Christopher Marlowe wrote Shakespeare’s plays. At least that was one of the theories thrown around when I was in college. I don’t remember the Earl of Oxford being mentioned, but then again I may not have been paying attention. Probably wasn’t paying attention. And now we have ANONYMOUS, a movie that proposes William Shakespeare was the “barely literate frontman for the Earl of Oxford".
The New York Times review says: “Anonymous,” a costume spectacle directed by Roland Emmerich, from a script by John Orloff, is a vulgar prank on the English literary tradition, a travesty of British history and a brutal insult to the human imagination. Apart from that, it’s not bad.
The outrage is rather amusing. In Warwickshire, where Shakespeare's home town of Stratford-upon-Avon is located, road signs are being covered in protest of the film. Of course, it’s all really an excuse to promote the local tourist spots. Still, as the Showtime hit, THE TUDORS, proved—if it’s great entertainment, nobody cares if it’s rubbish history.
I guess the numbers will tell on Monday whether ANONYMOUS sparked enough interest to bring in the audiences. I’ll see it, but not this weekend. Nope, I’m headed for a flick about another literary great, Hunter Thompson (haven’t figured out the proper font for ‘tongue in cheek’)—RUM DIARIES starring Johnny Depp. Hey, I never claimed to be intellectually enlightened and it is Johnny Depp.
Anyone have any other movie suggestions?
1 comment:
Hi, Lark,
You're right, there's nothing new about the Shakespeare controversy. All this brouhaha just because the guy was a commoner and didn't have an MFA. Sheesh. I've got no movie suggestions at the moment, but I know you watch series on DVD. When you're in the mood for a comedy, check out Gavin and Stacy, a British comedy with super-strong supporting players. As far as I know, there's no controversy about authorship of the series.
Post a Comment