Anonymous (2011) Review

Anonymous is about what you'd expect. Ludicrous hypotheticals abound in this film directed by Roland Emmerich, who you might remember directed the equally ludicrous though far worse 10,000 B.C. The film's tagline reads "What If Shakespeare Was a Fraud?" which basically sums up what the film is about. It subscribes to the Oxford theory and suggests that the plays were written by the 17th Earl of Oxford (Rhys Ifans). Due to his status as an important individual in society and his relationship with William Cecil (David Thewlis) and Queen Elizabeth I (Vanessa Redgrave and Joely Richardson) he cannot take credit for the plays and sonnets so he decides to make Ben Jonson (Sebastian Armesto) put his name to them and have them performed. Who should happen to take credit from Jonson but the film's biggest buffoon William Shakespeare, played entertainingly by Rafe Spall. The next hour and a half is as slow and tedious as Shakespeare can be to read.

As I said the film is filled with absurdity. It does not follow a chronological story but instead tries a rather transparent tactic of confusing the audience by fastforwarding and backflashing to mask it's absurdity and historical inaccuracies (such as Young Elizabeth having near constant relations with several men and birthing several bastards) and anachronisms (for example Macbeth is seen being performed during Elizabeth I's reign even though it was performed during the reign of King James. There is also a scene where the Globe burns down nearly ten years before it actually burned down).

Despite the ridiculousness of the film there are several things of merit. The performances by Ifans, Redgrave and Edward Hogg (who is particularly creepy as Robert Cecil) are all of a fairly high quality but it is David Thewlis who shines in his role and gives quite possibly the best performance of his career thus far. The character of William Cecil goes through, physically speaking, the most change transforming from young to old to dying but a great makeup is only going to be able to carry an actor so far. Without the subtleties that Thewlis gives in his role it would simply be a great makeup wasted.


Besides the performances the film is actually good from a technical standpoint. When I say technical I am referring to the costumes, cinematography, makeup, art direction etc. I guarantee that there will be some Academy Award nominations for those moments

I know the theories and arguments about who wrote Shakespeare is quite polarized and I admit I am not an expert on Shakespeare. Oxfordians think that the Stratfordians are idiots and vice versa. I know a lot of you Shakespearean scholars and students will think me an idiot because I refuse to "pick a side" but the truth, my friends, is that at the end of the day it doesn't matter who wrote Hamlet, Henry V, Sonnet #81, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream, King Lear or Romeo & Juliet. They all were written by someone and exist for us to analyze, praise, scrutinize, be bored by or just plain enjoy.

★★★