Though Shakespeare is heralded as the world’s most influential and admired writer, little is known about the man himself. That didn’t stop A&E Biography from weaving together a substantial birth (in 1564) to death (in 1616) portrait from spotty documentation, historical accounts, and interpretations of the master’s work itself. It won’t give away all the video’s surprises to reveal here that Shakespeare was born into privilege, started out as an actor, had an unhappy marriage to Read more…
February 15th, 2010 on 8:41 pm
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This review is from: A&E Biography – William Shakespeare: Life of Drama (1996) [VHS] (VHS Tape)
After whetting our appetites with the observation that little is known about the man behind the plays, the A&E team provides a bland, surprisingly unengaging “5-act” biography of William Shakespeare. As the story proceeds, the producers rely more and more on quotations from the plays rather than on any “extrinsic” evidence. The result is a program that confirms what we already knew, or should have known, all along–the life of William Shakespeare is at best a mere footnote to the life of the plays themselves. Credit the producers for not indulging in this series’ customary approach and sensationalizing the records (by claiming Shakepeare was really Queen Elizabeth, etc.). On the other hand, teachers and students of Shakespeare, as well as fans of the Bard, may find it difficult to justify an investment of money in a video this slight when, say, Olivier’s “Henry V” or Branagh’s “Much Ado About Nothing” are available at a comparable price.