Shakespeare in Love

Shakespeare in Love is a 1998 period romantic comedy film directed by John Madden, written by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard, and produced by Harvey Weinstein. It stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes, Geoffrey Rush, Colin Firth, Ben Affleck and Judi Dench. The film depicts a fictional love affair involving playwright William Shakespeare (Fiennes) and Viola de Lesseps (Paltrow) while Shakespeare was writing Romeo and Juliet. Several characters are based on historical figures, and many of the characters, lines, and plot devices allude to Shakespeare's plays. Shakespeare in Love received acclaim from critics and was a box office success, grossing $289 million worldwide and becoming the ninth highest-grossing film of 1998. The film was noted for its highly skilled plotting and balancing of comedy and drama and for the high quality of its dialogue, performances, and production design. It received numerous accolades; it won three Golden Globe Awards (including Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy and Best Actress - Motion Picture Comedy or Musical for Paltrow), two Screen Actors Guild Awards (Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture and Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role for Paltrow), and four British Academy Film Awards (including Best Film). The film ultimately won a leading seven Oscars out of thirteen nominations at the 71st Academy Awards: Best Picture (Parfitt, Gigliotti, Weinstein, Zwick, & Norman), Best Actress (Paltrow), Best Supporting Actress (Dench), Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen (Norman & Stoppard), Best Original Musical or Comedy Score (Warbeck), Best Art Direction (Childs & Quertier), and Best Costume Design (Powell). Plot In 1593 London, William Shakespeare is a sometime player in the Lord Chamberlain's Men and playwright for Philip Henslowe, owner of The Rose Theatre. Suffering from writer's block with a new comedy, Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter, Shakespeare attempts to seduce Rosaline, mistress of Richard Burbage, owner of the rival Curtain Theatre, and to convince Burbage to buy the play from Henslowe. Shakespeare receives advice from rival playwright Christopher Marlowe, but is despondent to learn Rosaline is sleeping with Master of the Revels Edmund Tilney. The desperate Henslowe, in debt to ruthless moneylender Fennyman, begins auditions anyway.