16th Century England: The story of Edward De Vere who appeared
to be the real author of Shakespeare’s works. The 17th Earl of Oxford (Rhys
Ifans) enjoys writing since his youth but was compelled to hide because of his
status. Therefore, when playwright Ben Johnson (Sebastian Armesto) was imprisoned, Edward seized the opportunity to get his plays staged under someone else’s
name. But things did not go as planned.
THE MAN BEHIND SHAKESPEARE
What if Will was not the man we thought he was? Many
theories link the works attributed to him with other playwrights or noblemen like Edward de Vere, the main character. In Anonymous, William "shake spear" (as Edward pronounced it once) is nothing but an actor who is
illiterate, arrogant, drunk and maybe filthy. Willy was a fraud. Many certainly
didn’t and won’t like it but be that as it may, neither the Shakespeare
authorship issue nor the historical accurary in the film is not to be taken seriously. The story
stands, the movie is entertaining, filled with emotions and suspense and that is all that matters. In a way,
Anonymous revives the feeling of being at an english theater watching the Royal
Shakespeare Company perform. Roland Emmerich is up to the mark considering him
being far away from what he usually does (Universal Soldier, 2012, The Day
after Tomorrow, etc.). Rhys Ifans
is more than convincing as Edward de Vere. I believe this is his greatest performance to date.
Rhys Ifans (Edward de Vere) and Xavier Samuel (Earl of Southampton) |
Memorable quote
Narrator: "Soul of the age, the applause, delight, the
wonder of our stage, our Shakespeare, rise "our" Shakespeare…".
The most performed playwright of all time: the author of 37 plays, 154 sonnets
and several narrative poems collectively known as the expression of humanity
and English language. And yet…and yet, not a single manuscript of any kind has
ever been found written in Shakespeare’s own hand in 400 years, not one
document…
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