I'll rag on this movie with the rest of you, but I have to admit, the trailer is pretty visually impressive.
Still, if you're going to adapt a Shakespeare conspiracy theory, why not the far more exciting Baconian theory of one of the founding Anti-Stratfordians, Delia S. Bacon? A conspiracy of ELizabethan luminaries, subverting the censorship of a hostile age by publishing secretly revolutionary plays riddled with ciphers? Utterly preposterous, of course, but likely more dramatic than whatever Oedipal complexes they've shackled Oxford with. And hey, people watched "The Da Vinci Code," right? There's a market for action-packed, pseudo-scholarly conspiracy flicks.
What I really love is the title. Begs the question. If the conspiracy theory is all about the need for de Vere to write anonymously, why didn't he just write anonymously, like so many others did? Duh. –Carl
And while I mean no offense to any here I have done extensive research into this matter from both perspectives and if you would bother to look at the evidence the plays are about de Vere's life. But first you have to have read about him. Once upon a time many years ago in college I was a Stratfordian until I started to read!
No offense, Scribbler, but the plays are about the plays. One can read many things into a plot, including just about anyone's life story, and the human mind loves to find patterns where none exist. Down that path lies madness! Please read James Shapiro's excellent book, "Contested Will: Who Wrote Shakespeare?" before deciding that you have forever abandoned the Stratfordian camp. –Carl
My friend, who as far as I knew had no real attachment to Shakespeare writing Shakespeare, saw the advertisement for this and grimaced. Even though it bothered me that the film would be giving a wrong impression of history, I said, "Well… it looks kind of good." She just said, "With that as its subject, it BETTER be good."
I'll rag on this movie with the rest of you, but I have to admit, the trailer is pretty visually impressive.
Still, if you're going to adapt a Shakespeare conspiracy theory, why not the far more exciting Baconian theory of one of the founding Anti-Stratfordians, Delia S. Bacon? A conspiracy of ELizabethan luminaries, subverting the censorship of a hostile age by publishing secretly revolutionary plays riddled with ciphers? Utterly preposterous, of course, but likely more dramatic than whatever Oedipal complexes they've shackled Oxford with. And hey, people watched "The Da Vinci Code," right? There's a market for action-packed, pseudo-scholarly conspiracy flicks.
What I really love is the title. Begs the question. If the conspiracy theory is all about the need for de Vere to write anonymously, why didn't he just write anonymously, like so many others did? Duh.
–Carl
And while I mean no offense to any here I have done extensive research into this matter from both perspectives and if you would bother to look at the evidence the plays are about de Vere's life. But first you have to have read about him. Once upon a time many years ago in college I was a Stratfordian until I started to read!
No offense, Scribbler, but the plays are about the plays. One can read many things into a plot, including just about anyone's life story, and the human mind loves to find patterns where none exist. Down that path lies madness! Please read James Shapiro's excellent book, "Contested Will: Who Wrote Shakespeare?" before deciding that you have forever abandoned the Stratfordian camp.
–Carl
My friend, who as far as I knew had no real attachment to Shakespeare writing Shakespeare, saw the advertisement for this and grimaced. Even though it bothered me that the film would be giving a wrong impression of history, I said, "Well… it looks kind of good." She just said, "With that as its subject, it BETTER be good."