Caution: This Might Contain Spoilers!
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This pseudo-historical film is set in London, England (1550-1604), during Queen Elizabeth I's ending reign. There is turmoil in politics over who will become the next successor the crown, and writing political forms of plays/poems/stories are a taboo. Edward De Vere finds himself in the center of inner and political turmoil. He is a talented writer, but writing is taboo for his Protestant beliefs. The queen's counselor WIlliam Cecil is highly against stage plays-believing them to be sinful. Impressed by the audience's reception of a play, De Vere hands his play off to Ben Jonson, who is to take credit for his stage play. Out of fear, Jonson allows the actor William Shakespeare to receive the credit for De Vere's stageplay. As the audience continues to cheer on the written works, De Vere finds himself inspired to write a hidden political agenda against counselor Cecil in Richard III. Everything quickly spirals out of control for De Vere, and the writer Ben Jonson.
This film was directed by Roland Emmerich, who is mostly known for his end of the world films. The film's main focus is the argument of De Vere being the actual author of Shakespeare's popular stage plays. This reminder of the historical drama is set around the Tudor history, Queen Elizabeth I's end, and the beginning of King James rule. History is intertwined with the argument at its center, and it changes some events in history. This film has one major block; that is that this film would be mainly popular among fans of Shakespeare and of the theater. Well, stating that Shakespeare isn't the original author is like the argument of Jesus having children. Audience's will not take to the idea. The other problem this film faces is its jumping storyline. You have to know the historical characters moderately well, and even then its hard to follow. The fact that its also spoken in classic Elizabethan language doesn't help either. The film's ending really puts most of its jumbled plot into focus. Much of the film's story is speculative, and not fully explained. Otherwise, the backdrop was amazingly well done The Globe Theater, only being seen a small portion of the film was good, and the gloomy streets of London with the gloomy castles added to the intensity behind the dramatic story. The historical characters are highly different in there expectations. That being said, this film was written more to suit the argument than to be an actual historical drama. I also think that in some ways, the story was attempted to be written in a Shakespearian style with a comical character and high dramatic plot line.
The acting was good. The actors gave the film its dramatic tension. Rhys Ifan played the role of Earl of Oxford, Edward De Vere. He was good in his role. He gave his character a rebellious, nature, and yet is trapped by the boundaries of society. Sebastian Armesto played the role of Ben Jonson. He was great at playing the conflicted playwright who see's the brillance of De Vere's words, but must live with the sacrifice he made out of fear. Rafe Spall played the comical version of William Shakespeare. He made Shakespeare into an illiterate drunk. Which is probably the only true way to give the argument full credibility. Vanessa Redgrave played the role of Queen Elizabeth I. She gave Elizabeth power, but also showed her as vulnerable. She had to alter the role from the general form of Elizabeth known in history a bit to better fit the story. David Thewlis played the role of 1st Baron Burghley, William Cecil (father), and Edward Hogg played the role of 1st Earl of Salisbury, Robert Cecil (son). It is easy to see how the father's conniving influence to get to the crown impacted his son. They are great as the vilain for this story. Their political power comes from knowing secrets, and using blackmail.
I give this film 3 out of 5 stars! It's got a good basis, but its jumping story is its downfall. There wasn't enough explanation of the connection between the characters politically to gain a full dramatic meaning behind the story. The idea is still great for questioning what we believe we know.
Answer to last blog: Actor Taylor Kitsch and actress Lily Collins, both stared in the film X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and in John Carter.
Que: What popular film franchise stared actor David Thewlis?
Twilight Saga
Underworld
Pirates
Harry Potter
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