Anonymous - Coming September 30 (US)

Director - Roland Emmerich
Main Characters
Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford - Rhys Ifans
Princess Elizabeth Tudor - Joely Richardson
Queen Elizabeth I - Vanessa Redgrave
William Shakespere - Rafe Spall

I have a very special weakness for period movies, especially those set during the formative decades of Tudor England, and Anonomyous will be just such a movie.

 It was a surprise to me several years ago to learn that there was a strong suspcion that William Shakespere may have in fact been illiterate, either having had someone else write down his ideas, or more likely, letting someone else use his name to publish his plays so that the real writer could remain anonymous. This movie is based around the latter theory, which in recent years seems to have been accepted as truth.

The works of William Shakespere, according to Anonymous were really written by one Edward de Vere, the Earl of Oxford, (Rhys Ifans) and a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I (Vanessa Redgrave). Eventually, after losing the Queen's favour due to an unauthorized treaty negotiation while on a campaign in Irelad, he plotted to start a rebellion against the Queen.

So what does all this have to do with the plays and sonets he wrote that were attributed to William Shakespere (Rafe Spall)? Supporters of Oxford arranged for Richard II to be played at The Globe the day before the rebellion. Richard II tells the story of how Richard II was overthrown by Henry IV and how Richard, like Queen Elizabeth I had abdicated much of her power in favour of her advisers Cecil and Raleigh. For more information on that part of Queen Elizabeth's reign, check out Elizabeth  and Elizabeth: The Golden Age starring Cate Blanchette.

Anyways, back to the movie at hand, the intention of having this play performed was to try and stir up support from Londoners for the Oxford rebellion. Through history, the people of London have often been reluctant to take up arms against their Kings and Queens. Possibly because they got so much of the benefits of having the royal family immediately in their midst so much of the time?

So, now we see the political repercussions that the performance of a simple play could create, and a very good reason why if Edward de Vere was indeed the author of the works that William Shakespere was given credit for, he had every reason to want to remain Anonymous.

Usually go into who the actors are, what's they've been in and how I think they'll do in their roles, but this time to be honest, I don't recognize a lot of the names, and with the storyline being what it is, I don't really care. I'm very excited to see this movie!