Prevailing Words

"Anonymous"

In the past director Roland Emmerich has treated us to over the top, special effect heavy disaster flicks.  His body of work includes:  Independence Day, Godzilla, The Day After Tomorrow, and 2012.  Back in the year 2000 however he did do a period piece with Mel Gibson called The Patriot.  This was quite a change of pace for Emmerich.  The Patriot allowed the Frenchman to expand on his repertoire.  I enjoyed it for what it was and was curious to know what he would follow up with for his next project.  To my dismay Emmerich went back to what he did best, destroying the world.  

I couldn't help but think that this director yearned to do something more.  Understandably the studios were probably hesitant to give Emmerich a film that did not play to his strengths but Columbia Pictures decided to give him a chance with Anonymous.  The premise sounded interesting enough.  Was world renowned writer/poet William Shakespeare a fraud?  The film definitely gives us the answer of yes, yes he was.  

Anonymous explores the theory that Shakespeare's plays were written by none other than the Earl of Oxford, Edward De Vere (Rhys Ifans.)  Unfortunately the film ventures much deeper into De Vere's life than what we are expecting.  The film is told in series of flashbacks that show us the passionate love affair the youthful De Vere (Jaime Campbell Bower) had with the young and vivacious Queen Elizabeth I (Joely Richardson.)  There are also flash forwards to the adult versions of De Vere and Elizabeth (Vanessa Redgrave) to address the now current state of their once steamy relationship.

The film gives the impression that it was supposed to be about the validity of Shakespeare as a writer.  Instead Shakespeare and his merry band of actors are secondary to this story.  The screenplay treats Shakespeare and his plays as though they are a distraction to the plot.  Anonymous acts more as a bio pic about De Vere.  There are also  decent amounts of the heavy political strife the aged queen had to face throughout her reign over England.

I find it disappointing when a film can't even live up to its title.  The film is called Anonymous but the way this picture unfolds it is clear that in the screenwriter’s mind there was no mystery to who must have written the plays in question.  There have already been films about Queen Elizabeth I.  There needed to be less of her and more about the plays that were being performed.  The film touches here and there upon the power these plays had over the people of England but it by no means comes off striking or profound.

It is clear that Emmerich knows what a period piece is supposed to look like judging from his sets, costuming, and photography.  However he seems lost on how to approach in an overly long and mundane script that never quite gets off the ground.  The film's focus is unclear and tedious in its presentation of what we're supposed to be expecting from the set up.  The performances are strong from everyone involved, particularly Redgrave and Ifans but they can't save Anonymous from what it really is.  As of right now storytelling still is not one of Emmerich’s strengths. However, he needs to keep venturing further and further away from his comfort zone.  Eventually he will find his way and become a more versatile director.  Anonymous had the potential to be a film full of mystery and intrigue. Instead it almost immediately squanders its premise.  We do get to see though the potential that Emmerich has as a more serious director as he wades through the shallow end of a deep pool.