Friday, April 6, 2012

Anonymous Movie Review

Murder. Sex. Deception. Rebellion. And Shakespeare.



How can you not want to see the movie Anonymous? I mean, really, who doesn't love a good Shakespearian conspiracy theory?


I watched this movie for the first time yesterday afternoon and fell in love with it. Sure, it's a work of fiction. But it's a damn good work of fiction if you ask me.


Premise: Okay, so in real life very little is known about William Shakespeare. We can guess when he was born, we know when he died, we know what his father did for a living (a glove maker) and we know the name of his wife and children. But that's about it. So, this movie takes it into a whole new direction.

This movie claims that the "real" writer of all the plays and sonnets was actually a nobel man raised in a home where writing was thought to be a sin. He is compelled to write, but also compelled to influence the masses with his words. Political manipulation has never been a real intrest of mine, but I was not only hooked but could follow along with this one. The Earl of Oxford, our "real" Shakespeare, does not want James to be the Queen's successor and attempts to not only discredit his foster family (that plays advisor to the Queen) but to reach out to the Queen, the one true love of his life.

   

I really do think that this is a movie worth watching. I will warn you: there is a bit of incest in the movie and at first I was like, "that's totally unbelievable" but the more I thought about it the more I realized it wasn't that unrealistic.

Also, what I found to be the most fun was trying to see the bits of the Earl of Oxford's life that carried into the plays. For instance, there's a character that's a hunchback and the whole time I'm thinking, "Dude, that's like Richard III" and then BAM! We get to Richard III and hello, the appearance of Richard is totally based off the other guy. It was kinda like playing a scavenger hunt with Shakespeare.

Oh, and I totally left something out. Who is William Shakespeare? Well, maybe you should just watch the movie and find out.

No comments:

Post a Comment