Persian Realm

A political thriller about who actually wrote the plays of William Shakespeare-- Edward De Vere, Earl of Oxford-- set against the backdrop of the succession of Queen Elizabeth I, and the Essex Rebellion against her.

Anonymous (2011) directed by Roland Emmerich and Starring Rhys Ifans, Vanessa Redgrave, Derek Jacobi and David Thewlis

US Release Date : 30th September 2011

Official Trailer:

The Film was partly Shot at the Babelsberg Studios inBerlin

This is German director Roland Emmerich’s ( Independance Day) third historical epic movie after 10, 000 BC and particularly« Patriot » inwhich the American Revolution is depicted through the eyes of Mel Gibson’s character. This film was slightly criticized for his manichean and nearly NaziLike depiction of the British Colonialists. In Anonymous Emmerich pushes the controversy in this film even further by describing Elizabethan England as a Totalitarian State.

Not surprisingly Vanessa Redgrave well known for her staunch Pro Republican (i.e : anti Monarchist) views was chosen by Emmerich to portray Elizabeth II

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Interview with Cast & Crew

Press Conference Babelsberg Studios

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Rhys Ifans as Edward de Vere & Rafe Spall asShakespeare :

Vanessa Redgrave

Vanessa Redgrave on her role as Queen Elizabeth Ist:

Redgrave on the Rose Theater:

Roland Emmerich on his othermovies :

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The Shakespeare Controversy

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Anonymous portrays the Bard as an inarticulate buffoon, making nobleman Edward de Vere the true author.

Speaking at a debate, Emmerich said: "I know it is controversial, and I was going for the controversy."

He is best known for effects-laden blockbusters like Independence Day, Godzilla and disaster movie 2012.

Anonymous stars Rhys Ifans as de Vere - the 17th Earl of Oxford, Rafe Spall as Shakespeare and Vanessa Redgrave as Queen Elizabeth I.

"Art has to provoke," Emmerich told the audience the English-Speaking Union in Mayfair.

"That Shakespeare didn't write the plays is only one of the many scandals that this movie will unearth."

Having thrown down the gauntlet, Emmerich watched as academics from both sides of the argument engaged in a lively debate, broadcast live on the internet.

The motion wasthat William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon was the author of the plays and poems attributed to him.

Supporting the motion, Shakespeare scholar Professor Michael Dobson of Birkbeck College, said: "I am very grateful to Roland Emmerich for perfectly underlining the verygenre and character of what's called the Oxfordian case.

'Chimpanzee wearing oven gloves'

"It is noless and certainly no more than an absolutely terrific plot for a B-movie."

However, Dr William Leahy, head of the School of Arts at Brunel University, painted a portrait of Shakespeare as an "opportunist" who stole the work of those around him and passed it off as his own.

He added:"The six signatures he left... are written in a hand unlike someone who has made their living by writing. They look like they were written by a chimpanzee wearing oven gloves."

Charles Beauclerk, president of the De Vere Society, said Hamlet was "an expose of the Elizabethan Court" written by the Earl of Oxford.

The play was highly political, he said, so authorship was credited to Shakespeare to depoliticise it in the public arena.

"With Shakespeare as author, Hamlet becomes a harmless tale about an ancient DanishPrince," he said.

But Rev Dr Paul Edmondson, head of learning at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, put the anti-Shakespeare arguments down to snobbery.

'Terribly conspiracy'

"Nearly allof the alternative candidates are aristocratic, university-educated orboth," he said. "Their proponents look down on Shakespeare as an uneducated commoner."

He went on:"William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon wrote the plays and poems attributed to him. His authorship was not even questioned until 1856...

"If he didn't write them, then we have to believe that thousands of people during his lifetime... were in on a terrible conspiracy. I think not."

At the end, Emmerich observed with a smile: "I'm amazed - you makea little costume B movie and you end up here at the English-Speaking Union."

Related Blog:

CASTING A KING: Shakespeare's Play On The British Monarchy

ROYALTY ON SCREEN: Kenneth Branagh And An All Star Cast in "Hamlet" (1996)

MEMORABLE INTERVIEWS: Dame Judi Dench interview with Sir Richard Eyre (BBC)

ROYALTY ON SCREEN: Ian McKellen is "Richard III"in a fascist-inspired version of Britain (1995)

KNIGHTHOOD:Vanessa Redgrave Recieves Bafta Award From Prince William

BEYOND WORDS: Group Reading of Ferdowsi's Shahnameh

Words For Eternity ...

Other Treacherous On Screen Blogs: 
 

TREACHERY ONSCREEN:Malcom McDowell in Robert Enrico's "East Wind"