More than a decade after Dame Judi's win, the argument continues to be made that the Shakespeare in Love Oscar was a consolation prize for Dench not being given the Best Actress trophy the previous year for her portrayal of another English monarch, Queen Victoria, in Mrs. Still, when she won the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her role (see video above), Dench immediately acknowledged the awkwardness of being honored for an eight-minute performance. Queen Elizabeth I appears a total of three times in Shakespeare in Love, but that didn't stop a powerhouse like Dame Judi Dench from stealing each of her scenes from the rest of her fellow actors. Judi Dench had less than 10 minutes of screen time, but still snagged an Oscar. These included Gwyneth Paltrow's Best Actress win for her portrayal of Viola de Lesseps, Judi Dench's Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as Queen Elizabeth I, and Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard's award for Best Original Screenplay. While Saving Private Ryan garnered a win for Best Director for Spielberg, and finished out the evening with five awards total, Shakespeare in Love remained on top with seven Oscars. In what is still regarded as one of the biggest upsets in Oscar history, Shakespeare in Love won the Best Picture trophy in 1999 over Steven Spielberg's WWII masterpiece, Saving Private Ryan. So read on for 12 things you may not have known about this lavish, Elizabethan-era rom-com, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary. That being said, there are some honest-to-goodness facts that can be culled from Shakespeare in Love, which took home more than $300 million at the worldwide box office. "This film is entertainment," Stoppard told The New York Times in 1998, "which doesn't require it to be justified in the light of historical theory." Still, as the old saying goes, "Never let the facts get in the way of a good story," which explains co-screenwriter Tom Stoppard's argument that it's okay for the movie to be a far cry from reality. While Shakespeare in Love's version of how Romeo and Juliet came to be is an imagined one-the movie's plot has the penniless Will falling for the fictional Viola de Lesseps (Gwyneth Paltrow), a wealthy merchant's daughter who subsequently becomes his muse-many of the characters in the film did exist in real life. The 1998 film, which cleaned up the following year at the Academy Awards, told the tale of a writer's-block-stricken William "Will" Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes), and how he went on to compose his most famous love story, Romeo and Juliet. "This film is entertainment," said writer Tom Stoppard when Shakespeare in Love came out, "which doesn't require it to be justified in the light of historical theory."Ĭome now, where's the fun in that? In any case, there are enough historical and literary allusions here to keep all but the most severe academics chuckling smugly about how clever they are to notice them.Shakespeare in Love will likely never win any accolades for its historical accuracy, but that doesn't stop it from being one of the most romantic movies of all time. The fact that the movie's Viola is a cross-dresser gives this a witty twist – though not one with any historical validity. Furthermore, Sonnet 18 is one of those addressed to "Fair Youth", an unidentified man. Twelfth Night is thought to have been written around 1600-1601, and Sonnet 18 was first published in 1609. Quite apart from the fact Viola didn't exist, this upsets Shakespeare purists because the movie is set in 1593-94. He also writes Twelfth Night and Sonnet 18 (Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?) for her. In her place, he writes Juliet as inspired by Viola. The movie's Will ditches Ethel the Pirate's Daughter along with his wife and other girlfriends. Still from Shakespeare in Love Photograph: The Ronald Grant Archive It is true, though, that some phrasings in Henry VI echo lines in Marlowe's plays. Some scholars have argued that Shakespeare effectively rewrote two plays by Marlowe or another dramatist to shape Henry VI, others claim that it was written by committee, and others yet passionately defend Shakespeare's authorship. The film goes further after Marlowe's murder: "My Henry VI was a house built on his foundations," Will says. Clearly, they've never heard of Noddy Holder. This is a conspiracy theory bandied around by the sort of people who can't accept that an ordinary bloke from the Midlands wrote the best poetry ever without even going to Oxbridge first. His name is Mercutio." It's a glancing reference to the much-trumpeted idea that Shakespeare may not have written his own plays: Marlowe is among those proposed as the "real" author. His best friend is killed in a duel by Ethel's brother. He ends up in a pub with fellow playwright Christopher Marlowe (Rupert Everett). Will is trying to write his new play, Romeo and Ethel the Pirate's Daughter, but he has lost his muse. Still from Shakespeare in Love Photograph: AP
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