Shakespeare in Love

joseph fiennes

It's as if my quill is broken... as if the organ of my imagination has dried up... as if the proud tower of my genius has collapsed.

~ William Shakespeare

quick fox: B+

gwyneth Paltrow

winding dragon

It’s really hard to like a film I know I shouldn’t.

I love Shakespeare. As an aspiring playwright myself, I use the Bard as the standard for not necessarily how a play should be written, but for understanding how theatre can be provocative and daring. 

So when a film takes as much, um, liberties with Shakespeare’s life as Shakespeare in Love (1999), the internal literary nerd in me rolls into a fetal position and cries uncontrollably. The Coen Brothers are infamous for misguiding fans by placing at the beginning of Fargo (1996), the words: “This is a true story,” which holds the same amount of credibility as saying Columbus discovered America. While Shakespeare in Love isn’t quite as heinous as that, anybody watching the film should be aware that it’s closer to a romantic fairy tale than it is rewritten history.

Shakespeare in Love is about some writer guy called William Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) in the late 16th century. Trapped in the midst of writer’s block while trying to write a play, he searches for a muse. He finds it in Viola de Lesseps (Gwyneth Paltrow), a daughter of a wealthy businessman and (reluctantly) arranged to be married to Lord Wessex (Colin Firth). Just like Romeo and Juliet (literally—in the film, Shakespeare bases the play he is writing off of his and Viola’s relationship), the heiress and the writer embark on a scandalous affair. Then, in Twelfth Night fashion, Viola dresses up as a man in order to act in Shakespeare’s play.

A lot of people seem to either love this film or hate it. Part of it is the Oscar controversy surrounding it, as Shakespeare in Love beat out the favorite that year, Saving Private Ryan. The other part of it is that it borders a fuzzy gray area between clever and hokey. 

On one hand, the movie is a sly wink to fans of Shakespeare everywhere, moving in and out of parody/homage to the legendary playwright, as the movie parallels both Romeo and Juliet and Twelfth Night. The screenplay is exceptionally brilliant, as it matches common Shakespearean patterns and utilizes the complex bittersweet ending of a true Shakespearean Romance to perfection. 

On the other hand, much of the dialogue is groan-worthy and some of the cheesiest lines I’ve heard. The complete disregard of historical accuracy is, well, unfortunate, and made me feel at times that the movie was doing a disservice to Shakespeare.

Still, Shakespeare in Love musters enough wit and charm to keep most Shakespeare enthusiasts entertained. For those who don’t care for the playwright or appreciate his impact on English literature, then is might be the most boring film you’ll ever see.

judi dench