SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE Review by Victory A. Marasigan http://www.gl.umbc.edu/~vmaras1/reviewsidx.html
There's an old teaching that says that everything a writer writes, no matter what his outward intentions, is ultmately the story of that writer's own personal struggles. That reasoning seems to have been the foundation of Shakespeare in Love, an infectious romantic comedy whose charm sneaks up on you, and which easily ranks as my favorite film of 1998.
All is not well for Will Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes), whom we see here as a young, struggling London playwright. Though he still owes one theater-owner a play, he promises his services to another (Geoffrey Rush), a man whose creditors aren't above using torture as payment. Adding a kink to Will's situation is the fact that he's been unable to write a satisfactory line of prose in who-knows-how-long (His pseudo-psychiatric apothecary's explanation? Lack of a love life).
With moneymen breathing down his neck, Shakespeare begins writing and casting his new production, Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter, without any idea of what the play will really be about. A troupe of actors -- all men, since women were not considered fit for the stage -- is hastily assembled to fill roles as Shakespeare comes up with them. The exhilarating trials and tribulations of putting together the play (eventually to become Romeo and Juliet) are the focus of director John Madden's cinematic treat.
To reveal the details of the plot here would be to ruin the film, because part of the fun of Shakespeare in Love is in discovering familiar story points and picking up on Bard-related inside jokes. I won't even say how young Will falls in love with the beautiful Lady Viola (played with a perfect British accent by Gwyneth Paltrow), or how their forbidden union leads to Shakespeare's triumph with Romeo and Juliet. Nor will I divulge how the fate of Will's rival Christopher Marlowe (Rupert Everett) predicts moments from not one but several of the Bard's later plays, including Hamlet, Julius Caesar, and MacBeth.
There is an inexplicable joy to be had in watching Will toiling away at his desk with a feather pen, while the ink blackens his fingertips. Though your typical teenager would quickly say otherwise, Shakespeare did not write his plays so he could torture countless generations of high schoolers. His initial reasons for becoming a writer were probably no different than those of your average modern-day wordsmith. Shakepeare in Love boldly suggests that something more than an itch to tell stories and a basic need for survival began his creative streak, something much simpler and more human.
At the same time that the film asserts that Shakespeare's writings were inspired by events from his own life, it presents his story as the Bard himself may have written it. Writer Tom Stoppard and Marc Norman have meticulously combined moments of high comedy, deep tragedy, and action for action's sake into a layered spectacle not unlike many a Shakepearean play.
All-around great performances will have you clapping for an encore. Fiennes and Paltrow have put just the right amount of oopmh into their portrayals, something which I hope the Oscar nominations do not overlook. Judi Dench's deliciously ascerbic portrayal of the Queen Elizabeth I is good for some of the film's big laughs. And as out- of-place in this production as he initially seems, Ben Affleck leaves a surprisingly positive impression in his minor role as the famous thespian Ned Alleyn.
Historians and scholars be advised: Shakespeare in Love is as much the true story of the Bard as IQ is the story of Albert Einstein. But for the film's two hours, the illusion which has been so carefully crafted is so appealing you wish that it really had happened. To the average high school grad, the film is a breath of fresh air, like a past due reward for paying attention during English class.
GRADE: A+
Reviewed December 17, 1998 at Loews White Marsh Theater, White Marsh, MD.
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