All is True 2018

     This film is about the final days in the life of renowned playwright William Shakespeare.  After the globe Theatre burns down in 1613 during a performance of Shakespeare’s play Henry VII, Shakespeare returns home to Stratford with his wife Anne Hathaway.  He vows not to write a play again. 

     This film can be difficult to follow if you don’t know the history of Shakespeare.  There are inside jokes that may not mean anything?  Shakespeare is belatedly mourning his son who died 17 years prior at a young age.  Scandals envelope his daughters and they feel they are a disappointment because they are female.  They are desperate to give their father a male heir.  Shakespeare’s scripts were welcomed in the big city but the countryside was a Puritan stronghold.  The preferred color of clothing in the country was black and no colors would be accepted.  This type of film is really not my cup of tea??  2 ½* (This movie is so-so)

101 min, Bio directed by Kenneth Branagh with Kenneth Branagh, Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, Nonso Anozie, Lolita Chakrabarti, Darryl Clark, Jack Colgrave Hirst, Doug Colling, John Dageleish, Eleanor de Rohan, Clara Duczmal, Phil Dunster, Freya Durkan, Sam Ellis, Sean Foley.

Note:  Imdb 6.1 out of 10, Roger Ebert 3* Odie Henderson, Rotten Tomatoes 71% critic 73% audience, RollingStone Peter Travers 3 ½* out of 5*, The Washington Post 3* out of 4* Ann Hornaday, Amazon 3.6* out of 5* with 48 reviews, The Guardian Peter Bradshaw 4* out of 5*, Common Sense Media Tara McNamara 13+ 2* out of 5*, 2* positive, 1* role model 2* violence, 2* sex, 3* language, 1* drinking, drugs, smoking.

Special Note:  Filmed in Dorney Court, Dorney, Buckinghamshire, England, UK.  The original English title of this movie All Is True taken from the Shakespeare play Henry VII for which it was an early alternative title.  Kenneth Branagh, Judi Dench, Anne Hathaway and Michael Rouse appeared in Murder on the Orient Express 2017.  The cinematography for the interior scenes were done using only candlelight.  Shakespeare addresses the Earl of Southhampton as “Your Grace”.  Addressing an Earl, the correct form is “My Lord”.  Only a Duke is addressed as Your Grace.