Her

As I write this, I am sitting in a local cafe, alone with my laptop, while others around me share long conversations over food or coffee.  Like many characters in Her, I am comfortable being alone in public, so long as I have some electronic device to keep me occupied in my own head.  In Her, you don’t see many people on computers outside their home or office, but with an ear bud in their ear, talking to themselves, carrying on conversations, not with other people, but with computers.  This future (complete with hipster inspired high pants in fashion) does not seem very far from the present many of us are living.

Spike Jonze’s Her tells the story of Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix), an urban writer going through divorce and suffering from loneliness.  From his work, writing personal letters for other people, we see that he is a guy very in tune with his own emotions.  Right away, we imagine he is very sweet and has a lot to give in relationships.  However, dates don’t go so well for him.  We witness one, thrilled for him as it goes well, only to feel his crushing disappointment when he ends up being rejected.  If that’s the norm for Theodore, it’s hard to blame him for eventually falling for a computer.

That computer operating system, or OS for short, is Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson).  As Theodore sets up this operating system, only a couple questions are asked in preference to what sort of voice he’d like to talk to, for example, what was his relationship like with his mother.  From the start, Samantha has a breezy and welcoming personality.  Anyone might enjoy having her in their head, and the way Theodore is so alone, it seems natural that he would bond so well with this voice.  And what makes Samantha so interesting is that she, like any person, is constantly learning, evolving and changing.  The problem is that computers seem to do everything much quicker than humans can even imagine.

Honestly, I really loved this film, mostly because how for days and days after seeing it, my mind keeps wrestling with some of the issues it brings up.  I think about the inability to connect with people and the ability to connect so easily to technology (just as I can do in this cafe).  Disconnect must be normal in this world if people like Theodore are hired to write very personal letters for complete strangers.  The film makes me wonder about the human need for intimacy and how intimacy may not mean the same thing to everyone, including an OS.  And then that leads my mind into wondering how deeply sex, or just physical contact, can define a relationship.  The scene where Samantha brings a sex surrogate into the relationship is a very uncomfortable moment, with the best of intentions, but only brings awkward tears.

Her has been nominated for five Oscars, including Best Picture, original score, original screenplay and production design.  The Moon Song, a sweet and simple tune by Karen O, is nominated for original song.  I do suggest  giving it a listen and looking over the lyrics, which were written by Jonze.

Now, I know Her is being billed as a comedy, and it does have some hilarious moments, but to me it feels too heavy to really be a comedy.  It feels like a comedy like Kafka wrote comedies.  There is a lot of food for thought sprinkled among light moments and then heavier moments that, in a sense of those who are not  attached to these computers, feel like they may not matter much.  It is hard to describe the specific genre to consider this film.  The phone sex scene and video game scenes had the whole theater rolling, yet there are many heavier scenes where we feel that poor Theodore’s world is just crashing down.  And if Samantha doesn’t help him cope, she is the problem.  Odd and yet so close to home for anyone attached to their devices.

“I feel like I can be anything with you.”

The African Queen

After I finally sat down to watch The African Queen, the I immediately wondered why it had taken so long to check it off my list.  I loved it.  It’s the kind of film that feels tailored to me: action and adventure down the wild jungle rivers of Africa with a surprisingly welcome bit of romance.

Rose (Katharine Hepburn) is a British missionary in Africa with her brother in the early twentieth century.  Charlie Allnut (Humphrey Bogart) is a steamboat captain who brings them mail and news, including that Germany and Britain are at war.  By the next time Allnut visits, Germans have burned the village to the ground and Rose’s brother is dead.  Taking pity on the lady, Allnut takes her with him on the river.  Seeing he has a load of explosives and old canisters of gas, Rose gets an idea to make torpedoes and attack a German ship.  The river journey ahead of them is long and treacherous, but along it they may find strength in each other and even love.

This film quickly becomes a thrilling ride of an adventure.  In fact, it’s rumored that Walt Disney was inspired by The African Queen to create the Jungle Cruise ride.  All along the river are wild animals, bugs, Germans and white water rapids.  The rapids scenes are hair raising moments that make you hold on and release you into euphoric celebration alongside our characters.  It’s so much fun!

