Unbiddable, ungovernable passion and a riot of the heart. A love that overthrows life.

Rating: 10/10 (1 December 2013)

Shakespeare in Love is the film i adore the most and beyond countable measure. It is the single most enchanting, mesmerizing, poignant, passionate, breathtaking and awe inspiring film i have ever had the pleasure to see. I thank the person who suggested it all those years back for it is beauty personified. It's ingenuity and craftsmanship is beyond compare. It is the foremost representative reason of why people make movies and that is to tell stories. Not to tell run of the mill stories as 90% tend to be but instead to bewitch the audience with the most soulful, visionary, extraordinary and one of a kind stories. All those words pale in comparison to the glimmering light that is Shakespeare in Love and just like its heroine it is unbiddable, ungovernable passion. A riot of the heart.
The screenplay is inspiring, awe inspiring and then some. The creative genius, the artistry of it all is the fine definition of captivating. What ingenuity, what splendor, what originality and what celebration of passion and love. A true alluring gem to behold. It is a play within a play celebrating the works of the master playwright himself and most of all celebrating passion of yore. A tale of inspirational love that drives a man to create pure poetry in her name for she is the light and the sun.
This is by no means a common man's movie. It is commemoration of artistry, of playwriting and the celebration of language and its beauty, the sheer poetry of words. A true reverence of the works of Shakespeare, a marvelous homage to the lasting legacy of his works of art, for his plays are masterpieces, and to the mark of true romance and emotion they have left on so many lives. Everything from The Two Gentlemen of Verona to Macbeth, Hamlet and The Merchant of Venice to The Tempest are ingeniously referenced in the movie but most importantly of all the two most celebrated plays in the film are The Twelfth Night and Romeo and Juliet. The passionate scene of pure soul combining love where Shakespeare and his beloved Viola recite the powerful lines of Romeo and Juliet is the most entrancing, most hypnotizing, most beautiful scene i have witnessed in cinema. Those who have read and know the lines of Shakespeare's works will see how ingeniously they have been incorporated into the film. The passion and spellbinding beauty of the words are given even more powerful and heart stopping meaning for their origin as seen in the movie is a place of true enchantment. The magnitude of the words is intensified when spoken between Viola and William. Every word in his Romeo and Juliet comes from their story, the story of Viola and William and the depth amplified a thousand fold as a result. His words were how he captured his feelings on their sweeping passionate romance.
Gwyneth Paltrow is the most shimmering, the most priceless jewel in the treasure trove of magnificence we call Shakespeare in Love. She not only exudes pure radiance but she is its definition. Her incandescent glow and splendor, the unbridled spirit and vivaciousness, the vividness she brings to the breathtaking Viola de Lesseps is a thing to behold. Viola de Lesseps is passion and passion is her. She is the essence, the soul of this story for she is not only Viola but also Juliet and Romeo and Thomas Kent and every Shakespearean heroine. In a tale of a poignant fictional and fervent romance she is the muse, the gloriously triumphant muse of William Shakespeare. The inspiration of art, true art, the art we call literature and poetry. She breathes life into a man's life and is a revelation to a man without inspiration, without creative influence and she brings something into his life that he himself is shaken to the core by, true love. Her passion for life, for love and for literature and poetry cement her as the most captivating heroine i have seen on the silver screen. I was left in pure awe and even teared up for she is emotions of the most powerful caliber.
The rest of the cast are marvelous but it is Joseph Fiennes who takes excellence to another level and imbues life and soul into his character and creates a hero so lovable and one of a kind that you will be hanging on his every uttered line. The passion in William's eyes for Viola is so evident and in hers for him. Truly swoon worthy, explosive and breathtaking.
Judi Dench and Ben Affleck are hilarious. The humor of the film is charming, intelligent and relies on wit more than anything else. Geoffrey Rush, Tom Wilkinson, Martin Clunes, Imelda Staunton, Rupert Everett and Mark Williams are simply wonderful as are the rest of the cast.
The score is spectacular that is keeps you excited through this entire grand experience perfectly complimenting each each emotion, each scene it accompanies. It is so beautiful and evokes such grandeur. It can leave you in tears.
And that ending, what beauty and heart. Their parting words 'You will never age for me, nor fade, nor die' 'Nor you for me' were so startling and powerful. And when she tells him of how their love was the most greatest thing to her and she would have it no other way, WOW! Their confessions of true love and the ending where her courage, spirit and strength ensure a new beginning brought tears to my eyes.
This film is the best Shakespearean play that Shakespeare never wrote. It has all the elements one usually finds in his plays such as disguises, mistaken identities, romance and sword fights. A film for any intelligent person who appreciates the language and literature.
It won many Academy Awards and it deserved each and everyone especially for Gwyneth as Best Actress and for Best Picture and still deserved more.