Shakespeare in Love (1998)
a review by Christian Pyle
On first hearing, it sounds like an unlikely hit. "Shakespeare in Love?" Wouldn't most people rather see "Schwartzenegger in Love?" A script loaded with allusions to the plays and Elizabethan in-jokes? Will that put bums on seats?
"Shakespeare" only recently made it to the hinterlands of Lexington, Ky., and I had to try twice before I could get a ticket and squeeze in shoulder-to-shoulder with a sold-out crowd. I've seen similar crowds lounging on blankets for an outdoor Shakespeare festival. Despite the differences in language and culture and the centuries that have passed, Shakespeare retains a popular appeal because he speaks to the whole human experience-our noblest aspirations and lowest urges.
John Madden's "Shakespeare in Love" celebrates the spirit of the Bard in language anyone can understand. We find William Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) suffering from writer's block and unable to make any progress on his new play, a comedy called "Romeo and Ethyl, the Pirate's Daughter." Theater owner Philip Henslowe (Geoffrey Rush) is anxious to produce "Romeo" to keep a loanshark (Tom Wilkinson) off his back.
Meanwhile, Viola De Lesseps (Gwyneth Paltrow), a young woman from a rich family, is so entranced by the stage that she disguises herself as a man to audition for "Romeo." (In Elizabethan England, women were forbidden to be actors; the parts of women were played by boys.) Will is blown away by performance of the disguised Viola, and soon discovers her secret. A passionate romance erupts.
The structure of "Shakespeare in Love" is modeled on "Romeo and Juliet," with the premise that Will's love for Viola inspired the famous play. So, as the romance develops, Will incorporates events into his new play, and Viola performs them on stage as Romeo. Like Juliet, Viola has a nurse (Imelda Staunton) who is her confidant and a rich fiance (Colin Firth) she doesn't love. Like Romeo, Will crashes a party and woos his love from beneath her balcony. There are references to and motifs from other Shakespeare plays, too, especially "Twelfth Night," which has a cross-dressing heroine named Viola.
"Shakespeare in Love" features cameos by other luminaries of the period. Shakespeare's rival Christopher Marlowe (Rupert Everett) is on hand, as is Jacobean playwright John Webster (Joe Roberts), here a bloodthirsty boy. Ben Affleck is hilarious as conceited actor Ned Alleyn; his performance serves as a sharp satire on star status. (I get the sense that Affleck may have modeled Alleyn on John Barrymore; it may be coincidence but Alleyn plays the same role that Barrymore played in the 1930s version of "Romeo and Juliet.") Another standout is Judi Dench, who plays Queen Elizabeth. Dench, who recently played Queen Victoria in "Mrs. Brown" (also directed by Madden), gives us an Elizabeth who is perceptive, witty, and commanding.
"Shakespeare" is the smartest script in recent memory. Tom Stoppard, one of its authors, is a respected playwright best known for the inside-out version of "Hamlet"-"Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead." The other author, Marc Norman, has a less-impressive record, but his most recent work, "Cutthroat Island" (1995), was also a period piece about a woman who crossed gender lines.
"Shakespeare" is a guaranteed crowd pleaser which combines plenty of comedy with a passionate romance.
Grade: A
© 1999 Christian L. Pyle <http://us.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Christian+Pyle>
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