Inside the boat, there is at first tension between Charlie and Rose.  She, being so straight-laced, despises the way he drinks and he, being more laid back and not the happiest drunk, gets annoyed with her stuffiness easily.  When Rose pours all of Charlie’s gin into the river, the scene rivals Pirates of the Caribbean for angry “Why is the booze gone?” moment.  But after a close call down the rapids, which Rose handles like a champ, a spark is lit between them.

For the next scene or two, the nervous emotion between our leads is electric.  In my mind, it rivals some of the greatest love scenes in its sweet and awkward sincerity.  By the time their new found love and attraction is out in the open, it’s just as much an uplifting relief for the audience as it is for the characters.

The African Queen was nominated for four Academy Awards and won only one.  It was nominated for best screenplay, John Huston for director, Katharine Hepburn for best lead actress and Humphrey Bogart won for best lead actor.  In my mind, this is the best film of 1951.  Okay, I’ll let it tie with A Streetcar Named Desire, but I finally understand how Brando didn’t win that Oscar.

Bogart is so energetic and endearing throughout the film.  He seems to channel a bit of Buster Keaton’s character in The General in the way that he is so in tune with The African Queen.  I love how Bogart gets up on the side of the boat and kicks the boiler with both feet to fix it.  The early scene with his stomach growling is subtly hilarious and makes his character softer than his bristly face would suggest.  His gin swilling side in the beginning of the film is wonderfully rough, yet gels well with his more lovable side later in the film.  In the end, it may have been Bogart’s ridiculous hippo impression that sealed that Oscar envelope.

If you enjoy action, adventure, romance, Bogart and Hepburn (and who doesn’t?) you absolutely must see The African Queen.  Honestly, go now, it’s on Netflix Instant.  I imagine children will eat this movie up, with all the fun and thrilling moments journeying down the river.  They’ll probably get a kick out of the random b-roll of wild animals edited in and the adults can enjoy unforgettable performances by Bogart and Hepburn.

“Never say die.  That’s my motto.”

Sophie’s Choice

I have sat through a good number of depressing films: Chinatown, Schindler’s List, The Hours.  The list goes on.  When I decided I needed to add Sophie’s Choice, part me me didn’t want to subject myself to another dreary afternoon of holocaust stories and unhappy endings.  But a bigger part of me, the kind that likes to explore, prod and see every movie ever, had to see it.

Sophie’s Choice is the story of three friends, their time together and Sophie’s past.  Stingo (Peter MacNicol) is a young, naive writer who moves to Brooklyn from the south, looking for more experience in life.  In his boarding house he meets a couple, Sophie (Meryl Streep) and Nathan (Kevin Kline).  Sophie is a beautiful Polish woman who survived time in Nazi concentration camps.  Nathan is an eccentric man, whose moods can shift from jubilant to angry-depressive bewilderingly.  The three becomes friends and along the way Sophie confides more and more of herself to Stingo.

Compared to the most depressing film experience of my life (watching Schindler’s List alone in my college dorm room on a Saturday night, which I do not recommend), Sophie’s Choice isn’t too bad.  Sure, we see that Sophie’s and Nathan’s relationship is only toxic or that Stingo probably won’t find happiness in Brooklyn, but not all their time together is awful.  Thing is, they do have some good times, wedged in between the spiraling downturn.

And then there are the holocaust memories.  No one wants those.  They’re so bleak and depressing but nothing shown is too awful.  Until Sophie tells Stingo the one thing she has never told anyone.  That, that awful choice, the one I knew was coming, nothing can really prepare you for it.  I imagine if you do have children, it’s even harder to watch.

