DVDFile

/ 1998 / 138 Minutes / Rated PG-13
Street Date: December 7, 1999

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The premise of this most charming film is that William Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) as a young man is a bit of a scoundrel who needs a lover to be his muse. Without her inspiration, words elude him, his creative energies evaporating like morning dew. This causes no small distress for the Rose Theater's owner, Philip Henslowe (Geoffrey Rush), dangerously in debt to moneylenders. Shakespeare's competition is Christopher Marlowe, whose plays are being produced at the Curtain Theater. It is at the Curtain that we first encounter the beautiful Viola De Lesseps (Gwyneth Paltrow) during a performance before Queen Elizabeth I (Judi Dench). Viola is a rich man's daughter who seems to prefer Shakespeare's work to Marlowe's.

Viola is so in love with the theater that she wishes to become a performer. But a woman on stage in Elizabethan England is considered immoral and is highly illegal. So she contrives to wear men's clothes to audition for Shakespeare's new play, Romeo and Ethel, The Pirate's Daughter. She expects to appear before the director or the theater owner. When an impressed Shakespeare appears in the balcony, she becomes rattled and runs off. He follows her all the way to the De Lesseps estate. At the door, he's told that the young man is Viola's nurse's nephew; Shakespeare leaves a note asking him to return to the theater to be considered for a part. As he's about to depart, a band of musicians arrive to play at a party. Shakespeare decides to sneak in with them to find the budding actor. Before he's bodily thrown from the party, he sees Viola and even manages a brief dance. He's smitten and later sneaks to her balcony to exchange a few words, only to be driven off by Viola's nurse.

Viola returns to The Rose the next day, disguised as a young man complete with false moustache and short goatee. She wins the role of Romeo, but finds herself becoming deeply drawn to the handsome author. When she reveals herself to him, their tempestuous love affair becomes the inspiration for what will become Romeo and Juliet, passion ending in tragedy, for all is not well. The delightful Viola has been promised to Lord Wessex (Colin Firth), a title in exchange for a five thousand pound dowry. Worse yet, the Queen's approval is equivalent to a royal command. Viola and Wessex are to be married in two week's time, and then sail off to his tobacco plantation in Virginia. So as the lovers frolic in her boudoir, they know that duty and the power of the monarchy will soon drive them apart. This clever tale of art imitating life climaxes on Viola's wedding day, when she assumes a most unpredictable role that makes their story all the more bittersweet.

Writers Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard produced a witty, touching, and sentimental screenplay, enchanting but highly speculative, and with one glaring historical glitch. Elizabeth I died in 1603. King James I granted a charter for the Virginia Company (named for the virgin queen) to establish an English settlement in the Chesapeake region of North America in 1606. This settlement would expand to become Virginia. Anyway, Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Fiennes are great together, believably passionate and romantic. Judi Dench makes some brief but impressive appearances as the shrewd Queen Elizabeth, garnering a Best Supporting Oscar for less screen time than any previous winner. Geoffrey Rush as Philip Henslowe, the optimistic producer, is very funny. Also amusing is Tom Wilkinson as the dangerous financier whose priorities shift when he becomes obsessed with a small part in the play. Very highly recommended.

Video: How Does The Disc Look?

The superb transfer appears to be the same on both releases. The film's 2.35:1 theatrical aspect ratio is presented in anamorphic video. The quality is absolutely terrific. I was impressed with the level of detail visible in the clothing textures and in Queen Elizabeth's elaborate costumes. There is excellent color balance, very natural skin tones, deep rich blacks, and no visible digital artifacts. Edge enhancement is minimal. I was unsuccessful in trying to find a credit for the transfer, compression, and authoring, but kudos to the companies involved.

Audio: How Does the Disc Sound?

The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio is first rate. Dialog, so critical to understanding the Shakespearean scenes, is crystal clear. Stephen Warbeck's Oscar-winning score is presented splendidly across a large soundstage. Sound effects and surround effects are secondary to the drama; they're subtle and don't intrude. There is no impressive bottom end, nor is it needed.

