Shakespeare in love

Love's rich pageant

Impresario Phillip Henslow (Geoffrey Rush) is very concerned. He has outstanding debts and his theatre, the Rose, lies idle while his young playwright, William Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) dithers about finishing his latest work, a comedy called Romeo and Ethel, A Pirate's Adventure'. To make matters worse, his chief creditor, Fennyman (Tom Wilkinson) expresses his dissatisfaction by dangling Henslow over an open fire, and threatens worse if his debts are not swiftly repaid.

So begins Shakespeare in Love, a gloriously witty, piquant and unashamedly theatrical yarn of the creation of the play Romeo and Juliet, one of the most famous and touching stories in literature (in English, anyway). Shakespeare is suffering from writer's block - he needs a muse, and (with his wife safely stashed in the country), he casts his eye around but is not impressed by the women he sees. His mood is not helped by the fact that everyone wants a comedy (whereas he would like to create something more worthy) and his fierce rival, Marlowe (Rupert Everett) is enjoying critical and popular acclaim.

Everything changes when Shakespeare sees Viola De Lessops (Gwyneth Paltrow), the beautiful daughter of a wealthy aristocrat. Viola is also a fan of theatre and particularly of the sonnets of a promising young playwright called Shakespeare. They eventually meet and fall deeply in love. Unfortunately, Viola has been promised in marriage to the insufferably arrogant Lord Wessex (Colin Firth), a union approved by Queen Elizabeth (Judi Dench), and therefore insoluble. As Shakespeare begins shaping his play, its character changes from comedy to drama to outright tragedy, as it mirrors the impossible but all-consuming love affair between a poor commoner and a rich aristocrat.

The movie skilfully weaves two rather different stories into a dramatic and beautiful tale. The first one is a hilarious account of the struggle to put on a show and I wish Kenneth Branagh had seen this film before he inflicted The Bleak Midwinter on the rest of us. There are lots of sly jokes as applicable to the film industry today as theatre then or now. Such as the decision to give the actors a share of the profits rather than paying them.(Henslow explains,"But it will never make money" and Fennyman replies,"Exactly"). Spoken like a true producer. Indeed, a wager is made that art cannot move people in the same way as real life - that art is lightweight and artificial. Viola disagrees - true art will always touch people. A dig at the entertainment industry today, perhaps ?

There is always a danger that attempting such humour in a medieval setting will invoke memories of Monty Python or Blackadder, but the writers (Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard) avoid such pitfalls. They do have fun speculating on the sources of Shakespeare's inspiration. He hears a preacher shouting at the unheeding, passing crowd,"A plague on both your houses". He decides on some of the plot while out drinking with Marlowe. What really illuminates the story, (and provides most of the inspiration) and raises it above the ordinary, is the on-screen relationship of Voila and Shakespeare. Joseph Fiennes brings a passionate intensity to the young Shakespeare, and his character, mischievous, committed, determined, impatient and erudite, is convincing as the man who could only conjure such emotions in his works by having tasted such extremes of desire.

The object of his desire has never looked better. Women world-wide must be a bit disgruntled. Having spent years reading women's magazines assuring them that "You too are special in your own way" along come women like Cameron Diaz and Gwyneth Paltrow, who are beautiful, talented, critically acclaimed, hugely popular and filthy rich. It's not good for morale. It's easy to see why Shakespeare would risk his life to see her - she looks sublime. With her long golden curls and delicate features, she calls to mind Botticelli's Birth of Venus. Paltrow's Viola is also strong-willed, intelligent and romantic. She also has (yet again) a faultless English accent (at this stage, she's just showing off ). The prurient amongst you may also appreciate the fact that she strips off - rest assured it's in the best possible taste.

The supporting cast are uniformly solid - Ben Affleck as the egotistical actor playing Mercutio (who can't believe he gets killed off early), Dench as the Queen (wryly amused by the prospect of Wessex being cuckolded by a penniless artist), and Wilkinson and Rush as the producers.

The movie, though sumptuous in terms of costume and scenery, makes no real claim at veracity whatsoever, and one suspects that Shakespeare's antics, as portrayed, would have shortened his life considerably in reality. There are some minor quibbles - some of the humour is a little farfetched - but these are very minor distractions. What is refreshing is that a movie such as this can get made in the first place. As we approach the 1999 Oscars, Gwyneth Palthrow must surely get at least a nomination for her performance. Funnily enough, one of her rivals may well be Cate Blanchett for her portrayal of...Queen Elizabeth.

Directed by John Madden.

© 1999 Stockholm Film Review. All Rights Reserved.