Anonymous: Movie Review

Anonymous: Movie Review

Anonymous
Rating: 4/10
Cast: Rhys Ifans, Vanessa Redgrave, David Thewlis, Joely Richardson, Rafe Spall, Sebastian Armesto
Director: Roland Emmerich
A political conspiracy thriller done by the guy who's prone to big FX films which blow the White House up?
Yep, that's the gist of Anonymous, a tale which tries to assert the theory that Shakespeare didn't actually write all of that stuff you have to suffer in English classes and pore over for exams.
Set in Elizabethan times, Rhys Ifans stars as Edward De Vere, the Earl of Oxford who's actually written a whole heap of plays but can't turn his back on his way of life and fight the taboo imposed on writers. When Ben Johnson (Armesto) meets de Vere, the crafty Earl decides that this is the way his work can be performed.
However, when the play's a success, a drunken actor by the name of William Shakespeare (Spall) steps up and claims the credit. But events spiral out of control and along with political machinations, soon seething jealousy and snake pit politics overtake the arts - and against a backdrop of rebellion, the truth becomes harder to realize.
Anonymous is an odd sort of film - while there are flashes of brilliance (such as the visualizations of Elizabethan times and the stunning performances of some of the plays in the Globe which recapture the vibe and thrust of what theatre must have been like in its infancy), there's a lot of stiffness in both the dialogue and characters. Coupled with Emmerich's continual desire to throw in thunder and lightning effects every time there's a confrontation or trouble, there's little subtlety on show here.

Rhys Ifans is watchable as the Earl and Redgrave is impressive as Elizabeth but all in all, Anonymous is as starched as an Elizabethan collar with its over the top premise. I can't say I left giving much credence to the theory Shakespeare was a fraud, but I can say I left feeling a little bit like I was back in school having to get my head around those texts which dogged and troubled my formative years.