Shakespeare in Love

Synopsis
Feature film. A comic drama in which William Shakespeare is portrayed as a young writer who is struggling financially and, envious of a rival, meets an aspiring actress who dresses as a boy to work in theatre; she cures Shakespeare’s writer’s block and inspires Romeo and Juliet.
Language
English
Country
United States
Medium
Film; Video
Technical information
Colour / Sound
Year of release
1998
Duration
122 mins
Availability
Sale

Credits

Director
John Madden
Producer
David Parfitt; Donna Gigliotti; Edward Zwick; Harvey Weinstein; Marc Norman
Cinematographer
Richard Greatrex
Writer
Tom Stoppard
Screenplay
Marc Norman
Music
Stephen Warbeck
Costume
Sandy Powell
Art Direction
Steve Lawrence
Cast
Antony SherDoctor Moth
Ben AffleckNed Alleyn
Daniel BrocklebankSam Gosse
Geoffrey RushPhilip Henslowe
Gwyneth PaltrowViola de Lesseps
Imelda StauntonNurse
Joseph FiennesWilliam Shakespeare
Judi DenchQueen Elizabeth
Patrick BarlowWill Kempe
Rupert EverettChristopher Marlowe
Simon CallowMaster of the Revels

Additional Details

Production type
Fiction Films
Historical period
Elizabethan
Plays
Romeo and Juliet
Subjects
Drama
Keywords
biographies; Elizabethan drama; gender representation; Shakespeare, William (1564-1616); Cross-dressing
Related items
Movie Connections [15/10/2007]
Shakespeare in Love
Shakespeare in Love: The Play
Tom Stoppard

Notes

Notes
The DVD version includes a documentary on the making of the film entitled SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE AND ON FILM, director’s commentary, cast and crew commentary, deleted scenes, costume gallery and theatrical trailer. Also available in wide-screen video.

Estimated budget - $25 million.
General
In 1999 Quality Filmed Entertainment released an 8-minute film short, GEORGE LUCAS IN LOVE, directed by Joe Nussbaum which spoofs the plot of ‘Shakespeare in Love’ by purporting to reveal how the young film student George Lucas overcame his writer’s block to create the ‘Star Wars’ saga.
Figures
$289,317,794 worldwide - Box Office Mojo (2005).
Awards
1998 Academy Awards - Winner: Best Actress in Leading Role (Paltrow), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Dench), Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Picture, Best Actor in Supporting Role (Rush), Best Screenplay

BAFTA Film Award - Best Film, Best Editing, Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Dench).
Reviews
Reviewed by Philip Kemp in Sight and Sound Vol. 9 No 2 (2/99), p53.

For a detailed account of the film’s marketing campaign see Emma French, Selling Shakespeare to Hollywood (Hatfield, University of Hertfordshire Press, 2006), p. 133-68.

Production Company

Name

Miramax Films

Name

Universal Pictures

Email
enquiriesuk@nbcuni.com
Web
http://www.universalpictures.co.uk/ External site opens in new window
Address
1 Central Saint Giles
St Giles High Street
London
WC2H 8NU

Distributor

Name

4 Front Video

Phone
020 7079 6000
Fax
020 7079 6524
Address
Universal Pictures Video
Prospect House
Third Floor
80-110 New Oxford Street
London
WC1A 1HB

Distributor (Sale)

Name

Retail outlets

How to cite this record

Shakespeare, "Shakespeare in Love". https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/shakespeare/search/index.php/title/19338 (Accessed 26 Dec 2024)