A main problem I see in this film is that Stingo’s story seems a bit lost in the plot.  I understand that he’s not the main interest, that goes to Sophie, but he’s our narrator, the anchor in this story and we just seem to watch everything happen around him.  There are scenes that pique my interest about Stingo that just happen and are never referenced again.  What happened to that girlfriend of his, Leslie?  Was his writing getting anywhere?  How does he feel about becoming a third wheel to Nathan and Sophie?  But I have to remind myself that Stingo is simply our gateway to observing Sophie.  And this film was nominated for best adapted screenplay, so what do I know?

Meryl Streep’s portrayal of Sophie is amazing and obviously Oscar deserving.  While at first glance Sophie is meek and frail against Nathan’s strong presence, she becomes an amazing woman who has been through so much.  She is this beautiful combination of broken, struggling, painfully trying to find reason to live and yet able to enjoy life.  The worst has happened to her, she has survived, but perhaps she doesn’t know why.  And she can only move on with Nathan, or somebody, finding worth in her.  She has many endearing moments and unexpectedly hilarious lines that come out of Sophie’s broken English.  That Polish accent sounds authentic and must have taken a long time to master.  And that scene when she arrives at Auschwitz, it sealed that Oscar envelope.

The film was nominated for five awards total: cinematography, original score, costume design, adapted screenplay and lead actress.  Streep took home the only Oscar for her role.  Among the best picture nominees, Sophie’s Choice could have easily been swapped in for one of the films.  Probably not E.T. or Gandhi though.

Sophie’s Choice is one of those movies film buffs feel like they should eventually see, but may not.  It’s long, not a very fun ride, gets depressing and ends that way.  The main reason to see it is for Streep’s acting.

“-You were sent to Auschwitz because you stole a ham?                                                                     –No, I was sent to Auschwitz because they saw that I was afraid.”

Room at the Top

In Room at the Top, Joe (Laurence Harvey) is a young, headstrong accountant who has just found a job in a small town.  With the help of a friend, he gets joins a theater club to meet young and beautiful Susan (Heather Sears).  While Joe attempts to woo her, he becomes closer to an older woman, Alice (Simone Signoret).  Very soon, Joe experiences the struggles and strife of being with two women and ends up with tragic consequences.

Susan is a not only an innocent beauty, but a high class girl.  Her father owns a factory, and once Joe is in her family’s radar, he is seen as a threat.  You see, Joe comes from a town that is now largely piles of rubble from the war and is considered lower class.  Joe pursues Susan, partially for a possible future of gaining higher class status, but also just for lustful kicks.  But a clean cut girl like Susan is hard to get to, especially with such protective parents, and in the end will she even be what Joe really wants?

Then there is Alice, a friend Joe never meant to fall in love with.  While Susan is a wide-eyed girl, Alice is a strong, seasoned and careful woman.  She is ten years older than Joe and skeptical, (not so much of his intentions, she seems comfortable with casual sex) but of getting too serious.  Alice is a much more interesting and likeable woman than Susan.  She is smarter, more cultured with a lifetime more of experiences than girlish Susan.  Even better, she is a surprisingly modern feminist, seeing herself and her body as more than a plaything for Joe.  I did not expect these bold conversations from a film from 1959.  When Alice finally does fall completely and trust Joe, she falls hard, and losing him would tear her apart.

A film with so much lust, adultery and the idea of sex being an enjoyable act landed Room at the Top with an X rating by the ABC.  It was so racy for 1959 that film distributors were afraid to touch the film.  However, once it was released, it proved to be a big hit, both critically and financially, and ushered in a new age of adult themes in film.

At the Oscars Room at the Top was nominated for six awards, including Best Picture.  Jack Clayton was nominated for best director, Harvey for best actor and Hermione Baddeley was nominated for best supporting actress for only being in a couple short scenes, but making quite an impact.  The film won the award for best adapted screenplay and Signoret won the Oscar for lead actress.  The way she can put up walls and let them fall and become so vulnerable earned her that Oscar.

Readers, I am so happy to have finally seen Room at the Top.  It was worth the wait and such a surprise.  The acting is superb all around and the story is juicy, enticing and pulls you in so well that you end up just as crushed at the end.  This film is an amazing ride, and i really wish it was more widely available.  I got it off Amazon UK as a second hand DVD, the only one I could find.

