Reviews of this film were sparse to say the least, so I went in not knowing what to think. I had been intrigued by the trailer seeming to show an unprecedented interplay of English and Spanish culture and I can't say it disappointed. The English is well written and suitably complex, albeit not quite period. Considering that this is a Spanish film it was a delight to see it at all. The difficulties of the language barrier were handled deftly and I was left with a smile on my face. If you're bilingual, it may be well worth a rental.
Plot: There is a period of William Shakespeare's life which history leaves to the imagination, this is the story of young Shakespeare's adventures as he chases his lover to the castle of the frankly unpleasant Castillian duke to whom she is betrothed. There he poses as her servant and writes a nuptial play for her while she also gets one Miguel de Cervantes, currently moonlighting as a tax collector, to do the same job. How will these two literary greats react to each other? What will the Inquisition do to Cervantes? Will our heroine really marry the duke? Will Shakespeare manage to bed every woman worth bedding in the entire castle? Will he stop at the women?
Conclusion: Decent production values and only so many plot holes as can be expected from such a ridiculous plot. A knowledge of Shakespeare and Cervantes will let you indulge in certain in jokes but overall an easy going comedy which shows there may be hope for Spanish cinema in the mainstream after all. 8/10
Plot: There is a period of William Shakespeare's life which history leaves to the imagination, this is the story of young Shakespeare's adventures as he chases his lover to the castle of the frankly unpleasant Castillian duke to whom she is betrothed. There he poses as her servant and writes a nuptial play for her while she also gets one Miguel de Cervantes, currently moonlighting as a tax collector, to do the same job. How will these two literary greats react to each other? What will the Inquisition do to Cervantes? Will our heroine really marry the duke? Will Shakespeare manage to bed every woman worth bedding in the entire castle? Will he stop at the women?
Conclusion: Decent production values and only so many plot holes as can be expected from such a ridiculous plot. A knowledge of Shakespeare and Cervantes will let you indulge in certain in jokes but overall an easy going comedy which shows there may be hope for Spanish cinema in the mainstream after all. 8/10