SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE Blu-ray Review
By: RAMA
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The competition during Oscar season in 1999 was tough because Saving Private Ryan was excellent and so was The Thin Red Line, but SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE came out the winner, deservingly so. I think it’s because the film was not just about celebration of love, but it’s also celebration of literature, performance and theater and the genius behind some of the great plays in history, so timeless that those works remain a source of inspiration for many playwrights and filmmakers today. In a bonus segment of this blu-ray, you’d find one of the filmmakers said a statement that I fully agree with, that statement was.. if William Shakespeare were alive today, he’d have a five-picture deal with Warner Bros. and drive a Porsche. Hollywood rewards storytellers of such caliber, talents whose words could move you like no other.
SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE is not just another period piece with lavish ancient costumes, what director John Madden and Oscar screenwriting team Marc Norman, Tom Stoppard accomplished was craft something that today’s generation hasn’t deem cool for quite sometime, seem cool and relevant again. I remember when this movie came out, some argued the necessity of its existence seeing that people already were required to read Shakespeare in school, why the bloody hell must you see encounter Shakespeare in theaters too?! But what they forgot was that theaters are exactly where Shakespeare’s works belong.
Out of ideas and cash, a young Will Shakespeare (Fiennes), is in search of a muse to break his creative drought. After meeting the lovely Lady Viola (Paltrow), the two find themselves entangled in a secret romance that rejuvenates Will’s creativity. His pen flows like never before until he uncovers two unexpected truths about his new lover – she’s promised to marry someone else and she’s successfully impersonating a man to play the lead in Will’s latest play.
Joseph Fiennes took on the title role and he knocked it out of the park, fiery, fierce, passionate, so much so that when love was denied, his heart broke into a thousand pieces and his expression didn’t lie. Gwyneth Paltrow deserved her Oscar win, she practically played dual character, and never have I seen a woman so taken and so smitten by love, Paltrow represented the culmination, the collective gathering of all who believe in the possibility, the moment she was in that reality, everything else seemed to disappear.
SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE had an outstanding cast ensemble that includes Tom Wilkinson, Geoffrey Rush, Colin Firth, and Judi Dench, these are thesps that demand your respect. Ben Affleck probably the odd one of the bunch but even he pulled his weight.
There are many reasons to love this film, but my top reason would be that it goes to show that even the proud would find themselves in awe, at the feet of a masterpiece. Wilkinson’s character is a gangster but he was actually a closet theater freak, he couldn’t resist the first opportunity he’d get to be part of that world, Colin Firth played a stuck up spoiled rich aristocrat but he ended admitting to the play’s power over the woman he wished to marry, and the same case with Dench as Queen Elizabeth, wise and firm. You could act tough all you want but sooner or later you too would find yourself not able to escape a great work when you behold one.
SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE is a romantic comedy, it’s very romantic and it’s very funny, the comedic timing of all its performers were spot on, the dialogue made sense, they’re powerful and lighthearted at the same time. The production design, the costume, and the makeup and the cinematography move together harmoniously, complimenting every other element, elevating the film and placing it on its worthy pedestal. Everything about it was grand and majestic.
The blu-ray comes with audio commentaries and a lengthy featurette that takes you back to behind-the-scenes and the award spectacle, if there’s one movie you need to watch at home this Valentine’s day, let it be SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE bl-ray, where art thou?!
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
Film buffs rejoice this January as Lionsgate debuts in High Definition three Miramax Academy Award® winners: Shakespeare in Love, The English Patient and Cold Mountain. All three romantic releases, featuring all-star talent, masterful filmmaking and loaded with special features, will be available on Blu-ray Disc on January 31st, just in time for Valentine’s Day. Shakespeare in Love and Cold Mountain will be available for the suggested retail price of $14.99, and The English Patient will be available for $19.99.
Hailed as “pure enchantment,” (New York Times), Shakespeare in Love garnered seven Academy Awards® in 1998, including Best Picture, Best Actress in a Leading Role for Gwyneth Paltrow and Best Supporting Actress for Judi Dench. Co-starring Joseph Fiennes, Geoffrey Rush, Colin Firth and Ben Affleck, the film captivated audiences with its intoxicating love story, endless wit and all-star cast. For the first time on Blu-ray Disc, the release will also include audio commentaries, a “making of” featurette, a look at the Oscar® winning costumes, deleted scenes and more.
BLU-RAY DISC SPECIAL FEATURES*
“Shakespeare in Love and On Film” – “making of” featurette
Academy Award® winning costumes featurette
Audio commentary with John Madden
Audio commentary with cast and crew
Deleted scenes
Theatrical trailer
Television spots
*subject to change
DIRECTED BY
John Madden The Debt, Proof, Her Majesty Mrs. Brown
WRITTEN BY
Marc Norman The Aviator, The Killer Elite, Breakout
And Tom Stoppard Enigma, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, Empire of the Sun, Brazil
CAST
Gwyneth Paltrow Contagion, Iron Man 2, Iron Man, Emma, Se7en
Joseph Fiennes TV’s “FlashForward,” Luther, Enemy at the Gates, Elizabeth
Geoffrey Rush the Pirates of the Caribbean series, The King’s Speech, Shine
Colin Firth The King’s Speech, Love Actually, Bridget Jones’s Diary, The English Patient
Ben Affleck The Town, The Company Men, Pearl Harbor, Armageddon, Good Will Hunting
And Judi Dench J. Edgar, Casino Royale, Chocolat, Her Majesty Mrs. Brown
Simon Callow TV’s “Doctor Who,” Amadeus, HBO’s “Rome”
Jim Carter My Week With Marilyn, Creation, TV’s “Downton Abbey”
Martin Clunes TV’s “Doc Martin,” TV’s “Doctor Who”
Antony Sher TV’s “Murphy’s Law,” Her Majesty, Mrs. Brown
Imelda Staunton Vera Drake, the Harry Potter series, Another Year
Tom Wilkinson The Conspirator, Michael Clayton, Batman Begins
Mark Williams upcoming Albert Nobbs, the Harry Potter series, Stardust
GRADE: 5 out of 5
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