Shakespeare In Love
- 1999 film
Romantic comedy about a fictional relationship between William Shakespeare and a young woman who poses as a man in order to star in his plays. Stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes, Geoffrey Rush, Colin Firth, Ben Affleck and more.
Streaming rank this week: 3,046
Press clippings
Oscars 1999: Why Harvey Weinstein was behind the most controversial best picture win ever
When Shakespeare In Love won best picture in 1999 - keeping Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan off top spot - it was the culmination of a campaign that changed the awards landscape forever.
Clare Thorp, BBC, 8th March 2024How Shakespeare In Love victory changed the Oscars
More than just an upset, Saving Private Ryan losing the Best Picture Oscar to Shakespeare In Love changed how Academy Awards are won.
David Crow, Den Of Geek, 13th April 2021This romance plays handsomely to the masses in the pit, with Tom Stoppard's quill-sharp script melding major life events of the bard with the writing of Romeo and Juliet. There are puns, pratfalls, tears and laughter, and a cast that revels in it, from Joseph Fiennes's Will to Gwyneth Paltrow's muse Viola.
Paul Howlett, The Guardian, 17th February 2019Robert Lindsay: 'Monster' Weinstein blacklisted me
Actor Robert Lindsay has said he lost out on a role in Oscar-winning 1998 film Shakespeare in Love because Harvey Weinstein removed him after a previous confrontation.
Lindsay said he confronted the producer when he was working on the 1990 film Strike it Rich, but he later "paid a price" when he lost a role in Shakespeare in Love.
Speaking about the allegations of sexual assault, Lindsay told 5 Live's Sarah Brett and Nihal Arthanayake Weinstein was a "monster".
Sarah Brett and Nihal Arthanayake, BBC, 9th November 2017Robert Lindsay kicked off film by Harvey Weinstein
Actor Robert Lindsay has claimed he was blacklisted for Shakespeare In Love after a run-in with Harvey Weinstein.
Helena Horton, The Telegraph, 18th October 2017Take a rom-com tour of London
Happy Valentine's Day! For some that means all the clichés: card, flowers, chocolates, a romantic dinner with 23 other couples in a candlelit restaurant. For others it's an excuse to Bridget Jonesor watching Four Weddings and a Funeral for the 103rd time. We know which way we'd rather spend the evening.
Radio Times, 14th February 2017Shakespeare in Love takes centre stage
It's 16 years since the movie Shakespeare in Love took seven Oscars. The process of adapting the screenplay for the stage has been a long one but now the deep pockets of Disney have brought the play to the West End.
Vincent Dowd, BBC News, 24th July 2014Joseph Fiennes (where's he been lately, eh?) is the titular playwright, here a struggling up-and-comer suffering from writer's block on his latest script, provisionally titled Romeo And Ethel, The Pirate's Daughter. What with women being forbidden to act on stage, Shakespeare casts a youth called Thomas Kent as Romeo, only to discover 'he' is actually a rich man's daughter (Gwyneth Paltrow).
However, their true love instantly hits obstacles: he's poor and already married, she's betrothed to Lord Wessex (Colin Firth) and, from thence onwards, the course of true love never runs smooth. It's brilliantly witty, light and packed with superb performances including Judi Dench who won a best supporting Oscar as Queen Elizabeth despite only being on screen for eight minutes.
Carol Carter and Larushka Ivan-Zadeh, Metro, 22nd November 2013Joseph Fiennes and Gwyneth Paltrow make a fine couple in this imagining of Shakespeare's life when he was writing Romeo and Juliet. It's packed with historical half-truths and amusing theories, although none are as far-fetched as the one in new film Anonymous, which suggests that Shakespeare's plays were written by the Earl of Oxford.
Catherine Gee, The Telegraph, 17th November 2011