Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

The greatest movie ever made..!

A different way of telling a story

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Everything is wrong but extremely well made. This is certainly Roland Emmerich's masterpiece, and although almost nothing is according to that part of reality which in spite of all is known to us of those days, it's a great story very well written. A few things are convincing, though.Above all, Rhys Ifans makes a very convincing Edward De Vere as the absolute nobleman he was, making a complete tragedy of his life. Edward Hogg as Robert Cecil is perhaps the most convincing character of all oiling the way of his intrigues in serpentine slyness. Vanessa Redgrave and Joely Richardson as the Queen, Sebastian Armesto as Ben Jonson, Southampton and Essex, Burleigh, well, all the actors make a perfect job, and Will Shakespeare is finally exposed as the fake he most probably was. The rest is fiction.The film makes Elizabeth the mother of various bastards including all the major earls in a plot of all round incests, while more disturbing is the blatant historical incorrectness of making Shakespeare murder Marlowe ten years after his official death and the performance of Richard III at the moment of rebellion – it was actually Richard II. Of course, everything is exaggerated, there were no overwhelming massacres at Essex' demonstration, but never mind – it's a great film widely transcending and surpassing the obvious construction of the absurdly tall story of "Shakespeare in Love" and made more convincing, above all by the superb acting by all the actors (includiong Derek Jacobi, who actually only states the facts, and Mark Rylance as Condell – you immediately recognize his voice.) Only Bacon is missing. This is self-evidently a full score film and for all times.To sum it up: Most viewers seem to agree that this is Roland Emmerich's masterpiece - a feast for the eyes and intensive action all the way, great dramaturgy, the theatre scenes are all flamboyant parties and the highlights of the film, a fantastic although hardly plausible story, and at last a debunking of the phoney Shakespeare cult. The exaggerations, although overdone as always in Emmerich's films, are dramaturgically no detriment to the film but only add to a perfect theatrical drama of both splendour, knavery, humanity and tragedy.

Never, EVER had I watched a film, and just as the credits begin to roll, immediately restarted the film to watch, again. This film "Anonymous" is the first I'd ever done such a thing,...well I did somewhat the same with "Great Expectations (the original), "Wuthering Heights," (the original), and okay...Scorsese's "Age of Innocence."I truly enjoy watching this film "Anonymous," and will add this film to my DVD collection. The actors...well...come on...STELLAR!A film that you would have to watch without any breaks, oh yeah, or you can pause it if you gotta, go; if you know what I mean. What I found out at the end of this film, did blow my mind, as did one actor, playing 'said' role, when he discovered a *truth.*If you love and enjoy watching films and tele series about the Tudors, Elizabethan period, the works of *Shakespeare*, and historical/period works of cinema, then this is your film to watch. It will make ya go, Hmmmmm...what if.Thanks for reading.

'Anonymous' is a modern play on Broadway where a different version of Shakespeare's real life is presented. After a prologue, it flashbacks to Robert Cecil, the Earl of Salisbury with his men chasing after Ben Jonson (Sebastian Armesto) with a collection of manuscripts. He hides them under the Rose and his pursuers burn down the theater. Then it flashes 5 years earlier, Shakespeare (Rafe Spall) is a drunken actor. It flashes 40 year earlier still, Edward De Vere, the Earl of Oxford (Jamie Campbell Bower/Rhys Ifans) is the real author of Shakespeare's works. It is a film about political intrigue in the English court during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (Joely Richardson/Vanessa Redgrave).There are a lot of questionable and complicated history. I almost feel a real need to be more familiar with the British history both royal and literary. There is something wrong with this version of history but I'm not a good enough scholar to pinpoint it. The start of the movie jumps around in time and it's easy to get lost. This is definitely an unique interpretation of history from writer John Orloff. Roland Emmerich's direction really needs to simplify the movie although the complicated story adds to the atmosphere. In some way, all the name dropping is addictive and fascinating. The acting is top notch. Emmerich films it with so much murky realism. It's a very tough call. There is enough great performances and the story is so audacious that I must recommend this.

My taught on Anonymous The movie name 'Anonymous' quite inspired me about the unknown truth behind Shakespeare. I personally found it interesting. Also the soundtracks were quite good to give you a great feeling about how is was back then. In this movie you can also find some great actors, a few funny moments, quotes about Shakespeare what I really liked a lot and great historical references. Still, I think this movie could be better. When I was in the middle of the movie I had trouble following the time indication whenever it was a flashback or present. There are a lot of actors during the movie and It was difficult to distinguish them. Also I had a hard time understanding all the relationships with each other. I personally think you have to watch this movie twice if you truly want to understand all of it. Written by a 18 year old Dutch student, trying to improve his English writing skills.