Shakespeare in love

Rating: 8/10 (1 February 2005)

The director John Madden has tried to link Shakespeare's life with the creation of his play "Romeo and Juliet".
Shakespeare, played by Joseph Fiennes, is a poor playwright who has lost his inspiration. While searching for a muse, he plans to write a comedy named "Romeo and Ethel the pirate's daughter". During the audition a young man catches Shakespeare's attention who is actually Lady Viola the Lesseps disguised as a man. She is fascinated by poetry and thus wants to be an actor. When Shakespeare calls upon her, she runs away. He finds out where she/he lives and asks for the young talent. At a dance he sneaks into the estate and meets Lady Violet. They fall in love with each other and she becomes his muse. Under her influence, he starts to write "Romeo and Juliet" and she plays the Romeo as Thomas Kent. The problem of the couple is that Shakespeare is married and that she is to be married to Lord Wessex who owns plantations in America. Eventually, Shakespeare finds out that Thomas Kent is Lady Violet. When the play is almost finished, the "rat-boy" sees that Thomas Kent is a woman and tells it the Guard. As women weren't allowed on the stage the theater is closed. Lady Violet has to marry Lord Wessex and on her wedding-day "Romeo and Juliet" is performed at concurrent's theater. She flees her husband to watch the play and has to play the Juliet. After the play Lord Wessex tells the audience that she is a women and wants to have everybody arrested but then Queen Elisabeth appears and as she is pleased by the play nobody is arrested at all. Now Lady Violet leaves for America but Shakespeare is still inspired by her. The movie got 7 Oscars and I think the actors' performance has earned that. Joseph Fiennes embodies a young and passionate Shakespeare and Gwyneth Paltrow expresses Lady Violet's love for poetry very vivid and believable. Madden has succeeded to combine biographical facts about Shakespeare with a mainstream-suitable love story and one of the Bard's most famous plays. Even people who are not very interested in Shakespeare or his plays could like this film. It is a Hollywood-adaption of Shakespeare's life. Not very near to the facts but quite amusing.