Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1186 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-02-02
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English, German
• Subtitled in: English, German, Swedish, Danish, Polish, Dutch, Finnish, Czech
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 119 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
One of the most endearing and intelligent romantic comedies of the 1990s, the Oscar-winning Shakespeare in Love is filled with such good will, sunny romance, snappy one-liners and devilish cleverness that it's absolutely irresistible. With tongue placed firmly in cheek, at its outset the film tracks young Will Shakespeare's overwrought battle with writer's block and the efforts of theatre owner Philip Henslowe (Geoffrey Rush, in rare form) to stage Will's latest comedy, Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter. Jokey comedy, though, soon takes a backseat to ravishing romance when the beautiful Viola De Lesseps (Gwyneth Paltrow) disguises herself as a young man to wangle herself an audition in the all-male cast and wins both the part of Romeo and, after much misunderstanding, the playwright's heart. Soon enough, Will's pirate comedy becomes the beautiful, tragic Romeo and Juliet, reflecting the agony and ecstasy of Will and Viola's romance--he's married and she's set to marry the slimy Lord Wessex (Colin Firth).

The way that Oscar-winning screenwriters Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard enfold their story within the parameters of Romeo and Juliet (and even Twelfth Night) is nothing short of brilliant--it would take a Shakespearean scholar to dissect the innumerable parallels, oft-quoted lines, plot developments, and thematic borrowings. And most amazingly, Norman and Stoppard haven't forgotten to entertain their audience in addition to riding a Shakespearean roller coaster, with director John Madden (Mrs. Brown) reigning in his huge ensemble with rollicking energy. Along the way there are small gems to be found, including Judi Dench's eight-minute, Oscar-winning turn as a truly regal Queen Elizabeth, but the key element of Shakespeare in Love's success rests on the milky-white shoulders of its two stars. Fiennes, inexplicably overlooked at Oscar time, is a dashing, heartfelt Will and as for Best Actress winner Paltrow, well, nothing she'd done before could have prepared viewers for how amazing she is here. Breathtakingly beautiful, fiercely intelligent, strong-willed and lovestruck--it's a performance worthy of Shakespeare in more ways than one. By the film's end, you'll be thoroughly won over--and brushing up your Shakespeare with newfound ardour. --Mark Englehart

Video Description
DVD Special Features

"making Of" Documentary
John Madden Commentary
Cast and Crew Commentary
Theatrical Trailer
21 TV Spots
Academy Awary Winning Costumes
Deleted Scenes
Language:English, Dolby Digital 5.1/German, Dolby surround
Subtitles: English/Dutch/German/Danish/Finnish/Swedish/Norweigan/Hebrew/Polish/Czech

Synopsis
The reign of Elizabeth I finds Will Shakespeare, a writer, broke and envious of a rival. Then, he meets with a woman who wants to be an actor and who disguises herself as a man...

Customer Reviews

Much Ado about Writing
Writing a play is a tiresome burden when you don't have the faintest idea what it is going to be about but you need to hand it over real soon. Fortunately, Will Shakespeare finds his muse and the authors of the screenplay also had at least a brief encounter with theirs.
Basically a romantic comedy SIL offers much more that the standard "boy meets girl, boy loses girl" scenario - they present it in a fantastically well rendered setting taking as much as they could from the Swan of the Avon.
A perfect way to spend an afternoon - you get your share of romance, adventure, and literary history (the latter should not be taken at face value, however). Do you need more?

Everything about this film is astonishingly good
I even cried this time round! Read Amazon's own review on this - it's spot on. What a film!

Small point - it is very kind to the somewhat weak and overrated Twelth Night. I suspect I'm in the minority there, though.

Primarily a Love Story - The Shakespeare Thing is Just an Extra
I guess the biggest fault you can find in this film is that the story of E.T. is more likely to have been true than the love affair portrayed in 'Shakespeare in Love'. But as the film never once claims to be historically accurate, then I can't really complain about this and instead will take the film for what it is - a love story with a twist!

The story goes that William Shakespeare is having writer's block and needs inspiration to help write his next play (which will end up being Romeo & Juliet). While watching the auditions for the part of Romeo, Shakespeare is dazzled by the talent of one boy - who turns out to actually be the beautiful Viola De Lesseps who has auditioned under the disguise of a man as women were not allowed to be actors in Shakespeare's day. Here starts the love story between William and Viola, finally giving Shakespeare the inspiration he needs to write Romeo and Juliet.

The script is full of jokes and refernces that people who have studied Shakespeare will appreciate, but theres also plenty for the non-fans too to keep you occupied. Jospeh Fiennes did an OK job as Shakespeare but he was over-shadowed by not only Gwyneth Paltrow as Viola (I've never been a fan of Shakepeare but when she read his poems and speeches I fully understood the meaning of his words), and especially by Judi Dench as Queen Elizabeth. What I especially liked was the ending to the story, which was not what I had expected to finally happen (but I guess, is more true to Shakespeare's life).

A good film, but not great. I look forward to watching it again.