Settling the Debate: Shakespeare in Love

written by Reputation@Stake

All you have to do is type in something like “mistakes in Oscar history” into Google, and you’ll find tons of sites that list the top ten worst mistakes that the Academy has made. In at least 66.66666666% of those (give or take a 6), you will see a complaint that Saving Private Ryan lost to Shakespeare in Love for best picture in 1998. And even though I’d rather bite my own kneecap off than deny Spielberg an award, I totally agree with Oscar and his little golden idols. Besides, Spielberg still won Best Director, which I completely agree with, so he didn’t return home like Leonardo Dicaprio does every single year. (Poor guy will probably name his child Oscar just so he can have one in the house.)

So why do I think Shakespeare rightfully deserved to beat Ryan? Two reasons. 1. Ryan, though a fine film, is a bit overrated. 2. The brilliance of Shakespeare is generally underappreciated.

Let’s get reason number 1 out of the way first, so we can enjoy our popcorn when the lights dim and number 2 starts. IMHO (In my honored opinion – or – In my high opinion – your choice) I think that Ryan got as much admiration as my opinion generally gets because Spielberg’s name was attached to it. If people thought that my kneecap directed it, I believe it would have received less press, and therefore less praise. It is still a wonderful film, and my opinion isn’t really provable, so I’ll move on.

With reason number 2, when I say that Shakespeare in Love is underappreciated, I mean by the internet critics, not by the Academy which obviously has its shoes on the right feet. Anyone who has read many of Shakespeare’s works can’t help but be impressed by the super sweet wicked cool stuff they do in this movie (though they may phrase it a little differently). I promise I won’t go on and on with term-paper essay length dullness, but a few examples won’t spoil your popcorn, will they?

The movie opens with two playhouses competing for business, and while Will, as Shakespeare is known in the movie, passes by some dude on the street railing against the sinfulness of plays, Will hears him shouting, “A plague upon both their houses!” This line (from Romeo and Juliet) and many other phrases from his plays are sprinkled throughout the movie. What turns this from simple quote dropping into brilliant filmmaking, is how the quotes are used and woven into the story. For instance, shortly after this scene both playhouses are closed because The Plague has hit London (which happens to be historically accurate as well).

Then there is the heroine of the movie, played by Gwyneth Paltrow, who Will falls in love with (hence the in Love part of the title). With her, the screenwriters make tons of allusions to heroines from many of Shakespeare’s plays. Some are horn-blasting obvious, but others are subtle, like when Gwyneth tries out for a part in Will’s play. She is dressed up like a boy to disguise herself (remember that), and is allowed to recite anything she wants. Most people are reciting things written by Will’s competitor, Christopher Marlow, which is a very ironically funny element of the movie (for reasons I won’t go into now). But she recites words Will has written. (I know, I was disappointed too. I was hoping for something by Bob Dylan or the Rolling Stones.) But as long as we’re not chomping on our popcorn too loudly, we’ll hear her quoting from The Two Gentlemen of Verona, which of course is a play where the heroine dresses up like a boy to disguise herself.

There are so many wonderful things like this, that I don’t have time to discuss, but what’s equally impressive is that the movie is not dull or dry or bogged down by any of it. In fact, it’s a very emotional love story even without any knowledge of Shakespeare or his writings. Granted, there aren’t nearly enough graphic deaths and explosions like in Saving Private Ryan, but at one point there’s a woman selling candy apples and someone comes along and buys one, so the movie isn’t completely devoid of excitement.

Conclusion: Shakespeare in Love is a fantastic movie, and deserved to be crowned The Best Picture of 1998. (IMHO)