Shakespeare in Love

Factual error: About 20 minutes in when they are at some ball/dance thing, Shakespeare's talking with a musician holding a lute. You can see fret markers on the fretboard of his lute, but these were not used on instruments until the late 1800's, early 1900's, definitely not in Shakespeare's time. (00:27:20)

Continuity mistake: Halfway into the film, Shakespeare is holding Viola's face placing his hands around her jaw, looking closely at her. When the angle is behind Viola, we see that her hair gets caught around his left hand's fingers. The angle changes to a wider side angle and his hand has no hair around, even though he hasn't moved it at all.

Sacha

Revealing mistake: When Shakespeare is getting dressed and talking with Viola in the bedroom, you get a quick glimpse of Joseph Fiennes' modern day men's briefs under his tunic.

More mistakes in Shakespeare in Love

Trivia: The young boy in the film is John Webster. Webster himself became a famous playwright in the 1600's; his speciality was writing gruesome plays foregoing the love and tenderness of Shakespeare and Marlow. Could this be why we see his character feeding the mouse to the cat?

Tallicame

Trivia: Rupert Everett/Christopher Marlow 's name does not appear at any point in the credits at the end of the film. This was due to Everett's decision.

More trivia for Shakespeare in Love

Queen Elizabeth: Have her then, but you're a lordly fool: she's been plucked since I saw her last, and not by you. Takes a woman to know it.

Question: At what point does Will actually realise that Thomas Kent is really Viola?

rachypoos

Chosen answer: When they are in the boat, just after "Thomas Kent" delivered Viola's farewell letter to Shakespeare. After a brief discussion about Will's feeling's for Viola, Thomas (Viola) kisses a surprised Will Shakespeare, then rushes away when the boat docks. The ferryman comments to Will that it was actually Lady Viola.

raywest

Question: How did Will not recognise Viloa in her boy disguise? Even in disguise, you can clearly see it's her, and she didn't sound like a boy.

Answer: In real life, Viola, of course, would be recognized as a female in disguise. However, in literature, film, opera, etc, it often is necessary to employ what is known as a "suspension of disbelief." That is, the author expects the reader or audience to know something is impossible, unlikely, or completely unreal, but they have to accept a certain premise in order to allow the plot to unfold. We go along with the idea that no one realizes Viola is actually a woman, so that we can enjoy the overall story.

raywest

Chosen answer: Actors, on occasions, choose not to be credited - generally if they're appearing in a relatively small role, one smaller than you'd generally expect that person to play.

Tailkinker

More questions & answers from Shakespeare in Love

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