{"id":736,"date":"2008-04-02T21:54:29","date_gmt":"2008-04-03T01:54:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/?p=736"},"modified":"2022-10-22T22:59:36","modified_gmt":"2022-10-23T02:59:36","slug":"shakespeare-in-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/shakespeare-in-love\/","title":{"rendered":"Go behind the scenes of “Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate’s Daughter” in Shakespeare in Love"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This blogger is not ashamed to admit being in love with Shakespeare in Love<\/em>, and not just for the generous displays of Gwyneth Paltrow’s lovely young bubbies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full of American actors affecting English accents with varying degrees of outrageousness, it only partly qualifies as Europudding<\/a>, and is in fact more in the vein of “let’s put on a show!” theater farces like Noises Off<\/em> and Waiting for Guffman<\/em>. Director John Madden’s Shakespeare in Love<\/em> succeeds beautifully, but the formula is not ironclad; Becoming Jane<\/em> obviously attempted the same stunt by warping the biographical details of Jane Austin’s life onto her novels, but rather failed to capture her dry wit and particular brand of practical passion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Gwyneth
Oi, get yer bubbies out!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Co-screenwriter Tom Stoppard, already an expert at playing fast and loose with Shakespeare in his play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead<\/em>, lays more than a few easter eggs for English majors and other enthusiasts of Elizabethan drama. Bloody playwright John Webster cameos as a disturbed young lad. Many favorite Shakespeare cliches appear not just in the play-within-the-movie, but also in the body of the movie itself: ghosts, cross-cross-dressing, and a “bit with a dog.” But perhaps the movie’s biggest achievement is to humanize perhaps the most revered writer in the English language, and yet still illuminate the unmatched passion and achievement of his work. A Shakespeare beset with writer’s block struggles to find a hook for the unwritten Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate’s Daughter<\/em> reminds us that he was probably no unearthly creature taking dictation from beyond, and that creating such art was, simply, hard work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Judi
Judi Dench in full Queen Bitch mode<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Shakespeare in Love<\/em> thankfully doesn’t let historical accuracy get in the way of a good gag. Will makes weekly visits to an apothecary practicing psychotherapy a few hundred years early. The contemporary theater world is shown more than once as a precursor to today’s movie biz. In order to bankroll the production of a new play, financier\/kneecapper Hugh Fennyman (Tom Wilkinson) suggests Globe Theater owner Philip Henslowe (Geoffrey Rush) pay actors with a portion of the profits, when of course there never are any. Brilliant! One wonders if Miramax honchos Harvey & Bob Weinstein perceived the irony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the movie is sometimes more accurate than one might think for something that is admittedly a slightly fluffy farce. For example, it is in fact plausible for Shakespeare to fear he may have been indirectly responsible for rival playwright Christopher Marlowe’s death. Marlowe died in 1593, which according to the all-knowing Wikipedia, was about the time Romeo and Juliet<\/em> was written.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This blogger is not ashamed to admit being in love with Shakespeare in Love, and not just for the generous displays of Gwyneth Paltrow’s lovely young bubbies. Full of American actors affecting English accents with varying degrees of outrageousness, it only partly qualifies as Europudding, and is in fact more in the vein of “let’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4905,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,2],"tags":[996,997,1748,686,995,994,252],"class_list":["post-736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-4-stars","category-movies","tag-geoffrey-rush","tag-gwyneth-paltrow","tag-john-madden","tag-judi-dench","tag-shakespeare","tag-tom-stoppard","tag-tom-wilkinson"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/shakespeare-in-love-feature.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa9lhB-bS","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2635,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/visualizing-the-invisible-bright-star\/","url_meta":{"origin":736,"position":0},"title":"Jane Campion Visualizes the Invisible, in Bright Star","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"December 4, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"As an English Major in another life, I'm not uninterested in poetry, or Keats in particular. But movies about poetry are another matter. It's difficult to imagine a less natural source material for the eminently visual medium of cinema than poetry. You can mute the sound, drain the color, or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "3 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"3 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/3-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bright Star","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/bright-star.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/bright-star.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/bright-star.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/bright-star.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/bright-star.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8631,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/famously-chill-dude-keanu-reeves-goes-on-a-killing-spree-in-john-wick-chapter-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":736,"position":1},"title":"Famously chill dude Keanu Reeves goes on a killing spree in John Wick: Chapter 2","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"February 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I want to enjoy action movies like the popular John Wick franchise, but the gun worship spoils everything.","rel":"","context":"In "2 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"2 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/2-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"John Wick: Chapter 2","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/john-wick-chapter-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/john-wick-chapter-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/john-wick-chapter-2.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/john-wick-chapter-2.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/john-wick-chapter-2.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":759,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/sense-and-sensibility-1995\/","url_meta":{"origin":736,"position":2},"title":"Emma Thompson & Ang Lee’s Sense and Sensibility repopularized Jane Austen","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"April 19, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"In this blog's opinion, Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility is the best-of-breed within Jane Austen film adaptations. Please note, however, there are two very good reasons to discredit my opinion on this subject: I. Despite my English major, I am ashamed to admit I have read only one Jane Austen\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "4 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"4 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/4-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sense and Sensibility","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/sense-and-sensibility-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/sense-and-sensibility-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/sense-and-sensibility-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/sense-and-sensibility-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/sense-and-sensibility-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":981,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/harold-kumar-escape-from-guantanamo-bay\/","url_meta":{"origin":736,"position":3},"title":"H&K drop LSD with NPH in Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"August 24, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"On the way to a hoped-for idyll in their spiritual home Amsterdam, our two beloved stoners Harold and Kumar take unintended detours through Cuba (as collateral damage in the War on Terror), Florida (where they drop trou' for a \"bottomless\" party), Alabama (rudely interrupting a Klu Klux Klan klatsch), and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "1 Star"","block_context":{"text":"1 Star","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/1-star\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/harold-kumar-escape-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/harold-kumar-escape-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/harold-kumar-escape-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/harold-kumar-escape-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/harold-kumar-escape-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1738,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/mutant-mayhem-x-men\/","url_meta":{"origin":736,"position":4},"title":"Mutant Mayhem: Bryan Singer’s X-Men","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"April 30, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Bryan Singer's X-Men surprised me twice, first in a theater in 2000 and then again on a recent rewatch, by being better than it had any right to be. I used to be a comics fan, and read most of Chris Claremont and John Romita Jr.'s lengthy run on The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "4 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"4 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/4-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/x-men-2000-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/x-men-2000-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/x-men-2000-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/x-men-2000-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/x-men-2000-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":689,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/as-you-like-it-2007\/","url_meta":{"origin":736,"position":5},"title":"All the world’s a stage in Kenneth Branagh’s As You Like It","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"March 12, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been a Kenneth Branagh fan ever since seeing the joyous trifle Much Ado About Nothing on a date with my first girlfriend in high school. Probably to my date's dismay, it was also the moment I fell passionately in love with Emma Thompson. Later, I enjoyed his down and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"2 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/2-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"As You Like It","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/03\/as-you-like-it-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/03\/as-you-like-it-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/03\/as-you-like-it-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/03\/as-you-like-it-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/03\/as-you-like-it-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=736"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/736\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6752,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/736\/revisions\/6752"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}