Bookraft

There has been a family debate raging over the holidays on the worthiness of media entertainment - animations, games but mostly movies to be considered on par with the written word for - well creative genius equal to the finest novelists or idea-writers. Arrayed before use we have the Epic of Gilgamesh, The Illiad, The Inferno, Hamlet, Don Quixote, Crime and Punishment, and A Year of Books Worth Curling Up With.

To that our cinephiles responded with Seven Samurai, Seventh Seal, Spirited Away and Shakespeare in Love. It is to the latter we looked for worthiness equal to say Anna Karenina or Madame Bovary. Now despite the fact that Shakespeare in Love is valued as only a B movie by some, there is general agreement in the group that this is a tale well told just like Shakespeare's plays full of nuances and wonderful word play.

In sum, it appears that Shakespeare in Love possesses some of the best literary virtues and that is no wonder given that Tom Stoppard, a master playwright and writer, contributed to the screen play. As well it appears the director, John Madden, was able to get his players to hew to the the dictum that they were to be creating literally a video Shakespearian Feast - which it seems the Hollywod Academy Awarders agreed with whole heartedly giving it 11 nominations and 7 Academy Awards.

But I would like to advance 3 arguments that draw on literary criticism for their approach and valuation. First, Shakespeare in Love in establishing its scenes, costumes, speech and social manners keeps its feet close to the fire. Low ceilings, tarnish on the high brows, plus teeth and speech that echo the crudities of the time. A great literary work transports you faithfully to another place and time - score 1 for Shakespeare in Love.

A great literary work has a central theme but many associated streams of thought. Romance, betrayal, blind ambition, social rivalry, thieving cunning, comic conning stupidity, and a host of human foibles straight from Shakespeare's plays. And just as out of a Shakespearean play one has these rushing all over like a continuous flow merging into a human mosaic of tragicomic romance in Shakespeare in Love. Score a decisive 2 for Shakespeare in Love

Ahh but a literary work is teeming with layers of richness as one can discover careful crafting that peels back only in the rereading and reveals wonderful language, clever allusions, and an undercurrent of themes that reveal themselves as a second blossoming of ideas and empathy. In comparison, Shakespeare in Love has visual puns (feet to the fire in the opening scene) , layers of illusions and crafty allusions (playwright John Webster whose 16th century Duchess of Malfi is the gore template for contemporary Hollywood Blood Horror flicks, is played out as a thoroughly malvolent theater street rat - and there are plenty more), mistaken identities("that woman is a woman"), comic (Romeo , Ethel and the Pirates), misinformation and misinterpretations galore (Marlowe's death as seen by Shakespeare, Wessex, and others). In sum, Shaespeare in Love has all the richness and layering of a Shakespearean play - with the clever trope of young Shakespeare having writers block and being forced to discover his plot and lines on the spot as the play is in rehearsal. Like many Elizabethan gowns of the era this movie certainly has layers.

So does this one example, exonerate Zodaic and Texas Chain Saw Massacre ? Does the National Enquirer and Great Gobs of Pulp Fiction invalidate The Life of Pi ? No the debate is hardly decided but rather has taken a more in depth stream of thought and ideas. One that that can hopefully lead to broader conclusions. But as the Writer's strike continues in the US, there is a small lesson here - great creations live on at least three legs - and great writing is one of those, even if it appears as if by video means.