The sixteenth century has been rescued from its
"Elizabeth" embarrassment; the era can stand proud once
more. The moral of our story: if you're going to make a
historically inaccurate, costume-centric movie where everyone has
an English accent, make damn sure it has a sense of humor.
Shakespeare, it turns out, needed a shrink, a
serpent bracelet, and sex with his Romeo in order to evolve his
writing from ordinary farces to some of the great glories of
literature.
But even that might not have been enough for
his work to survive. Producing art was, predictably enough,
fraught with the same difficulties then as now--there were the
interferences from the "money", the egos of actors, and
damn good competition, and damned if there weren't producers
demanding that every play have a pirate and a dog. I have no idea
whether it's true or not, but I want to think that Shakespeare
was hounded by cab-drivers who wanted to show him a play. Let it
be so.
The movie has almost everything--love, passion,
a jealous suitor, a queen, swordfights, murder, adultery, sex,
and suspense. Dogs. But no pirates. Any more details about the
plot might spoil it, so I'll leave it at that.
The movie does a wonderful job of filling the
background with details that rarely grab Shakespeare at a
conscious level, but clearly seep into his unconscious and flow
back out in his work. At the same time, no knowledge of
Shakespeare, his times or his art, is required. The story holds
up on its own.
Ben Affleck proves that he doesn't have to play
the big galoot. Geoffrey Rush shivers in his shoes at every turn,
the craven producer who owes money everywhere, yet is impossibly
presumptuous when it matters most. Tom Wilkinson as a Mafiaoso
turned wannabe actor is perfect--another actor who has put
together a very nice run of movies lately. Judi Dench is
Elizabeth and even with 40 years on Cate Blanchett she's my pick
for the Actress Who Should Have Played Elizabeth in the Dreck
Film of the Same Name. Imelda Staunton and Simon Callow turn in
small gems.
Gwyneth Paltrow has lived up to her promise
and, as I believe has been said, plays Romeo *and* Juliet quite
well. I may just forgive Joseph Fiennes for Elizabeth, now that
I've seen his Shakespeare--but his eyes are still too close
together.
Sure to be used in high school English classes
of the future, but I certainly hope it is never mistaken for an
"important" film. It's far too much fun.