“I own my own body and I’m not ashamed of it.”

City Lights

In 1931, talkies had gone from the newest fad to mainstream.  Silent films were quickly becoming too old fashioned.  Nonetheless, Charlie Chaplin wrote, directed and starred in the silent City Lights.  Surprisingly, it was one of Chaplin’s most successful films, financially and critically.  Some hail it as his greatest work and even one of the best silent films.  It was also Chaplin’s final silent film.  What a shame that the Academy did not see it fit for any Oscar nominations.

The film works like a perfect and sweet romantic comedy.  Chaplin portrays his famous Tramp, a poor, wandering, clumsy guy with a big heart.  We watch him make two friends in the city.  One is an eccentric millionaire (Harry Myers), that the Tramp saves from a drunken suicide attempt.  After that, he takes the Tramp on the town, living it up, even letting him drive his car.  The only problem is that once the millionaire is sober, he has no recollection of the Tramp and throws him back into the street.  It’s a very on and off again relationship.  The second friend is a blind girl (Virginia Cherrill) who sells flowers.  Through a series of coincidences, misinterpretations, and a ride in the millionaire’s car, she believes her new friend to be very wealthy.  When the little Tramp realizes this girl is in a financial crisis, and that her blindness can be cured, he works hard to raise the money to help her.  After all, he has to keep up the idea that he’s rich if he wants any shot at romance, right?

I dare anyone to watch a Charlie Chaplin film and not laugh.  Some of the gags in City Lights had me in stitches.  The Tramp’s opening scene is a great one.  Hundreds have turned out for a ceremony for a new statue.  As the sheet is lifted, revealing the new monument, the Tramp is curled up sleeping in the lap of the seated figure.  How wonderfully cute, innocent and hilarious!  And in his attempt to get off the statue, he gets his pants caught on the sword of another figure.  The moment gets more awkward when the national anthem plays, and out of respect, he covers his heart and stands still, his pants still hung up on the sword.  The slapstick style comedy is only slightly physical, good hearted and perfect.  The scene just before the boxing match is another that had me rolling.

Though this is a silent film, Chaplin incorporates a few talkie techniques.  When city officials are commemorating the new statue, they talk!  Only they sound like the off-camera adults in Charlie Brown cartoons.  What you hear there is actually the voice of Charlie Chaplin, the first ever released on film.  Later, in a scene I found particularly comical, the Tramp accidentally swallows a whistle.  What’s worse, he gets the hiccups and disturbs a singing performance at a swanky party.  Before talkies, there would probably only be a certain noise or note from the orchestra to indicate the whistle, but instead the noise of a whistle being blown is used.  Perhaps this scene was an inspiration for the nightmare scene in The Artist.  I do see quite a few similarities, even the use of dogs.

While I still have my share of Chaplin movies and silent films to see, I believe that City Lights is one of Chaplin’s most enjoyable achievements.  What he embodies as the Tramp is a simple goodness that we all should aspire to, and that is evident in the sweetest way in this film.  Whether you love silent film or think it’s too old fashioned, everyone should see City Lights.

“Tomorrow the birds will sing.”

Wuthering Heights

Based off of Emily Bronté’s only novel, the film adaptation of Wuthering Heights in 1939 tells the unfortunate tale of two lovers, Heathcliff (Laurence Olivier) and Cathy (Merle Oberon).

The film begins dramatically, as a man caught in a storm stops at the mansion, Wuthering Heights, for shelter.  After a less than friendly greeting and shown to a room, he sees a woman outside.  He is told he just saw the ghost of Cathy, and Ellen (Flora Robson) an old servant recounts the tale.

Heathcliff was a poor boy, found on the streets and sent to become a servant at Wuthering Heights.  Cathy was a young lady of the house.  Their class differences that keep their love divided, mostly because Cathy has grown to an idea that she is supposed to marry a high class gentleman who can provide more than enough.  This only hurts Heathcliff, who genuinely loves Cathy.  For years she keeps Heathcliff at a distance, and seems to systematically toy with him, only to accept a proposal from Edgar (David Niven).  This sends Heathcliff out into a storm, to America.

