Nov 21, 2011 08:53 AM
2080 Views
(Updated Nov 24, 2011 07:27 AM)
It is a well-made period piece with lots of historical facts and many interpolations. I wasn't very keen to see this movie but my friend said I should and so I went on. And I feel that was a very right decision. Luckily, due to a confusion, I could watch it on a ticket of$7.50-the senior citizen charge.
It would be very helpful to know about Shakespeare and his times before watching this movie so as to be able to really appreciate it. That doesn't mean you need to do a thorough research about the society, economics, culture and politics of the time: a little knowledge of these also would be sufficient. In fact, a little less knowledge might make your virgin slate of understanding tickled by some things in the movie better. If you know a lot, certain willing suspension of disbelief is advisable.
Controversies about the authorship of Shakespeare's plays and about who Shakespeare really was have cropped up again and again. Someone has rightly commented: "Emmerich's film is one more sign that conspiracy theories about the authorship of Shakespeare's plays have gone mainstream".
We associate fame and labour with a person of flesh and blood. If the credit of the labour goes to someone who doesn't deserve it, if we believe or are made to believe so, what then? Outrage, pity. If you are a huge Shakespeare fan, your faith in him may not get shaken. If you are not, you may start questioning yourself: "Is this buffoon the one i've been believing to be the creator of Hamlet? How ignorant, uncouth, imbecile, and yet, cunning this impostor is!" On the other hand, if you don't know the Bard, or not much, you will feel, instead of repulsion for the'Shakespeare', a certain right kind of cathartic emotion for the real'Shakespeare'. Edward de Vere, the Earl of Oxford was probably just the Earl of Oxford. Or was he? The movie shows how the embedded political and social commentary in the plays was by one person of genius(no doubt) who had to sacrifice his name because he was helpless, bound by propriety, personal responsibility, and political decorum and yet he could put into his writings something that outshone that ignominy and treachery to which he was subjected. It also shows the emotional man in him who wrote his famous plays and sonnets as outlets of emotion for his'dark lady' and for someone who was the blood of his own and of one of whom he himself was.
As a picture of the times, the movie can be appreciated in parts. While the local color and facts are well given, whether it be the streets of London, the Globe Theatre, the coronation of Elizabeth or the Essex Rebellion, some things are rather far-fetched and clearly exaggerated such as the portrayal of the Cecils, the incest, the role of Ben Jonson in the matter, the caricaturish portrayal of Shakespeare and other writers. Liberties have taken with certain historical facts too, with a view to make them fit into the frame and also to heighten the emotional impact. The time span covered is broad and so you can see upto three actors playing one character. Interestingly, the role of Elizabeth(young and old) has been played by two actresses who are daughter and mother in real life.
You will find not just indoor scenes in the movie showing the scheming, counters-schemes, bed scenes, blackmailing etc but lots of outdoor scenes too such as during the staging of the plays at theater with the Elizabethan public around, scene of a swordplay-an assassination attempt, rebellion, execution.The focus or the center of the narrative is the real'Shakespeare' but the zeitgeist has been presented well too, though with many historical distortions.
'To be' is a painful reality for a genius writer who is born out of place and time and who has "to let I dare not wait upon I would" .The Queen, the royal Houses, the royal advisers and the writers' community with Shakespeare, Dekker, Ben Jonson, Marlowe, Nash.and the English public, all are a part of this story. Political intrigue, conspiracies, personal ambition, jealousies, basic human instincts, incest, academic and professional rivalries among writers, the powers that lie quiet, but not when things are at stake-all these go into the making and unmaking of Shakespeare and Shakespeare. Are there two Shakespeares? I won't tell. Watch the movie. You should be able to enjoy it. Certainly, the movie is not a journalistic piece; nor is it wholly fiction. Maybe, creative non-fiction. I was reminded of a great movie, 'Amadeus', while watching it.
Rhys Ifans, Venessa Redgrave, Sabestian Armesto and Joely Richardson have done a good job with their acting. The story moves interestingly, generally, in a tight and fast manner. The movie does seem convincing, at least to the common man. They have even roped in Derek Jacobi, a well-known Shakesperean actor, as commentator in the movie.