Also included is a French 2.0 surround dub, along with English Closed Captions and English subtitles.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

As Buena Vista Home Video felt its way through the new market that is DVD, there were a few missteps. High on detractors' lists were lack of anamorphic support, high prices, and no supplements. One of Buena Vista Home Video's more frustrating and baffling decisions was to announce a special edition of Shakespeare in Love for Region 1 only to withdraw it in favor of a film-only DVD, yet still releasing the special edition overseas. But Buena Vista Home Video did surprise us by mastering Shakespeare in Love in anamorphic widescreen to produce a lovely-looking DVD.

Then, just as everyone calmed down, Buena Vista Home Video did announce a release date for a Region 1 special edition of Shakespeare in Love. You could hear the sighs of exasperation, "Why didn't you say so before? I would have waited for the special edition!" To Buena Vista's credit, they seem to be learning from these experiences, and the intractable momentum of its DVD policies are slowly evolving based on a better understanding of the marketplace. What better evidence exists than Buena Vista's simultaneous announcement of two versions of Tarzan, a film-only DVD to be followed by a special edition later, giving you a choice well in advance of both release dates. And, significantly, the animated feature will be presented in anamorphic widescreen. Bravo Buena Vista Home Video; we appreciate your responding to our complaints. But what of the Miramax Collector's Series release of Shakespeare in Love? Is this DVD a better choice than the original?

Miramax has put together a delightful array of extras; there are three screens of Bonus Materials. First is a 21-minute making-of featurette Shakespeare in Love And On Film. Various members of cast and crew offer their feelings and impressions. Craftwork is highlighted and we become better acquainted with the complexities of bringing this film to the screen. This is a step above the typical self-congratulatory approach found on many other such featurettes. Next is a shorter short called Academy Award Winning Costumes that features the work of costume designer Sandy Powell; it runs for only two and a half minutes.

There are four deleted scenes, which run a total of about eleven minutes. Three were excised from the film. Unlike many such edits, these would have worked quite well within the structure of the story. My impression is that they were removed to reduce the film's length rather than for any lack of artistic merit. (Although some may argue - perhaps with good reason - that the ending is more poignant in its theatrical form.) The fourth is a cute outtake; it's a pity Miramax couldn't have found a few more of these on the cutting room floor.

There are not one but two audio commentary tracks. The first is by director John Madden. He discusses the making of the film, its background, casting, artistic decisions, character and performer interrelationships, and techniques. He's open and chatty and quite interesting. The second commentary is a cast and crew track. Here you will find a remarkable array of talent, including actors Geoffrey Rush, Dame Judi Dench, Gwyneth Paltrow, Colin Firth, and Ben Affleck; producers Donna Gigliotti, David Parfitt, and Marc Norman (who also co-wote the screenplay); screenwriter Tom Stoppard; production designer Martin Childs; costume designer Sandy Powell; cinematographer Richard Greatrex; even director John Madden stops by once again. It's quite clear that these talented folks were not recording the commentary together, nor were they even watching the film as they spoke. The track is edited together from a number of sources (you'll recognize a few of the comments from the featurettes) to act as a coherent background to the film. It's a pleasant variation on the usual commentary track; here a greater variety of talents have an opportunity to be heard. Well done.

For this DVD, Miramax has broken all previous records for sequential TV spots; there are twenty-one! Somewhat repetitious, it is nonetheless interesting to observe the evolution of the spots from prerelease, to release, to quoting critical praise, to Golden Globe nominations, to Golden Globe awards, to Academy Award nominations, to Academy Award wins. All the featurettes and TV spots are shown in full-frame. A 1.85:1 theatrical trailer is presented in anamorphic widescreen and in Dolby Surround. The quality of the trailer's video is not up to the feature; it tends to be rather soft, with less color fidelity.

There are a few features carried over from the film-only release. You'll find the same fascinating text screens that describe the historical figures portrayed in the film. There are English captions and thirty-one chapter stops. And there's an alternate French Language audio track in Dolby Surround. If I had to find anything to complain about, it would be the inability to switch audio tracks on the fly. It's necessary to return to the DVD's menus to select from among the four audio tracks.

DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when you pop the disc in your PC?

No ROM extras have been included.

Parting Thoughts

This is a wonderful DVD. The film is superb. The transfer is outstanding. The supplements are generous, informative, and entertaining. And while the price is higher than the industry norm, after discount, we're only talking about a difference of $7 between the featureless release and this comprehensive Miramax Collector's Series edition. Is it worth it? Definitely.