REVIEW
All is True
Stars: 5.0
Starring Kenneth Branagh, Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, Lydia Wilson, Kathryn Wilder, and Jimmy Yuill
Directed by Kenneth Branagh
Written by Ben Elton
Rated: PG for coarse language and substance use
Runtime: 101 minutes
Now playing at the Princess Theatre, 10337 82 Ave. in Edmonton
There is no doubting that Kenneth Branagh has a serious affection for the Bard. By last count, he has either or both starred in or/and directed several film versions of William Shakespeare’s plays, each and every one of them overwhelmingly enjoyable on one level or another. Incredibly, it’s been a full 30 years since Branagh firmly established his Shakespearean devotion in Henry V. He’s brought some of the greatest plays to theatre audiences since then and now, he offers a very personal look into the life of the man himself.
All is True starts in 1613, with the sad occasion of the Globe Theatre burning to the ground, the playwright himself watching in sadness at a safe distance. In the fire, it seemed as if more was also set alight and turned to ash. Shakespeare never wrote another play, but there’s more to this story than just a view of a writer during the last years of his life.
He had been away in London, away from his family and his home in Stratford-upon-Avon. Losing the stage was a brutal blow but coming back meant he had to face the harsh reality of his personal life: his son had died and he was fairly well estranged from his wife, Anne Hathaway (Judi Dench) and their two daughters, Judith (Kathryn Wilder) and Susannah (Lydia Wilson). His misery in mourning both his career and his child leaves him to be a shoddy companion in the manor.
The character of Shakespeare is in capable hands with Branagh, despite the facial prosthetics that, in my view, make him appear somewhat like Ben Kingsley portraying Cyrano de Bergerac. Regardless, this is not a comedic take on the man’s biography. Branagh, in turn, is in capable hands with this screenplay by the stellar Ben Elton.
Elton is as prolific and versatile a writer as Shakespeare, perhaps even more so. There… I said it. He has novels, plays, radio plays, screenplays, television comedies and dramas, musicals, and more. He might even be writing these words at this very moment… that’s just how much he writes. Elton offers a tender examination of the much-vaunted real figure, veering away from the soft glow of a royal portrait but instead digging into the moments that find our protagonist in full selfishness, yelling at his wife and daughters about how wonderful his lost son was, while refusing to accept how deeply his lamentations continue to begrieve the women in his life.
“Family is everything,” he says at one point during a suppertime speech. It’s the central thesis of this work, which is as much about trumpeting the praises of Anne, Judith and Susannah, as it cheers on an elder Will, a celebrity of his time who retreats from the spotlight in his retiring years to find his family waiting for him in the warm glow of home. This is the film I’ve been waiting years to watch.
