Shakespeare in Love (1998) stars Joseph Fiennes as the young Bard, who finds himself the hot young playwright of his time. Unfortunately, that brings pressure from financiers and theater owners to come up with a new hit. It's the summer of 1593 and William Shakespeare is in the middle of a paralyzing bout of writer's block. His newest attempt, Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter isn't working out. He desperately needs a muse, who arrives when he meets Lady Viola de Lesseps (Gwyneth Paltrow). She yearns to be an actress, but is forbidden because in those times, only men could take to the stage. With a fake moustache and goatee, she disguises herself as a man and breaks all the rules. Viola and Will also fall in love, but as Shakespeare himself wrote in A Midsummer Night's Dream, "the course of true love never did run smooth." Will is already married, and Viola is promised to the arrogant Earl of Wessex (Colin Firth), who needs her large dowry to clear up his own financial problems.

The idea for Shakespeare in Love first came to writer Marc Norman in 1988, and over the next decade, Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman, Winona Ryder, Helen Hunt, Daniel Day-Lewis, Kenneth Branagh and Jodie Foster were rumored to be considered for the leading roles, which went to Paltrow and Fiennes.

John Madden directed the film from a script by Norman and Tom Stoppard, with a cast that included Ben Affleck (who took the role to be near his then girlfriend, Paltrow), Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, and Simon Callow. Shakespeare in Love was a co-production of Universal Pictures, Bedford Falls Productions, and Miramax Films. Miramax, headed by brothers Bob and Harvey Weinstein were on a roll - they had recently produced the successful Mrs. Brown (1997) and The English Patient (1996). With a budget of only $25 million, Shakespeare in Love went into production in March 1998 at Shepperton Studios just outside of London, and at various locations around England, including Broughton Castle in Oxfordshire, Holkham Hall and Estate in Norfolk, and the legendary Eton College.

Shakespeare in Love was a hit on its release in December 1998, bringing in $100 million at the box office in the United States and another $189 million overseas. The critics loved it, including Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times who wrote that its modern humor mixed with the Elizabethan era "makes the movie play like a contest between Masterpiece Theatre and Mel Brooks. [...]Is this a movie or an anthology? I didn't care. I was carried along by the wit, the energy and a surprising sweetness. The movie serves as a reminder that Will Shakespeare was once a young playwright on the make, that theater in all times is as much business as show, and that Romeo and Juliet must have been written by a man in intimate communication with his libido."

The film was nominated for thirteen Academy Awards and won seven, including Best Picture, Best Actress for Paltrow, Best Supporting Actress for Judi Dench as Queen Elizabeth I (despite only being on screen for six minutes), Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen for Norman and Stoppard, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration for Martin Childs and Jill Quertier, Best Costume Design for Sandy Powell, and Best Original Musical or Comedy Score for Stephen Warbeck.

The film may be over but the story lives on. Although many films have been adapted from plays, the trend is moving in the opposite direction, with films making their way to the stage. Shakespeare in Love is currently playing at the Noel Coward Theatre in London.

By Lorraine LoBianco

SOURCES:
The Internet Movie Database
http://www.miramax.com/movie/shakespeare-in-love/
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/shakespeare-in-love-1998
http://shakespeareinlove.com/