'Shakespeare In Love'

Shakespeare In Love (1998) 

Director: John Madden
Genre: Romantic comedy
Producers: Marshall Herskovitz, Marc Norman, David Parfitt, Harvey Weinstein, Edward Zwick
Screenplay: Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard
Cinematography: Richard Greatrex
U.S. Distributor: Miramax Films



‘Shakespeare In Love’ is a romantic comedy starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Fiennes. The story is based on the play write ‘William Shakespeare’ and makes many presumptions about Shakespeare’s and life and how he succeeded as a play writer. The film highlights the aspect and quality of life in the Elizabethan era. The film is closely compared to Shakespeare’s play ‘Romeo and Juliet.’ Like the two star crossed lovers, Paltrow’s character is engaged beyond her control to a wealthy man, and should not be in the company of another man. However the story goes on as Viola disguises herself as a man to perform in ‘Will Shakespeare’s’ play. Her outstanding acting skills catch the eye of Shakespeare but he does not yet discover that the character is in fact a beautiful woman, who he would later fall in love with. It is here that we are shown how women did not have much contact with the theatre, certainly not on the stage. Theatre was seen as no place for a lady, and the actors weren’t particularly recognised as successful, talented people. They were more like entertainment slaves, there simply to entertain the rich. The film consists of passionate scenes, and reveals Shakespeare’s struggle to succeed against the brilliant play write ‘Christopher Marlowe.’ Shakespeare finds himself struggling to start his new play ‘Romeo and Ethel the Pirate's Daughter.’ After meeting Viola, she becomes Shakespeare’s inspiration, they battle to keep their love a secret as staying quiet becomes more and more of a challenge.



Cast:
Gwyneth Paltrow
Joseph Fiennes
Geoffrey Rush
Colin Firth
Ben Affleck
Tom Wilkinson
Imelda Stuanton
Judi Dench
Simon Callow
Rupert Everett