Shakespeare In Love

Shakespeare in Love is a 1998 motion picture. In this dramatic comedy/romance, William Shakespeare is portrayed as a young, struggling playwright, plagued by money shortages, problems with women, and writer's block. more...

Some of the characters and their lines are references to lines and characters in real Shakespeare plays -- implying that these inspire the film's Shakespeare later in life. Most of the film's major plot devices are also taken from Shakespeare.

The film is largely fictional, although it is based around several actual historical characters.

Primary cast

• Joseph Fiennes: William Shakespeare
• Gwyneth Paltrow: Viola De Lesseps
• Geoffrey Rush: Philip Henslowe
• Tom Wilkinson: Hugh Fennyman
• Judi Dench: Queen Elizabeth
• Colin Firth: Lord Wessex
• Martin Clunes: Richard Burbage
• Simon Callow: Tilney, Master of the Revels
• Imelda Staunton: Nurse
• Ben Affleck: Ned Alleyn
• Rupert Everett: Christopher Marlowe

Synopsis

At an audition for a play—"Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter"—that he actually has not yet written a word of, young William Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) admires the talent of a new actor, Thomas Kent, who quickly runs away. Shakespeare meets Viola de Lesseps (played by Gwyneth Paltrow), who lives in the same house as Kent, and promptly falls in love with her, inspiring him to begin writing his play again. By the time Will realizes that Viola and Thomas are the same person, she is promised in a marriage to Lord Wessex (Colin Firth) approved of by Queen Elizabeth herself (Judi Dench). But the couple find themselves unable to avoid a clandestine affair, and even risk the wrath of the law against women being on stage by having Viola intend to play the part of Romeo, although she eventually takes the part of Juliet, when the orginal actor's voice changes in the play that by now has been renamed Romeo and Juliet. At the conclusion of the play, the Queen applauds the abilities of both writer and "actor," but orders that Viola rejoin her husband, who is about to move to America.

On release, the film was compared with the 1941 novel No Bed for Bacon, which also features Shakespeare writing his plays.

Award wins

• Academy Award for Best Picture
• Academy Award for Best Actress - Gwyneth Paltrow
• Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress - Judi Dench
• Academy Award for Best Art Direction - Martin Childs & Jill Quertier
• Academy Award for Costume Design - Sandy Powell
• Academy Award for Original Music Score - Stephen Warbeck
• Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay - Marc Norman & Tom Stoppard
• BAFTA Award for Best Film
• BAFTA Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role - Judi Dench
• BAFTA Award for Best Editing - David Gamble
• Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
• Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy - Gwyneth Paltrow
• Golden Globe Award Best Screenplay - Comedy/Musical Film - Marc Norman & Tom Stoppard
• Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay - Marc Norman & Tom Stoppard

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