Years pass, and it all seems well, even happy for Cathy.  Then Heathcliff returns, and with him all their old passions and resentments.  He buys Wuthering Heights, once a servant in the home, now its master and marries Isabella (Geraldine Fitzgerald), Cathy’s sister in law.  With Heathcliff and Cathy so close again, and yet so far away, strain and resentments of what they missed out on with each other rise until the very tragic breaking point, as one of them slowly dies.

If you are a starry eyed romantic, grab plenty of tissues.  This is a story of tragic love, where the downward spiral is the main event and the last half hour of the film will have you bawling.  However, if you are the cynical sort (like me) you may roll your eyes at all the shoulda-coulda-woulda that this great love story seems based upon.  The film portrays the love between Heathcliff and Cathy as a great potential, withered by petty ideals and snuffed out with tragedy to put it all into a sobering perspective.

That being said, I did enjoy the film.  The Oscar winning cinematography is splendid, smart and full of powerful moments.  Heathcliff punching through the glass is a heart wrenching moment, full of visual power.  William Wyler certainly deserved his nomination for best director, this being his second of eleven.  I personally did not care for Oberon’s performance, but that is probably because I despised her character.  However, Olivier and Fitzgerald’s Oscar nominated performances are spellbinding and had me hooked.

“You must destroy us both with that weakness you call virtue.”

Romeo and Juliet

Franco Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet is usually the more favored film version of Shakespeare’s play.  The filming feels wonderfully modern, while only showing us a long ago period.  The actors are young, full of uninhibited youthful energy, just as their characters are.  Best of all, this version seems to engage viewers the most, with a gripping sense of emotion that stems from the perfectly innocent young lovers who are destined to tragedy despite all the good intentions surrounding them.

The iconic balcony scene perfectly expresses the rush of thrilling emotions that make Romeo and Juliet unforgettable.  As Romeo (Leonard Whiting) listens in the garden, he is filled the excitement of budding love, and when Juliet (Olivia Hussey) starts talking about him, out heart leaps with his.  It’s suddenly a miracle and he cannot help but leap out and profess his love.  The day-dream like sound in their voices makes our head swim and the powerful body language, like when Romeo lunges from the tree to the balcony invigorate us and draw us into this romance.  Unfortunately, it’s also what makes every little end all the more painful.  Every goodbye, up to the last is tragic, and at the end of the balcony scene, the way their hands break apart is like agony.  Beautiful, sweet agony.

I was a little surprised, but happy to see how this film won the Oscar for Cinematography.  There were few sprawling landscapes to contend with this film’s upclose and personal approach.  Here, the camera regularly hugs these characters tightly within the frame, then follows them across the scene and keeping them very close to the focal point.  This feels very natural, like how one would focus and follow an actor on stage, only much more zoomed in experience than one would have in a traditional theater.  The closer the camera brings us to our ill-fated couple, the more the love and tragedy are magnified.

The sets and costumes here perfectly fit the time period and add beautiful details to the background of the film.  Between the young men’s two-toned tights, the maid’s giant dress that billows in the wind, the masks at the party and everything in between, the costume design deserved it’s Oscar win.  It was colorful, and eye-catching, yet not too distracting from our focal point actors.  The sets offer another level of visual beauty with the stone architecture in the small village.  My favorite set has to be the church, it’s all stone and so grand with its mosaic floor and huge columns.  That location added the perfect visual elements to this film, and I doubt one could ever find another old stone building with such a lush variety of patterns, textures and heights.  Seeing those two kids kneeling in such a grand place only makes their love seem stronger.

This is the film version of Romeo and Juliet that I believe everyone must see.  It’s nothing short of wonderful, beautiful, romantic and tragic, just as Shakespeare intended.

“Good night, good night.  Parting is such sweet sorrow, That I shall say good night till it be morrow.”

