Monologue: Judi Dench in “Shakespeare in Love” (and at the Oscars )
Monday, October 21, 2013 at 10:00PM Andrew here. Jose was just talking about Romeo & Juliet so there's our blogging segueway to Shakespeare in Love! I love this movie, despite the less than stellar reputation it's built up since its release 15 years ago. I’d argue that it’s the most successfully executed romantic comedy in the past 20 years. Those that claim that Shakespeare in Love is little more than a bauble often forget that it was penned by one of the finest English language dramatists of the 20th century, Tom Stoppard. Films written by playwrights work well for this column because playwrights are innately aware that monologues are like great set-pieces to show off the acting craft. Shakespeare in Love is filled with monologues and sotto voce asides and it’s not just because of Stoppard’s playwright sensibilities. The very best trick Stoppard plays in Shakespeare in Love is delightfully imping Shakespeare’s technique in the film.
But the monologue. Today we focus on that slight, but effective Supporting turn which won the Oscar.
Shakespeare in Love is both ode to Shakespeare and spoof of his dramaturgy, right down to the entrance of the Royal Official to end everything by deciding who and what goes where. Three cheers for Judi Dench’s Oscar winning turn as Queen Elizabeth. There’s been much handwringing about Dench’s Oscar, one of the many stolen ones from Shakespeare in Love but I always tend to forget about the brevity of the role in the watching both because the film goes down so easy and because Dench’s role, short as it may be, is so effective. Dench’s ability to pull focus when on screen has always been impressive and each time she speaks in the film it’s in something of a monologue, or it appears to be a monologue because everyone around becomes duller. Queen Elizabeth has been played by so many women, so how to make her intriguing and worthy of the film - and in just three scenes? Call in Judi Dench.
The film comes to its close as Viola de Lesseps (illegally) turns up to play Juliet on-stage to thunderous applause. The cheering is curtailed by the appearance of Mr Tilney, the Master of the Revels, ready to arrest everyone for public lewdness.
Simon Callow manages to get in the funniest line of the scene. "That woman is a woman!" But, Tilney doesn’t get much chance to lord over the playhouse because the Queen’s voice cuts through the room, almost magically and she appears.
Mr Tilney! Have a care with my name, you will wear it out.”
On one hand with eight minutes screen-time at her disposal Dench is not doing much, ostensibly, but she’s placed in a position of having to get to the root of the character immediately. The steely gaze, her carriage as she makes her way to the stage, the posture – it’s all very Queenly in a way that’s played broadly but still on point.
The Queen of England does not attend exhibitions of public lewdness, so something is out of joint. Come here Master Kent, let me look at you. Yes the illusion is remarkable, and your error Mr Tilney is easily forgiven. But I know something of a woman in a man’s profession. Yes, by God, I do know about that."
Madden often directs utilising theater-friendly shots of the ensemble at the expense of closeups. With Dench’s Queen, though, her scenes are all pronounced by her face full on-screen. That look she gives on the line, “By God, I do know that” (pictured above) is one of the best examples ever of supporting performers playing it like they're the lead in their own story (the one just offscreen). Dench is lucky that audiences familiarity with Elizabeth's legend adds to our understanding but even as this almost deus ex machina like monologue is aiming to land with comedic worth, she’s adding gradations where you don’t expect. The line could read as merely funny but with Dench it's also poignant. With her inflections an entire life's work is put into its utterance.
That is enough from you, Master Kent. If only Lord Wessex were here.
And there he is!
(Two doesn’t make a trend, but my favourite thing about Colin Firth in the 90s is his insistence on being romantic foils to the Fiennes brothers in Best Picture winners from Miramax. Talk about a niche!)
There was a wager, I remember as to whether a play could show the very truth and nature of love. I think you lost it today.
This line recalls Dench’s earlier scene where she gives my favourite line-reading in the film. "But playwrights teach nothing about love, they make it pretty, they make it comical, or they make it lust. They cannot make it true."
Master Shakespeare, next time you come to Greenwich come as yourself and we will speak some more.
She leaves the playhouse, but the monologue isn’t over. She still has more judgements to make.
Why, Lord Wessex, lost your wife so soon?
And here, just as the Duke must grapple with how to resolve the issues in Romeo and Juliet so must the Queen. How is this to end? Wesex wonders. Her reply:
As stories must when love’s denied – with tears, and a journey. Those whom god has joined in marriage not even I can put asunder. Master Kent, Lord Wessex as I foretold has lost his wife in the playhouse. Go make your farewell and send her out, it’s time to settle accounts.
