The Best Picture of 1998 is…..”Shakespeare in Love,” an entertaining light comedy depicting the Bard with a writers block being cured with romantic involvement. (Works every time!) Director John Madden (“Mrs. Brown” 1997) skillfully crafted the drama and romance from the cleverly written screenplay by Marc Newman and Tom Stoppard. It’s win for Oscar for Best Picture is one of seven Academy Awards.
The cast is headed by Joseph Fiennes as Bill Shakespeare and Gwyneth Paltrow playing his girl friend. They brilliantly show the gradual development of “Romeo and Juliet” as the movie progresses, also interweaving lines from other Shakespeare plays. Paltrow retains her title as the American actress with the best English accent, and was awarded the Best Actress Oscar. Judy Dench won for Best Supporting Actress in the role of Queen Elizabeth I with only six minutes of screen time.
Geoffrey Rush was nominated for playing Philip Henslowe, owner of the Rose Theater in London, set in 1593. The supporting cast includes Colin Firth, Ben Affleck, Tom Wilkinson, Rupert Everett, Simon Callow, Jim Carter, Martin Clunes, Antony Sher, Imelda Staunton, Mark Williams, and Jill Baker. Besides Best Picture, Paltrow, and Dench, the four other Academy Awards went to Best Screenplay, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, and Best Original Musical or Comedy Score. There were six other nominations, for a total of thirteen Academy Award nods.
It came as a surprise to many that “Shakespeare in Love” beat out four other heavyweights for Best Picture: “Saving Private Ryan,” “Elizabeth,” “The Thin Red Line,’ and “Life is Beautiful.” Some reports have suggested that producer Harvey Weinstein lead a very heavy-handed campaign that tilted the Academy voters in its favor, especially when there is a general popular opinion that “Saving Private Ryan” should have won the top nod, and is indeed the better product.
Whatever the case, the very watchable “Shakespeare in Love” was a huge hit at the box office for producer Harvey Weinstein, The Bedford Falls Company, Miramax Films, and Universal Pictures.
Shakespeare in Love (1998)
cinema
My Review
The Best Picture of 1998 is…..”Shakespeare in Love,” an entertaining light comedy depicting the Bard with a writers block being cured with romantic involvement. (Works every time!) Director John Madden (“Mrs. Brown” 1997) skillfully crafted the drama and romance from the cleverly written screenplay by Marc Newman and Tom Stoppard. It’s win for Oscar for Best Picture is one of seven Academy Awards.
The cast is headed by Joseph Fiennes as Bill Shakespeare and Gwyneth Paltrow playing his girl friend. They brilliantly show the gradual development of “Romeo and Juliet” as the movie progresses, also interweaving lines from other Shakespeare plays. Paltrow retains her title as the American actress with the best English accent, and was awarded the Best Actress Oscar. Judy Dench won for Best Supporting Actress in the role of Queen Elizabeth I with only six minutes of screen time.
Geoffrey Rush was nominated for playing Philip Henslowe, owner of the Rose Theater in London, set in 1593. The supporting cast includes Colin Firth, Ben Affleck, Tom Wilkinson, Rupert Everett, Simon Callow, Jim Carter, Martin Clunes, Antony Sher, Imelda Staunton, Mark Williams, and Jill Baker. Besides Best Picture, Paltrow, and Dench, the four other Academy Awards went to Best Screenplay, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, and Best Original Musical or Comedy Score. There were six other nominations, for a total of thirteen Academy Award nods.
It came as a surprise to many that “Shakespeare in Love” beat out four other heavyweights for Best Picture: “Saving Private Ryan,” “Elizabeth,” “The Thin Red Line,’ and “Life is Beautiful.” Some reports have suggested that producer Harvey Weinstein lead a very heavy-handed campaign that tilted the Academy voters in its favor, especially when there is a general popular opinion that “Saving Private Ryan” should have won the top nod, and is indeed the better product.
Whatever the case, the very watchable “Shakespeare in Love” was a huge hit at the box office for producer Harvey Weinstein, The Bedford Falls Company, Miramax Films, and Universal Pictures.