Dark Victory

Bette Davis plays Judith, a young, carefree socialite who’s life revolves around partying, raising dogs and training horses.  Lately she has been suffering from strange headaches, and perhaps the reason she sleeps all day is because the light bothers her, but she just ignores these ailments.  After all, she’s young and strong and nothing can touch her, right?  When she has a horse riding accident, due to a sudden change in vision, her symptoms prompt a young brain surgeon to take notice.

Doctor Fredrick Steele (George Brent) is wanting to get out of the prestigious field of brain surgery, the mortality rate is just too depressing.  He’s got a train ticket in hand when he hears of Judith’s case, but as he examines her, he decides to stay.  Though she tries hard not to show it, we and Steele sense how frightened she is.  He suggests she go into surgery, so he can find out exactly what is causing her problems.  Even prepping to go under the knife, the only person who can tame and reach stubborn Judith is Steele.  The scene where he coaxes her to take her anesthetic is wonderfully sweet, more doctors need to be that supportive of their more troublesome patients.

What Steele finds sets the film up for tragedy.  It seems that Judith has an inoperable tumor, and it will kill her within the year.  Hearing one doctor say, “maybe 10 months” like he was just shooting the breeze about the weather is terribly sad, but thankfully Steele is honestly torn up about poor Judith’s fatal condition. Perhaps he has grown attached to the girl.

After Judith has recovered from the operation, Steele decides not to tell her of her upcoming demise.  He doesn’t think it will not do any good to tell a young woman so full of life that it will be cut so sort.  However, he cannot hide his sorrow over the ordeal.  When he visits Judith as she is resuming her party lifestyle, her friend Ann (Geraldine Fitzgerald) notices the gloomy demeanor and asks Steele if Judith really is alright.  He comes clean to Ann, but they both decide it’s better to let Judith live the last of her life in blissful ignorance.  But when romance rises between Judith and Steele, like a reverse Florence Nightingale syndrome, Judith discovers the bitter truth and starts to come to terms with her frivolous lifestyle and tries to meet her early end with dignity and bravery.

The film does a great job of building up the drama and really tries to reel us in to a grand tear-jerker ending.  Even me,  the cynical critic who’s seen it all, was getting a little choked up towards the end.  Maybe because the film wasn’t focusing on a young kid who just wanted to live to party, but a new love still in full bloom.  However, through the lump this film  put in my throat, I was also rolling my eyes.  We know what’s going to happen, and as long as Davis doesn’t let Judith blubber like a baby and down a bottle of booze, we’re supposed to be proud of her but feel sorry for her and Steele as well.  Frankly, that ending was perfect for 1939, but today it feels way to drawn out and predictable.  It’s a wonderful mix of classic and cliche.  If you’re put off by what I just said, the fact that Humphrey Bogart has a wonderful small role as Michael the horse trainer can tip any film fan into checking Dark Victory out.

“When you get inside my head, see if you can find any sense in it.”

Love Affair

People get married for a variety of reasons, the most noble and happy of them is love.  But there are also the financial benefits of getting hitched.  That whole what’s-yours-is-mine line can often be one sided, but a pretty face can help that balance.  In Leo McCarey’s Love Affair, we have Terry (Irene Dunne) and Michel (Charles Boyer) who meet and fall in love on a ship sailing from Europe to New York.  The catch is that they are both engaged, and their current engagements are just ways to keep them financially safe.  Michel, once a budding painter, is on his way to marry a rich heiress and Terry was once a lounge singer who now has a supportive fiance.

The setup just described could have easily become another farce of the thirties, I was partially expecting it when reading the Netflix envelope.  While the film is entertaining and even has some moments that border on cute, it never ventures into anything remotely in the realm of a farce.  Wonderfully enough, it just doesn’t need that extra element to keep us engaged.

