Hollywood Takes On Shakespeare

Rating: 7/10 (13 February 2005)

I am a huge fan of Shakespeare, far more so than the shallow, superficial world of Hollywood glamor. But Shakespeare on film is inevitable- Zefferelli's 1991 Hamlet starring Mel Gibson, the 1994 Much Ado About Nothing with Kenneth Branaugh, Zefferelli's Romeo And Juliet the 1968 Zefferelli film as well as Taming of The Shrew with Elizabeth Taylor, Roman Polanski's 1971 Macbeth, Laurence Olivier as Hamlet, etc. In 1998, this movie won Best Picture and numerous other awards. It is even a movie that is shown to students in high school to further understand what Shakespeare was all about.
I must say that it does not really do this. It's pure fiction, a Harlequin romance novel made into a movie starring appealing and rather famous actors- Joseph Fiennes as Shakespeare, Gwyneth Paltrow as the fictional character of Viola, Judi Dench as Queen Elizabeth, Colin Firth as Lord Wessex and Ben Affleck in a minor role as one of the actors in the Company. Let me start by stating that I felt Ben Affleck had no place in this movie. What was the point ? His character was underdeveloped and it seemed he was in the film only because of his involvement with Gwyneth Paltrow or to appear in a more "serious" film, in an efforts to win some kind of recognition. Gwyneth Paltrow is the same kind of actress. While she does contemporary films/thrillers, she sneaks in a "period piece" or two. As Viola, she is wooden and flat, a romantic heroine straight out of a bodice-ripper paperback romance novel. She puts in no serious dramatic power. She only dresses as a man to perform on stage only to be near her lover Shakespeare not to make a feminist comment on how women were not allowed to act in the theater at this time. Joseph Fiennes as a young Shakespeare is well-done though and the music is gorgeous. But all this, we must remember, is fiction. Queen Elizabeth's intervention in the movie is also made up. Judi Dench does not look like Queen Elizabeth. She made a more convincing Queen Victoria in "Mrs. Brown", looking exactly like her too. However, Shakespeare in Love makes for a good Valentines Day movie. The ending is always very touching. Viola becomes the inspiration for the Bard's next comedy....Twelfth Night.