Last week I went to the Flora Friday Film night where we watched the 1998 film Shakespeare in Love. The movie was pretty much a polar opposite from last week’s film, Fight Club. Shakespeare in Love was a romance full of lighthearted jokes, fun, and non-controversial topics, very different from the violent themes of Fight Club. I don’t know if this was done on purpose, but I loved seeing the two dramatically different styles of film-making so close to each other. These two movies were also made within one year of each other, making them an even better comparison between the two film styles.

I liked Shakespeare in Love because the movie knew what it was. It knew it was a romance, and did not attempt to do much else. It instead focused on telling the romance story between Shakespeare and Viola well, giving time to develop the characters so that the audience is invested in the story. With that said, I was surprised at how much erotic content and nudity was included in the story. Perhaps sex was useful tool to convince the audience of how much Shakespeare and Viola are in the love with each other, but it excludes a large audience by restricting the movie rating to R. Since the rest of the movie was so innocent and would have catered well to a younger audience, I’m surprised the director decided to include the sex scenes.

Another plus of this movie was the stories’ similarities and references to the works of its subject, William Shakespeare. Many of Shakespeare’s comedies involve ridiculous situations with deceit and miscommunications. The plot of Shakespeare in Love captured this style by having Viola’s to be husband think he killed Shakespeare, and by having Viola dress as a man so that she could become an actor. Both of these scenarios would not be out of place in an original Shakespeare play. This movie was not a masterpiece, but it was a good homage to Shakespeare and a perfect choice for Valentine’s day week.