Rent Shakespeare in Love (1998)
3.4 of 5 from 252 ratings
1h 59min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
'Shakespeare in Love' is a romantic comedy for the 1990's set in the 1590's, telling the witty, sexy story behind the creation of the greatest love story of them all - Romeo and Juliet. Young Will Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) is the up and coming playwright of the time but has been disastrously struck by the bane of the writer's life - writer's block. His comedy "Romeo and Ethel the Pirate's Daughter" is not going anywhere and the playhouse is under threat of closure. What will needs is a muse - and she appears in the form of the beautiful and (and betrothed) Lady Viola (Gwyneth Paltrow). The path of true love doesn't run smooth for young Will, however - Viola is engaged to be married to the insufferable Lord Wessex (Colin Firth) at the command of Queen Elizabeth (Judi Dench). The joys and tragedy of his own life find their way onto the page in a moving, witty and spellbinding tale. - Actors:
- Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes, Geoffrey Rush, Tom Wilkinson, Steven O'Donnell, Tim McMullan, Steven Beard, Antony Sher, Patrick Barlow, Martin Clunes, Sandra Reinton, Simon Callow, Judi Dench, Bridget McConnell, Georgie Glen, Nicholas Boulton, Imelda Staunton, Colin Firth, Desmond McNamara, Barnaby Kay
- Directors:
- John Madden
- Producers:
- Donna Gigliotti, Marc Norman, David Parfitt, Harvey Weinstein, Edward Zwick
- Writers:
- Marc Norman, Tom Stoppard
- Others:
- Tom Stoppard, Sandy Powell, Marc Norman, Jill Quertier, Martin Childs, Stephen Warbeck, Lisa Westcott, David Gamble, Richard Greatrex, Robin O'Donoghue, Dominic Lester, Veronica Brebner, John Downer, Peter Glossop
- Studio:
- Universal Pictures
- Genres:
- Classics, Comedy, Drama, Romance
- Collections:
- 10 Films to Watch if You Like All Is True, 10 Films to Watch if You Like: Operation Mincemeat, A History of British Queens in Film, Acting Up: British Actresses at the Oscars, Award Winners, BAFTA Nominations Competition 2023, BAFTA Nominations Competition 2024, BAFTA Nominations Competition 2025, Bond Villains: The Connery Years, Cinema Paradiso's Euro 24 Film Festival, Films & TV by topic, Films to Watch If You Like..., Getting to Know..., Getting to Know: Margot Robbie, Getting to Know: Renée Zellweger, Getting to Know: Tom Hanks, Oscar Nominations Competition 2023, Oscar Nominations Competition 2024, Oscar Nominations Competition 2025, Oscar's Two-Time Club, Oscars: Winners & Losers, People of the Pictures, Remembering Tom Wilkinson, That's All Fawkes! Top 10 Films Set in the Stuart Era, A Brief History of Film..., The Instant Expert's Guide, The Instant Expert's Guide to Todd Haynes, Top 10 Best Picture Follow-Ups, Top 10 Films About Letters, Top 10 Performances As William Shakespeare, Top 100 AFI Passions, Top 100 BFI Films, Top Films, What to Watch Next If You Liked Chariots of Fire
- Awards:
1999 BAFTA Best Supporting Actor
1999 BAFTA Best Supporting Actress
1999 Berlinale Silver Bear For An Outstanding Single Achievement
1999 Oscar Best Supporting Actress
1999 Oscar Best Costume Design
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 24/01/2011
- Run Time:
- 123 minutes
- Languages:
- English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, French DTS-HD High Resolution 5.1, German DTS-HD High Resolution 5.1, Italian DTS-HD High Resolution 5.1, Japanese DTS-HD High Resolution 5.1, Spanish DTS-HD High Resolution 5.1
- Subtitles:
- Cantonese, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 2.35:1
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- Shakespeare In Love and On Film
- Feature Commentary with Director John Madden
- Feature Commentary with the Cast and Crew
- Theatrical Trailer
- 21 TV Spots
- Academy Award Winning Costumes
- Deleted Scenes
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Reviews (1) of Shakespeare in Love
Awful - Shakespeare in Love review by JP
This film is completely inane, a mixture of Shakespearian quotes and panto without an audience, plus a small dash of
gratuitous sex. It is just embarrassing to watch. It beats me how so many well known actors could put their names to it. If there was anything clever there it was totally smothered by nonsense, like a potato peeler in the green recycling bin.
Of course one can forgive certain inconsistences in the cause of `art' but (for example) the way the main female character, Viola, repeatedly lost and then regained a full head of hair took tolerance way beyond snapping point. Unless you want to see just how bad cinema can actually be don't watch this film.
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