Alexa: I’m a sucker for a good love story and I’ve always loved Shakespeare’s plays, so Shakespeare in Love pushes all the right buttons for me. I thought I would be more dismissive of it given its reputation as one of the biggest Academy Award upsets in modern history – but I actually really enjoyed it. Though Romeo and Juliet is the centerpiece here, the movie cleverly intertwines allusions to several of Shakespeare’s other works without beating the audience over the head with them. The film is as much a celebration of great theater as it is a romance. Sure, it takes plenty of historical liberties, but I loved being transported back to those Elizabethan playhouses, as well as the appropriately Shakespearean balance of comedy, drama and romance. And on the latter front, the movie succeeds in achieving exactly what Gwyneth Paltrow’s Viola says theater is meant to do – it makes us feel something real. All that being said, I still find its Oscar victory perplexing. It’s a good movie that entertains and delights, but I’m not sure why it’s so highly regarded above other equally compelling historical romances, or what exactly distinguishes it from the other best picture contenders that year. Perhaps Shakespeare in Love is the La La Land to Saving Private Ryan’s Moonlight, but the mistake went uncorrected?
Joel: Today it feels like this movie’s biggest claim to fame is that it’s the movie that “stole” the Oscar from Saving Private Ryan. And while I can imagine that at the time, that was quite a shock, it’s a bit of a shame that the Oscar may be the biggest aspect of this movie’s legacy. Because Shakespeare in Love is fantastic. No beating around the bush here, the movie was flat out great. The movie tells the story of the romance between Shakespeare and the fictional Viola de Lesseps. As a period romance, it works well enough, but the movie shine’s in it’s unabashed love for the time period, and the type of theater that was happening, particularly Shakespeare. This movie is crammed full with references and allusions to Shakespeare’s work throughout. Romeo and Juliet is the obvious, as most of the movie is centered around Shakespeare writing that particular play, but there are plenty of others. We are in fact introduced to Shakespeare as he’s tossing aside pieces of paper one landing next to a skull (Hamlet reference) and one in an open chest (The Merchant of Venice).
Shakespeare in Love is a romance but it’s also a love letter to the man himself as well as his body of work. The movie doesn’t even try for historical accuracy, but instead flows the way a Shakespeare comedy world, full of hijinks, mistaken identity, cross-dressing disguises, and a play within a play, all common tropes in Shakespeare's work. The even manage to get a reference to the ghost from Macbeth in there.
I really suggest taking the time to watch this one. Yes, it will probably forever be associated with the Oscar “scandal,” but that doesn’t mean that this isn’t a fantastic movie that more than surpasses my highest expectations for it.
Chris: This movie is a Shakespeare/theater nerd's dream and I mean that in the best way. Joel mentioned it his review that this movie is shaped very much in the same style as a Shakespeare play itself with mistaken identity being the crux of the story both in comedic and tragic aspects of it. This fictionalized explanation of how Romeo and Juliet was made includes just about every Shakespeare/Victorian literary reference you could think of including a brief nod to the Shakespeare/Marlowe is the same person conspiracy. Speaking of Shakespeare conspiracies, I would recommend the movie "Anonymous" which also is a giant love-letter to his work and itself is framed like a tragedy of that time period. But back to Shakespeare in Love, the real strength of this movie lies within the ensemble and not just the main stars that won the Oscars but the supporting cast that was on the screen far longer than Judi Dench. This movie was always a favorite of mine as soon as I was able to appreciate the references and how they were organically woven into the plot and becomes the driving force behind the entire movie.
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