Review: Shakespeare in Love
What if William Shakespeare had writer's block when he wrote Romeo and Juliet? What if that classic was first named Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter? What if Shakespeare's own romantic travails inspired and informed Romeo's? These are some of the conceits that comprise Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard's deliciously witty screenplay for Shakespeare in Love.
It is 1593 in Elizabethan England and though it may be centuries away, it is a time not unlike our own: commercialism cramps creativity, women are second-class citizens bartered away in marriages, playwrights are at the mercy of temperamental and egotistical actors as well as tight-fisted financiers, and everyone is looking for love. Amidst all this, two rival theater houses: The Curtain owned by the great actor Richard Burbage and The Rose owned by Philip Henslowe (Geoffrey Rush), who is having a bit of a cash flow problem. Tortured by his debtors, he promises to pay them with the money he'll make from Shakespeare's new comedy, Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter. After much musing, Hugh Fennyman (Tom Wilkinson) agrees. The play will open in two weeks.
Henslowe's joy soon turns to terror. It seems our young Will hasn't written a word. "It's all locked in here," Will (Joseph Fiennes) declares, pointing to his head, "until I find my muse." Then he proceeds to his weekly therapy session, timed by an hourglass, to lament his writer's block. "It's as if the proud tower of my genius has collapsed," he broods. At a royal performance of one of his plays, he's annoyed by the audience coughing during the performance. But in the audience is his destiny: the lovely Lady Viola (Gwyneth Paltrow), who adores his plays. Also in attendance is the haughty Lord Wessex (Colin Firth), a titled but penniless aristocrat who means to have Viola for his wife. Viola, of course, has other plans: "All the men are without poetry. I will have poetry in my life. And adventure. And love. Love above all. Unbiddable, ungovernable -- like a riot in the heart, and nothing to be done, come ruin or rapture. Love -- like there has never been in a play."
And she does find it when she encounters Will. . .twice. Once disguised as Thomas Kent to audition for Will's latest work (women were banned from taking the stage). Disgusted by the other auditioning actors -- all of whom are reciting the work of Christopher "Kit" Marlowe (Rupert Everett), with whom Will shared a strong professional rivalry (it is said that had Marlowe, who was touted the genius of his time, not died then Shakespeare would not be as revered as he is now) -- Will is entranced to hear Thomas Kent's passionate reading of one of his own writings. He chases Kent through the streets and across the lake ("Follow that boat!" he orders) and inside the grand estate, he lays eyes upon Viola. And so their star-crossed romance begins.
Shakespeare in Love is rewarding on many levels. It massages the mind and heart. It feeds the eye with its impeccable production design and those glorious costumes bby Sandy Powell. The clever script not only pokes fun at the genesis of Romeo and Juliet but Twelfth Night as well. Then there are the performances: Wilkinson, Rush, Firth, and Ben Affleck as an arrogant actor all shine in their supporting roles. Dame Judi Dench crackles as the crusty, cantankerous and razor-tongued Queen Elizabeth. "She's been plucked since I saw her last," she hisses to Wessex about Viola, "and not by you." Paltrow is celestially radiant -- only she and Winona Ryder (who was once attached to the role) could assimilate themselves so believably in costumers. Fiennes performs with brio and succeeds in playing the man, not the myth
It is the process of creativity that ultimately enchants. Watching Will put quill to parchment, his fingers stained with ink, his eyes intense with thought, his pores open for any inspiration. At first, one isn't quite sure if Will truly loves Viola -- you get a sense that he believes himself in love with her because she fuels his creativity. He uses her as he does everyone else. One of the film's running gags is everyone else seems to be coming up with the details for his plays. In Will and Viola's romance, however, we see how life inspires art, art inspires life, how they are intertwined and borne of each other.
Shakespeare in Love
Directed by: John Madden
Written by: Marc Norman, Tom Stoppard
Starring: Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes, Colin Firth, Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, Geoffrey Rush, Ben Affleck, Imelda Staunton, Simon Callow, Jim Carter, Rupert Everett
