7/10
Audiences may sometimes divide themselves when it comes to
historical fiction. There is the faction
who appreciates a fictional story assigned to a true historical figure to
create an engrossing book or movie.
Conversely, there arises a vocal minority who deride the story as an affront
to what actually happened in history; they worry the uninformed masses will be
swayed by the fiction and falsely believe the fiction to be true. Such is the case with Anonymous.
In this story, which furthers the case of a scholarly
minority who do not believe William Shakespeare (Rafe Spall) authored all of
those plays, Edward de Vere, the Earl of Oxford (Rhys Ifans), was the true
genius behind the words. As an Earl, his
station was superior to writing and associating with the rabble in a place such
as the Globe Theatre. However, his gift
required an outlet. He heard the voices
of his characters and felt the physical need to commit those voices to
paper.
Left at this level, the film would have been more scholarly
and actually about the canon itself, but director Roland Emmerich (Independence
Day, 2012) appears to have desired a more suspenseful thriller. In this era, Queen Elizabeth 1 (Vanessa
Redgrave) is at the end of her Golden Age and the issue of royal succession is
on the English court’s mind. Most expect
the title to fall to James I of Scotland including the Queen’s most trusted
advisor Edward Cecil (David Thewlis).
There are those though who would like the crown to stay closer to home,
one such person is Edward de Vere.
Edward recognizes the power of words. When words successfully capture an enraptured
audience, they can move them to weep, poke them with laughter, or even stoke
their anger and morph that audience from mere observers into a mob. To ensure he remains as the man behind the
curtain, Edward de Vere hires Ben Jonson (Sebastian Armesto) to be his
cover. Jonson is already a moderately
successful playwright and is loathe to sell out his proud signature on works
which are not his own. Mistakenly, he
relays the situation to one William Shakespeare.
In Anonymous, Shakespeare is a buffoon. He drinks too much, spends too much time and
money with whores, and is even illiterate.
Since he is an actor, he can read; however, he is unable to even
scribble his own name on parchment. The
remainder of the film involves different factions scheming to ensure their man
is in line for the throne, the resentment of Ben Jonson over Shakespeare’s
fraudulent fame, and mostly stuffed into the background are the plays
themselves.
Sections of the most famous scenes of Henry V, Romeo &
Juliet, Richard III, and Macbeth are briefly staged in the theatre, but they
are not the focus. The faces of a stunned
crowd, the roving eyes of Ben Jonson and Edward de Vere are in close-up, but
the words are overshadowed. The
suggestion that a glove-maker’s son with a grade school education from an out
of the way village named Stratford-upon-Avon did not author all of those plays
is intriguing. A figure such as the Earl
of Oxford with his first rate classical education and firsthand knowledge of
the world outside England makes for a plausible argument against
Shakespeare. However, Anonymous truly is
historical fiction.
Just as Shakespeare doubters gleefully point out the
striking lack of evidence missing from his authorship such as original
editions, lack of fame in his lifetime, no mention of the plays in his will,
etc… there is also scant evidence Edward de Vere authored them either. Furthermore, the political intrigue in
Anonymous is also severely stretched in the credibility department. I will not belabor the details, but if you
are already aware of who becomes king after Elizabeth, the tone will be a bit
less suspenseful for you than those of you who do not know about the
succession.
I recommend Anonymous mainly due to its wonderful production
value. The streets are covered in
garbage and mud; one must skillfully walk on strategically placed boards placed
on top of the mess to avoid sinking into its depth. The reconstruction of the Globe Theatre is
done with care and accuracy. Furthermore, in a time when films are
routinely shoveled out for the masses to blindly consume based on the bottom
line and more frequently their ignorance, Anonymous at least concerns the worlds’
greatest ever author. Whoever wrote
those lines, be it Shakespeare or Edward de Vere, at least somebody did.