You see, Terry and Michel keep well aware of their situation and keep it serious.  When they first meet, there doesn’t seem to be much to worry about.  Just two adults, traveling alone to meet their respected partners on the next shore, why not enjoy a little company and conversation along the way?  And they don’t keep their relationship statuses secret, in fact they’re upfront about it, nothing juvenile there.  But then they realize the hot water they’ve stepped in, a mutual attraction is growing.  They’re smart about this too, and casually agree not to sit together at dinner anymore.  Ah, but the fates seem to keep them together and seeing them seated at separate tables but right next to each other is perfectly wonderful.

The final night of the voyage, they decide to meet up in six months if they still want to be together.  That seems like a reasonable time length to see if their current engagements match up or if their fire was just a fling.  But a tragic twist of fate can jeopardize their happiness, if you don’t want that spoiled for you, don’t read the entire Netflix envelope.

Love Affair is a film that visually doesn’t have anything more special than the lead actors and a lightning effect, but holds all its merit in the engaging story.  At first, I was put off at how grainy the film quality was, it’s hard to believe this is the same year as The Wizard of Oz, but as I became more engaged by the characters, the visual quality was not of my concern.  For a smart love story that doesn’t turn to mush or silliness, check out Love Affair, but be aware of the film’s low quality.

“Right or wrong though, people like to talk.”

Shakespeare in Love

Writer’s block.  There are very few things that can really inspire the words to flow again, I suspect even fewer were easily accessible in the Elizabethan era, where just preparing a quill can be time consuming.  What we have here in John Madden’s Shakespeare in Love is a fictional portrait of a young William Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes), fresh out of ideas, but being pressured for a new play.  “I cannot love or write,” he says, suggesting that one follows the other.  However, he does have a small start to his upcoming play, so far entitled Romeo and Ethel the Pirate’s Daughter.  Writing is almost always a work in progress.

Then there’s Viola (Gwyneth Paltrow), an idealistic young woman whose spirit seems overfilled after hearing Will’s work,  “I will have poetry in my life, and adventure and love.”  She aspires to act in one of his plays, but women are forbidden from appearing on stage, it’s considered lewd.  Having women played by pre-pubescent boys can have some issues and seem to make any romance feel a bit off.  So she disguises herself as a young man and lands the lead role as Romeo, before the play is even written.  But before Will realizes his lead is a woman, he meets Viola, is instantly in love, and inspired to write.

Viola continues to work with Will and his players under the name Tom Kent, and Will attempts to use Tom as a messenger to help profess his love for Viola.  The rowboat scene where Will goes on about his love for Viola to Tom is wonderfully comic, romantic and weird all at once.  Seeing Viola behind that little mustache trying to milk every word from Will while trying not to swoon is an amazing moment that only gets better as she loses herself.  After Will pieces together what just happened, he and Viola pursue a steamy romance while they keep her real identity secret at the playhouse.  All this secrecy and obstacles between their love inspires Will further to create Romeo and Juliet.

As I watch this film more and more (it’s quickly becoming a climbing favorite), I find new appreciation for Paltrow’s Oscar winning role.  There is such a dynamic duality that she must encompass, that I don’t think everyone understands on the first viewing.  She is Will’s inspiration to write, his lover, and yet she must keep up the act of being a man, go on stage every day and perform the words she helped bring about.  In an age where it’s normal for men to dress as women on stage, she turns that upside-down.  Not only is there risk of being exposed as a woman on stage, but the relationship with Will is disregarding the fact that she has recently become engaged, which in turn, inspires the tragedy of the play.  Paltrow combines all these criss-crossing roles and ideas so well, while boiling it all down to just the idealistic girl who wants a life full of love, poetry and adventure.

Shakespeare in Love is a rare, wonderfully entertaining film that can bring literature alive in its natural setting, even showing us a story of its origin.  So many people are first introduced to Shakespeare’s work in a boring classroom atmosphere, where we read his most heated lines in a completely bland teenage monotone.  Textbooks show that he was a bald man looking out to us from some painting, that frilly thing around his neck.  Here, Shakespeare is vibrant, handsome and reciting his own poetic lines in perfect tone, in rhythm of his walking as Geoffrey Rush tries to keep up.  Romeo and Juliet has never felt so alive or looked so naturally good.

“Like a sickness and its cure together.”