(Gwyneth Paltrow is so fantastic in this film. Viola de Lesseps plays to her strengths more than anything she’s done before or after. This silent moment reacting to the Queen's judgement always kills me.) Dench wraps it all up neatly: Wessex gets his bride, Will gets his money and Viola shall get a heroine named after her.
Tell Master Shakespeare something more cheerful next time, for Twelfth Night."
And with that the Queen departs, but not before being faced with a dirty puddle.
My sister once jokingly called Shakespeare in Love the movie where Judi Dench walks through a dirty puddle and gets an Oscar. I've often wondered why THAT moment to mark her exit from the film, although her “Too late, too late!” to her bannermen after she’s walked through it is a pure delight. Of course, it’s all really part of Shakespeare in Love’s impish intent on being less pristine than typical period fare in innocuous moments (Will’s dirty fingernails another example). It’s an easy joke to end on but the 'royals, they’re just like us' joke never fails to amuse. Even if it’s a lie. Judi Dench’s Queen Elizabeth is nothing like these plebeians. She’s above them all.
Her win is a great nineties Oscar moment all the way from Robin Williams’ “There’s nothing like a Dame” quip to her genuine surprise and then a truly excellent speech.
I feel for eight minutes on the screen I should only get a little bit of him. I do feel the best bit about the Academy Awards is being nominated. You live in a kind of haze for several weeks and terrible thing is that someone’s got to win and my heart goes out to the other four who didn’t and also my admiration.”
I am always a sucker for winners graciously mentioning their fellow nominees and Judi's stately composure makes the slightly teary sincerity of her speech all the more lovely to behold. It's a more gentle indication of royalty, but it proves the same point as Shakespeare in Love: Judi Dench is Queen.
Reader Comments (28)
Huzzah! I have always unabashedly loved Shakespeare in Love, and that admiration only grows with each passing year. The way the script is so attuned to Shakespeare's style - both broadly and specifically - is so freaking genius I don't know where to start. And both Paltrow and Dench are far better than most will ever give them credit for. This entire scene is so beautifully played (look at the faces of the rest of the ensemble when Dench is speaking - LOTS of great work there), and I love how controlled, but not flat, Dench is. This is a part that very easily could have gone south in any number of ways, but she was able to find the exact right tone for it to work - something that is actually true of the entire film, now that I think about it.
A film doesn't have to be about big important themes to be great. Sometimes all it needs to do is find the exact right way to play a great script. In the immortal words of Nick Davis: "Eat it, people. SHAKESPEARE won!"
I hate the backlash against this film that's arisen thanks to the obnoxious IMDb crowd (who mainly seem to be single, overweight 30somethings). The dialog is effortless and the film is insanely rewatchable.
By the way, I really think Kathy Bates should've won that year, and if that would've happened, Dench would've deservedly won for Notes on a Scandal instead. But alas...
"the terrible thing is that someone’s got to win and my heart goes out to the other four who didn’t"
that is one classy broad
Love the performance, speech, and Judi in general. One of my favourite movies of all time, and I think quite possibly the greatest script ever written.
"I’d argue that it’s the most successfully executed romantic comedy in the past 20 years"
And one of the finest films of the past two decades to boot.
Anyone who disputes that is an idiot. (This isn't me talking like a high-schooler, it's simple fact.)
An amazing movie, a great performance, one of my favourite speeches, and a wonderful write-up.
That was quite a older year. Even with Rachel Griffiths (as an aside: how giddy was she after her clip? love seeing genuine excitement from newcomers) that would surely rank as one of the oldest collection of nominees of average age ever, right?
Jordan, nope, Helen Mirren was always going to win for THE QUEEN.
I love this film and it is one of the best and most original Oscar winners in the last 20 years in my opinion. it's so charming and witty. and the performances are great. dench was in a movie for only nine minutes, but isn't that what the supporting categories are for - to reward actors in smaller roles? I respect that more than category frauds. she made every minute unforgettable. paltrow was excellent too, and the only reason I objected her win way back than was because joseph fiennes was not even nominated. they were so good together. and the more people hate this movie and it's leading lady, my respect grows and I like them more.
I'm Judi Fucking Dench!
I just looooove this movie! Without a doubt one of the most deserving best picture winners. And while I didn't care for both Gwyneth and Judi at the beginning, I have by now been completely won over. Both do great work!
