Shakespeare in Love Movie Review

In the movie industry it always seems that movies get remade multiple times over every certain number of years. Those movies turn out to be great sometimes and others are horrible. A movie that seems to be redone Shakespeare in Love is an interesting mix of the two. John Madden the director has made an intriguing film to watch with going from comedy to romance back and forth the whole film. Madden ultimately tries to envision the world of Shakespeare and include elements from works of his such as Romeo and Juliet, and Twelfth Night. As the viewer the work of Madden is hard but is done very well, but envisioning Shakespeare’s world and including elements from both plays leaves a feeling of confusion and insincerity as it goes from back and forth in genres. 

Starting out right in the beginning of the movie Madden sets the stage very well for what to expect. In just the first twenty minutes the audience can get a grip on the vison of Madden. In those twenty minute the audience experiences what seems like a rough torture scene turns into a comical scene introducing the character of Shakespeare. From just there the expectation of Madden’s humor could be expected to be borderline risky.  Setting up the character up through Madden’s vision was done rather well with Shakespeare seems as someone who is down on luck and needing that big break. Also having a rough look to the character in the beginning helped build Shakespeare as someone who needs something to change and feeling emotional over love. The setting felt natural as it belonged in Shakespeare’s time of life. There is confusion though with this setting. If the viewer has had experience with Shakespeare, it will feel if the setting was a mesh of three different locations as it is. The setting seems confusing as it goes from a manufactured area similar to 1800s city before industrialization. Next the film transitions to what seems like Venice with the traveling by waterway feeling similar to Twelfth Night. Then the setting goes to what seems like huge, beautiful castles meant for the higher class feeling similar to Romeo and Juliet. With the all the different locations it feels as Madden is trying to shove multiple aspects from different plays into one film leaving a confusion among audience trying to figure out where everything is occurring. One of Madden’s accomplishment was redoing the view on the Shakespeare character. When thinking of Shakespeare, the average person usually thinks of some old European who could write plays but probably kept away from society held to this high standard. As with Madden’s Shakespeare the character felt more realistic as someone young and is going through the rough parts of life experiencing the hardships and getting through them. 

As it comes to the film after the beginning the film gets very confusing as with the introduction of old material integrated with new material. An example to start off with is the scene where Shakespeare chases on foot and boat after this beautiful woman he has seen and heard at the playhouse. Eventually leading to Viola’s home and this big spectacular dance. This in all was confusing. This scene is very reminiscent of Romo and Juliet Act one Scene five with Romeo following after Juliet who is in a mask and couldn’t be identified. The addition of this scene causes confusion among the audience. The audience clearly can see that Shakespeare has seen Viola’s face very clearly. It seems hard to believe that Shakespeare wouldn’t recognize Viola with the fake hair and men’s clothing. The biggest giveaway would be the eyes and the body shape with cheek structure and frame as those stay the same throughout the film. If done better, it feels as this scene could have been removed and would have helped build the romantic tension up between Viola and Shakespeare. 

Another major issue among the film was funny enough another certain boat scene. The boat scene in reference was about forty-two minutes into the film with Viola disguised with Shakespeare. Shakespeare chases after Viola asking if there was a reply from Viola herself which is in Viola’s possession. Shakespeare ends up on the boat reading the reply and talks about this woman he is in love with the woman actually listening in front of him. The scene seems romantic with Shakespeare speaking of things he enjoys about the woman until the comment about her behind. After that last comment the scene turns more comedic and leading to Viola in disguise kissing Shakespeare and hopping off at the dock of her house. This scene is confusing as it references a part in the play Twelfth Night Act Two Scene Four but is entirely off and confusing. What should be a romantic atmosphere with two people talking about the intimacy of a two- man relationship turns into this comedic scene about Shakespeare talking about the attractive qualities of the woman he lusts over. The choice of Madden to try to integrate the scene into the film was risky with high reward but ends up flat. The other major problem with this scene is how early on it occurs. The reveal of Viola’s disguise felt way too early on in the film leading to a lack of romantic tension buildup in the film. Overall, this scene could’ve worked but at a later point and some modifications to make it clearer to the audience. 

After all this it may seem that this review on Shakespeare in Love was a negative perception. I actually found the movie somewhat enjoyable and has it strong points. This being obvious as it did win a Oscar for Best Picture of Saving Private Ryan. This film just needs some modifications to turn it into a truly great piece. Overall, it’s just disappointing to see a movie with so much potential fall flat and confusing the audience most of the time. Maybe in the future some experienced director or Madden himself is given another shot at this idea for a film.