Shakespeare in Love (1998)

My Review

The Best Picture of 1998 is…..”Shakespeare in Love,” a comedy depicting a fictional romance between William Shakespeare and his girl friend, with a parallel storyline of the gradual development of “Romeo and Juliet” as the movie progresses. There is also heavy use of lines from other Shakespearean plays. Director John Madden (“Mrs. Brown” 1997) skillfully crafted the drama from the cleverly written screenplay by Marc Newman and Tom Stoppard.

The cast includes Joseph Fiennes as Bill Shakespeare, Gwyneth Paltrow as his love interest, Geoffrey Rush, Colin Firth, Ben Affleck, Tom Wilkinson, Rupert Everett, Simon Callow, Jim Carter, Martin Clunes, Antony Sher, Imelda Staunton, Mark Williams, Jill Baker, and Judy Dench as Queen Elizabeth I.

It was nominated for thirteen Academy Awards, winning seven: Best Picture, Best Actress (Paltrow), Best Supporting Actress (Dench), Best Screenplay, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, and Best Musical Score (Stephen Warbeck). Non-winners include Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Rush), Best Cinematography (Richard Greatrex), Best Film Editing, Best Makeup, and Best Sound. Dench has one of the shortest Oscar winning performances on record, with only six minutes of screen time.

It came as a surprise to many that “Shakespeare in Love” beat out four other heavyweights for Best Picture: “Saving Private Ryan,” “Elizabeth,” “The Thin Red Line,’ and “Life is Beautiful.” Some reports have suggested that producer Harvey Weinstein lead a very heavy-handed campaign that tilted the Academy voters in its favor. There is a general popular opinion that “Saving Private Ryan” should have won the top nod, and is indeed the better motion picture.

Whatever the case, the very watchable “Shakespeare in Love” was the ninth highest grossing movie of 1998 for producer Harvey Weinstein, The Bedford Falls Company, Miramax Films, and Universal Pictures. It was filmed at various locations throughout England.