush) needs him to write a play so that he can pay off his debts to Hugh Fennymann (Tom Wilkinson). Shakespeare, however, has trouble focusing on his work. He begins work on a comedy about a boy named Romeo and a girl named Ethel.
This all changes, however, when he meets Viola De Lesseps (a radiant Gwyneth Paltrow), a young heiress set to marry the financially-oriented Lord Wessex (Colin Firth). Shakespeare instantly falls in love with her; he first meets her when she pretends to be a man to try out for the part of Romeo. He discovers her identity and confronts her later; she, of course, falls in love with him, although their love is doomed because she absolutely must marry the tyrannical Lord Wessex. But she continues to act because she loves Shakespeare's writing so much, and soon the production (which later becomes Romeo and Juliet) is set to be performed.
Shakespeare in Love is an amazingly good film, not because it works as great entertainment, but because it pays attention to detail and knows its subject matter. I was instantly won over by Joseph Fiennes in the lead role: he has such searing optimism and energy; he's clearly a man who admires Shakespeare, and even in the shortcomings that he gives his character (inability to turn away from women, attention deficit disorder), we sense a great deal of affection and care. He practically overflows with passion in every scene. Fiennes is matched by Paltrow (whose English accent is so good that wonder where she actually comes from); she is an actress who exudes strength and conviction in every performance I've seen her in. The two performers work perfectly together, taking the passionate scenes as far as possible without making them melodramatic, and wringing the comedic scenes for every conceivable laugh.
Of course, it doesn't hurt that they have a masterful script to work with. Stoppard, whose play Rozencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead inspired an interesting film, is full of dry wit and boundless understated humor (all of his plays have similarly dry humor). The first intelligent step Stoppard and Norman took was harmonizing the events of the film with Romeo and Juliet. One of the funniest scenes in the film is an imitation of the famous terrace scene from the play; in the movie, Shakespeare is bumbling about while Viola is trying to fend off her nurse maid. Director John Madden does a fantastic job dabbling in slapstick humor -- scenes like these would have seemed obtuse in the hands of a lesser director.
I'm going to have to see the movie again; I'm certain there are numerous references that I missed. In fact, I doubt it's possible to gather everything with just one viewing. Stoppard is a master of detail: you'll notice familiar lines placed throughout the film, not as lines of a play, but as dialogue, suggesting that Shakespeare simply spoke like that all the time. There's also a brilliant running joke in which Shakespeare is in constant competition with Christopher Marlowe (and the fact that Marlowe is played by the openly-homosexual Rupert Everett is a joke in of itself), proposing a slightly twisted explanation to Marlowe's mysterious death in a pub. There's also a scene featuring a wide-eyed dog that is so funny that I hurt myself laughing. "There's no dog in this play?" "No! No dog!"
The ensemble cast is perhaps the strongest this year. Geoffrey Rush is nearly unrecognizable as the detestable Henslowe; Wilkinson is also hard to recognize, but has a great role as a thug who takes his part as the apothecary so seriously. Ben Affleck, playing one of the actors in the company, shows great range, both in his accent (his is almost as good as Paltrow's) and in humor (he has some of the best one-liners in the movie). Colin Firth, always stuck playing the sap, does a good job being hateful. Judi Dench, however, has the best supporting performance as Queen Elizabeth: rarely has so much depth been conveyed in so few words.
My single, minor complaint about Shakespeare in Love is that I feel like I could have been more moved by the end. The story is moving, but there are a few missed opportunities in the final scenes. But my quibbling is not important. What is important is that I acknowledge the quality of this picture, the sheer skill with which it has been written, acted, and produced. Shakespeare in Love tries so many things, and nails every one of them: it's a film that both loves Shakespeare and makes fun of him, a film in which the actors, writers, and director are all perfectly in sync. It's also a movie that has the potential to introduce a lot of people to Shakespeare's work in a positive way, without seeming condescending or superior. I admire this film not only because it passes so pleasantly, but because it has lofty aspirations and succeeds in them. Not just any film can poke fun at Shakespeare and get away with it.
Psychosis Rating: 9/10
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Nathaniel R. Atcheson
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