The thing that annoys me about the Shakespeare in Love backlash is that every year the complaints are wheeled out about the Academy ignoring comedy and considering it less worthy than a serious film. Here we have one of the few examples of a brilliantly written comedy getting its due at the Oscars, and it's now dismissed as "fluff" next to Saving Private Ryan.
Dame Judi still should have won for Mrs Brown - her performance is heartbreaking.
Dench should have won for Notes on a Scandal, but she was pretty close second for this one and Mrs. Brown. All terrific performances.
And I'm glad history is gonna respect Paltrow's performance as the deserving winner that year. It's a hell of a performance.
Beautifully written and brilliantly executed, Shakespeare in Love is one of my favorite Oscar wins of the 90s.
Judi Dench gives us a master class. The way she speaks and stares is just brilliant.
Random random, I know ... but does anyone remember when Ian McKellan hosted SNL after the first LOTR movie? During "Weekend Update," he dressed up as Maggie Smith and gave a little talk about Judi Dench. I have been trying to find that clip forever (anyone?). I remember it being hysterical! And it made me love Ian, Maggie and Judi even more.
So glad to see that not everyone on the Internet hates Shakespeare in Love. It's sometimes difficult to remember that!
I don't have a problem with the film taking best picture, its beautifully written and conceived. But I feel Watson, Montenegro and Blanchett were all far more deserving of the actress prize than GP whom I found to be the weakest part of SiL. And while I adore Dench, she should have won for Mrs Brown and this award gone to Redgrave or Griffiths.
Remember this was the year of Benigni. The academy wasn't exactly thinking straight.
There you go, CharlieG: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQhJ40QM6zc (it only took a quick search on youtube)
Thanks Carlos. Unfortunately, when I go to the link, it says that the uploader hasn't made it available in my country yet. Oy. Stupid America.
I get a bit irritated when people say that Judi Dench's Oscar for 'Shakespeare in Love' was compensation for a terribly unjust loss to Helen Hunt the year prior. Helena Bonham Carter was leagues above the other Best Actress nominees in 1997. Where's her make up Oscar?
I'm glad history is gonna respect Paltrow's performance as the deserving winner that year
But history hasn't altered because you read someone's minority opinion on the matter.
I think SIL is an adorable film, not the Best Picture of that year but still adorable. and while Blanchett and Montenegro were outstanding and deserving on their own (not so much Emily Overacting Watson or Meryl Default Streep), Paltrow is so enchanting (just like the movie she starred) that you can't love her if you like the picture...and since many people liked SIL...
I always thought the Queen Elizabeth and the puddle part in SIL was a reference to Sir Walter Raleigh. Early in her reign, he was supposed to have spread his cloak over a puddle for her so her shoes would not get dirty. He became a favorite of the Queen, and she financed his travels to establish a colony in Virginia (which is where Gwyneth and Colin were going).
So the courtiers know they're supposed to emulate this and put their cloaks down. But they don't want to. I'd guess the Queen would not only feel the Age of Chivalry was dead, but that her power was waning, that courtiers aren't keen enough to gain favor.
I like this movie better all the time. Now I recognize all the small part players as actors that I love, like Tom Wilkinson.
She was so classy and gracious a winner. I never mind it when she is on screen.
"...and it's now dismissed as "fluff" next to Saving Private Ryan."
I actually know plenty of people who are as equally defensive about Shakespeare in Love and are as dismissive as Saving Private Ryan. In the end they were both great films but people love them WWII dramas, I guess. I personally think the dismissals to both films are pretty annoying. I actually think SPR has a lot to say about patriotism and not necessary in a saccharine way people find its reputation to be.
Judi Dench's win is one of my favorite Supporting Actress Oscar wins ever, and nothing's going to chance that. She did more with eight minutes of screentime than some winners in this category did with an hour or more. Suck on it long and hard, haters! Thank you ANDREW for recognizing Dench's brilliance here and deserved Oscar win!
"the year of benigni"
I get a little irritated about people bitching about Benigni because that was extremely skilled and difficult performance, in which there were tons of layers of inside the clown thing; let me tell you something: clown is so hard to do. I can't picture any of his co-nominees being brave enough for such a radical turn. And, clearly, he was not being himself. There are so many things that are specific about Guido, like his sense of denial, that you can't just say it's Benigni.
Benigni was absolutely terrific in that movie, absolutely deserving.
Wonderful piece that gets to the root of why this performance was more than a one scene showpiece. Thanks.
For once I agree with Cal Roth. Benigni's clown was perfect and a rightful winner.
I too love Dench, but oh so much more in Mrs. Brown and Notes on a Scandal.