Set against the backdrop of the succession of Queen Elizabeth I, and the Essex Rebellion against her, the story advances the theory that it was in fact Edward De Vere, Earl of Oxford who penned Shakespeare's plays.
Production
Emmerich's CGI London actually slaps, shockingly.
Costume
Doublets so extra they deserve their own credit.
Acting
Rhys Ifans acts circles around everyone, per usual.
Director
Roland Emmerich
Jamie Campbell Bower
Young Earl of Oxford
Rhys Ifans
Edward de Vere
David Thewlis
William Cecil
Joely Richardson
Princess Elizabeth Tudor
Vanessa Redgrave
Queen Elizabeth I
Sebastian Armesto
Ben Jonson
Rafe Spall
William Shakespeare
Edward Hogg
Robert Cecil
Xavier Samuel
Earl of Southampton
Sam Reid
Earl of Essex
Paolo De Vita
Francesco
Trystan Gravelle
Christopher Marlowe
Robert Emms
Thomas Dekker
Tony Way
Thomas Nashe
Julian Bleach
Captain Richard Pole
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The Oxfordian theory this film pushes has been academically debunked for decades, but Emmerich genuinely believed it—he even debated Shakespeare scholars at Oxford University.
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