Though Kenneth Branagh has spent decades performing in and adapting Shakespeare productions for the stage and screen, All Is True marks the first time the actor has played the Bard himself. Directing from a screenplay by Ben Elton, Branagh takes a breather from the string of escapist spectacles he’s made recently to craft an unfussy, intimate chamber drama that’s fearless in confronting the attitudes of its exalted subject.
The film portrays the final years of William Shakespeare’s life as he returns from working alone in London to retire and settle down with his family in his home in Stratford-upon-Avon following the accidental destruction of his beloved Globe Theatre. This low-key, unproductive period in Shakespeare’s life proves to be crucial to Branagh’s depiction of him here, as the film manages to successfully strip away much of the legendary aura surrounding the playwright to show that he is, much like everyone else, a flawed, complicated human being. And by structuring All Is True around a series of fraught moments in Shakespeare’s family life, with wife Anne (Judi Dench) and daughters Susanna (Lydia Wilson) and Judith (Kathryn Wilder), Branagh creates a cumulative effect that demonstrates the perils of genius.
The title All Is True is both a nod to the alternative name for Henry VIII (it was a performance of the play that caused the Globe to burn down, when cannon fire landed on the theater’s thatched roof) and a stab at irony, since the film presents speculation and rumor regarding aspects of Shakespeare’s life as fact. This includes Shakespeare’s historically uncertain love affair with Henry Wriothesley, third earl of Southampton, memorably played by Ian McKellen in a single extended scene. During a visit Wriothesley pays to Shakespeare, Branagh toys with literary legacy by recontextualizing the writer’s sonnets—appreciated by the mass public for their artistic value—as intensely personal love letters meant solely for Wriothesley.
Like Wriothesley, just about everyone in the film is open about recognizing Shakespeare’s talent—moments that are then countered by depictions of the playwright’s dysfunctional family life. Aside from the clunky expository dialogue that sometimes afflicts these passages, the frequent displays of egotism and sexism by the writer effectively show him to be a deeply flawed individual. All Is True acknowledges that Shakespeare’s inability to get along with his family stems from his neglect as a father and husband. It’s a point that’s mainly underscored through Judith’s feelings of intimidation and how they lead her to try and gain his acceptance by composing poetry. Though Judith, per her father’s wishes, eventually marries, the film shrewdly leaves open the question of whether she did so completely of her own volition.
Perhaps the depth of Shakespeare’s flaws is best conveyed in a striking monologue in which he speaks of a dream involving his deceased son’s penknife. The monologue, laced with lines that see Shakespeare touting his brilliance, perfectly channels the playwright’s storytelling skills as it homes in on the dimensions of his self-involvement. By film’s end, Branagh suggests that the characters Shakespeare became known for may have resulted from genius, but it was a genius borne of his profound understanding of his human frailty.
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