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''Anonymous'' is a 2011 political thriller and historical drama film. Directed by Roland Emmerich and written by John Orloff, the movie is a fictionalized version of the life of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, an Elizabethan courtier, playwright, poet and patron of the arts. It stars Rhys Ifans as de Vere and Vanessa Redgrave as Queen Elizabeth I of England. Set within the political atmosphere of the Elizabethan court, the film presents Lord Oxford as the true author of William Shakespeare's plays, and dramatizes events around the succession to Queen Elizabeth I, and the Earl of Essex Rebellion against her. De Vere is depicted as a literary prodigy and the Queen's sometime lover, with whom she has a son, Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, only to discover that he himself may be the Queen's son by an earlier lover. De Vere eventually sees his suppressed plays performed through a frontman (Shakespeare), using his production of ''Richard III'' to support a rebellion led by his son and Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex.〔.〕 The insurrection fails, and as a condition for sparing the life of their son, the Queen declares that de Vere will never be known as the author of his plays and poems. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2011. Produced by Centropolis Entertainment and Studio Babelsberg and distributed by Columbia Pictures, ''Anonymous'' was released on October 28, 2011 in 265 theatres in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, expanding to movie theatres around the world in the following weeks. The film was a box-office flop and received mixed reviews, with critics praising its performances and visual achievements, but criticizing the film's time-jumping format, factual errors, and the filmmakers' promotion of the Oxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship.〔Robert Sawyer,'Biographical Aftershocks: Shakespeare and Marlowe in the Wake of 9/11',in ''Critical Survey,'' Berghahn publishers, Volume 25, Number 1 (Spring) 2013 pp.19-32, p.28:'While the rivalry with Marlowe is not a central feature of the movie,wild conjecture is. As Douglas Lanier has recently posited, the movie displays a ‘pile-up of factual errors’, borrowing more from a long ‘list of intercinematic’ references rather than any reliance on ‘fidelity to the verifiable historical record’.〕 == Plot == After a monologue delivered by Derek Jacobi, the film opens in 1603, with Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, ordering a desperate search for a trove of manuscripts. Ben Jonson, who has the manuscripts, flees down the streets of London and into the theatre known as The Rose. Hot on his heels, the soldiers who have been sent to arrest Jonson, break down the doors and intentionally set the theatre alight. Successive flashbacks cast us back five and then forty years, as the film evokes the reputed life of Edward de Vere from childhood through to his entanglement in an insurrection, and later on to his deathbed. The main action takes place five years earlier in 1598, a decade after the defeat of the Spanish Armada, as political intrigue flourishes between the Tudors and the Cecils (father William and son Robert), over the succession to Queen Elizabeth I. In flashbacks, de Vere is portrayed as a prodigious genius, writing at eight or nine years of age (1558/1559) ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', de Vere acting the role of Puck before the young queen Elizabeth. He is then forced to live in the repressive, puritanical house of William Cecil where, years later, he kills a spying servant lurking behind an arras, much like the death of Polonius in ''Hamlet''. William Cecil uses this murder to blackmail de Vere into a loveless marriage with his daughter, Anne Cecil, compelling him also to renounce literature. De Vere later becomes the Queen's lover, and sires – unknown to him – an illegitimate son; the son is adopted, becoming Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, but his true parentage is hidden from all but the Cecils. De Vere must struggle against a taboo that would forbid him to write; against his wife's impatience with his literary work as a dishonour to her family;〔: "his literary efforts were considered an improper use of a nobleman's time – 'you're writing again' his wife hisses, as if she'd caught him fondling the scullery maid. 'Why must you continue to humiliate my family?' Thus he scribbles in secret."〕 and against the Queen's counsellors. Foremost among these is his father-in-law William Cecil, who is convinced that theatres are sinful. Cecil's plan to have James VI of Scotland, the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, crowned king is also threatened by the presence of de Vere's and the Queen's child, who would be an alternative contender for the throne, and also of pure Tudor lineage. Almost four decades after his private premiere, de Vere visits a public theatre and is deeply impressed by the way spectators can be swayed. The play, written by Ben Jonson, is halted mid-performance by the royal militia because of its allegedly seditious content. Jonson is arrested and imprisoned. Much taken by the propagandistic power of art, considering that "all art is political ... otherwise it is just decoration", de Vere decides to employ his secretly written plays for the promotion of the Earl of Essex's cause (Essex being another of the Queen's illegitimate sons) over the candidate preferred by the Cecils, writing ''Henry V'' and, later, ''Richard III'' as propaganda designed to foment revolution. He contacts Jonson, who is confined in the Tower of London until de Vere uses his influence to free him, in order to have his play ''Henry V'' staged under Jonson's name. Jonson is unhappy about the plan, assuming that the play will be an amateurish effort that will tarnish his name. Jonson does not claim authorship, allowing an unscrupulous young actor, William Shakespeare, to step up on stage as author. It is this "drunken oaf" who takes on the role as de Vere's front man, while Jonson becomes de Vere's only confidant in the truth. Shakespeare however, having discovered the real author's identity, extorts money from de Vere to build the Globe Theatre, and wangles £400 per year for posturing as a front. After Christopher Marlowe stumbles on the truth that Shakespeare's inexplicable talents hide the genius of another hand, he is found with his throat slit. Jonson later confronts Shakespeare and accuses him of the murder. At the climax, de Vere uses the play ''Richard III'' as a thinly veiled attack on the hunchbacked Robert Cecil. The plan is to incite a mob to march against Cecil, and thus weaken his position at court. At the same time, Essex is to march with the Earl of Southampton to the Palace, to promote his own claim to the succession. Meanwhile, de Vere writes ''Venus and Adonis'' to remind the Queen of their old love. He hopes to see her again in an atmosphere of renewed intimacy, and to persuade her to dismiss Cecil. However the plan fails, as a jealous Jonson, unaware of de Vere's plan, betrays the plot to Cecil. Jonson soon learns the plan, but fails to alert Francesco of his betrayal in time, as the mob is massacred by soldiers with muskets and artillery pieces, stopping it from joining Essex. The Queen, swayed by Cecil, thinks that Essex is trying to depose her violently. Essex and his men are lured into the Palace courtyard, where they are ambushed by soldiers firing muskets from the balconies above. Essex and Southampton surrender honorably. Essex is later executed, but not before screaming "God save the Queen!". Southampton is later released. Robert Cecil then tells a broken de Vere that Elizabeth had other bastard sons – one of whom was de Vere himself. If true, it would mean that de Vere committed incest with his mother. He has a private audience with Elizabeth, at which the Queen agrees to save Southampton, but insists that de Vere remain anonymous as the true author of "Shakespeare's" works. After the Queen's death, James VI succeeds as James I of England, though Cecil's hopes of a more puritanical regime are shattered when James reveals himself to be an avid "theater man". Shakespeare retires on his ill-gotten gains to Stratford to become a businessman, and de Vere dies in 1604, having commended his manuscripts to the care of a repentant Ben Jonson. Cecil however still wants the manuscripts destroyed. With the destruction of The Rose, he believes them burnt, but Jonson later discovers they have survived. Nevertheless, the "truth" remains concealed: that Edward de Vere, not the nearly illiterate Shakespeare, is their real author. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Anonymous (film)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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