<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\nA Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream, Richard II, Hamlet, Love\u2019s Labour\u2019s Lost \u2013 for almost 400 years, the works of William Shakespeare have been regarded as the most important in the history of the English language with his ability to capture comedy, drama, tragedy and romance being celebrated the world over. Now, Roland Emmerich \u2013 the director most famous for films of alien invasion (Independence Day) and global destruction (The Day After Tomorrow, 2012) \u2013 has decided it\u2019s high time Shakespeare was exposed as the fraud that a great deal of historians and commentators believe that he was.
\nAnonymous (in cinemas today) tells the story of Edward de Verve, the Earl of Oxford (Rhys Ifans) and explores the idea that he is the true author of Shakespeare\u2019s work – just don’t call the subject matter a consipracy. \u201cConspiracy is a word I don\u2019t like to hear,\u201d Emmerich says. \u201cI couldn\u2019t stop them putting it on the poster which is annoying. But there are very interesting documents you can read \u2013 Mark Rylance and Sir Derek Jacobi [both feature in Anonymous], wrote a Declaration Of Reasonable Doubt<\/a> \u2013 which will help you find out what is really happening.\u201d
\nWith lavish sets, intricate costume and impressive performances from an all star cast (Ifans is joined by Jamie Campbell-Bower as a younger version of Oxford, whilst Vanessa Redgrave and Joely Richardson share the role of Queen Elizabeth – who, it is suggested, may not have been as chaste as we think – while David Thewlis supports as dubious royal adviser William Cecil), Anonymous has enough death, comedy, drama and incest to make it a very Shakespearian affair. We speak to the director about this latest project, and find out how he came to be a director in the first place.<\/p>\n
What is your earliest memory of film?<\/strong> When did you decide you wanted to be a director?<\/strong> Since then you\u2019ve made a real name for yourself for making big disaster films, and Anonymous is completely direction to that \u2013 what was it that attracted you to the project?<\/strong> How did you research the period?<\/strong> You think the time period was like Stalin?<\/strong> Luckily the laws have changed since then, otherwise you\u2019d be in trouble! How accurate do you think your own interpretation is?<\/strong> Did you factor in what the British reaction might be to this film as you made it?<\/strong> You have an incredible cast for this film \u2013 how did you go about casting?<\/strong> Shakespeare is an integral part to the whole training process for actors in the UK, so did any of the cast question the storyline?<\/strong> With Anonymous suggesting Shakespeare faked his own success \u2013 when was the last time you faked something and got away with it?<\/strong>
\nThe first time I went to a movie theater was 2001 [A Space Odyssey, 1968], with my older brother and I had no idea what I was watching but I was fascinated. It was kind of what a true good film is \u2013 they take you to a place you haven\u2019t been.<\/p>\n
\nIt was relatively late. I decided I wanted to do production design for film and heard of the film school in Munich, but they only educated by teaching directing. So I lied and said I wanted to be a director to get in and when I was at film school I told everyone I wanted to be a production designer. I did lots of production for other students but you had to do your own movie there as it was a directing school. But when I did my first film, it was like a virus you can\u2019t get rid of. I managed to wrangle my graduation film to be shown in the Berlin competition \u2013 and then I was a director and off I went!<\/p>\n
\nIt was the script. I couldn\u2019t get it out of my head \u2013 it\u2019s always like that with me. It was always about the story and this story really fascinates me \u2013 especially after I read a little bit about how much merit it has.<\/p>\n
\nWhat you have to do is just read everything. And then don\u2019t believe anything. That\u2019s something I learnt really quickly. The history books say a lot of words but dance around the subject and the same happens with Shakespeare if you read his biography, it\u2019s a joke! John [Orloff, who wrote the script] and I were trying to come up with solutions to find out what really happened. There was all this proof \u2013 the Privy Council at some time in the middle of her reign changed the Act of Succession so that the bastard children of Queen Elizabeth could become the next king if she said so. Why should they have done this if she did not have any children? So it was a precaution. And at that time there was no talk of the king of Scotland \u2013 that was a later invention. But whatever you do write or film about history is only guess work. [The Elizabethan Era] was a totalitarian, Stalin-esque state, there\u2019s nearly nothing from the original records that you can believe, and so you kind of have to do your own guess.<\/p>\n
\nYeah! It was a totalitarian monarchy. If anyone ever said anything negative about Queen Elizabeth they were immediately thrown in the Tower.<\/p>\n
\nWe didn\u2019t want to make a documentary as that would be boring. Looking at other great films that I love \u2013 Amadeus, for example, is a story about Mozart and Antonio Salieri and they hardly met in truth. But is it that important? I think it is a great story because you see the difficult life Mozart had at his time \u2013 not as a glorified composer \u2013 only because someone else was not as talented and became eaten up by jealousy. And that\u2019s how I think historical movies should be \u2013 to get the essence of the time or the essence of what happened to them.<\/p>\n
\nWell, I knew that I would upset a lot of people, but that goes without saying. And who doesn\u2019t want to upset the English? All the people who yelled the loudest are the ones who have the most to loose \u2013 the Shakespeare industry, the Stratford industry – and those who truly love Shakespeare the writer. But to think that finally somebody would say differently, we open up the discussion and everyone can make up their own mind. There shouldn\u2019t be a literary dictatorship here.<\/p>\n
\nI only wanedt an English cast so I went to England with my casting directors and sent the script out to every actor I like and met them and would chat with them and find out what they liked from the script and asked what part would they like to play. Rhys Ifans, who I kind of had in mind for William Shakespeare, came in and said \u201cyou probably have me sitting here for the role of William Shakespeare but for me the part I would love to play is Oxford. I feel an affinity to his character. I feel he is eccentric like me and I think I can do something really special here.\u201d And from that moment it made more and more sense so he ended up playing the part. The only two actors I wanted to have from the beginning were Vanessa Redgrave and her daughter Joely [Richardson]. Even in the writing period I was thinking \u201cthis is for these two women\u201d. And I know Joely from The Patriot and we always talked about her mother and I was a little nervous when I met Vanessa because she is known for being very, very well read and I knew from her daughter that she always wanted to play Elizabeth \u2013 but she also said, \u201clook, mum will only play if she agrees with how you portray Elizabeth\u201d and so I was nervous because how we portrayed Elizabeth is totally different from other versions. But to my great relief, she totally agreed and actually said \u201cwe need to make this stronger! Let\u2019s go all the way!\u201d She went for it. <\/p>\n
\nNot at all. The people who knew about it all agreed. David Thewlis is a very well read actor and he said we were right on. And Vanessa believed in it too. And a lot of other people don\u2019t care! They say \u201cas long as somebody<\/em> wrote it, I\u2019m fine.\u201d Naturally I cast Mark Rylance, who is very outspoken about it, just because he wanted to be in it. <\/p>\n
\n[laughs] I do that all the time! If you look at my movies, it\u2019s all fake. But I am of a thinking that whatever you do, you do it for a reason. I try to be as honest as possible in my endeavors but I know sometimes I can\u2019t be too tied to the truth.<\/p>\n