BILL
UK, 2015, 94 minutes, Colour.
Matthew Baynton, Simon Farnaby, Martha Howe- Douglas, Jim Howick, Laurence Rickard, Ben Willbond, Helen Mc Crory, Damian Lewis.
Directed by Richard Bracewell.
The Bill of the title is William Shakespeare, a would-be lute player in the band, Mortal Coil (from whom he has to shuffle off) in Stratford-upon- Avon, married to Anne Hathaway, with his children. He writes plays and longs for a more successful career, going off to London, despite the protests from his wife.
This is not a biography – it is rather a Shakespearean version of the popular television series, Horrible Histories. While it has a substantial budget, recreates the Elizabethan period with some detail, including London and the court of Philip II in Madrid, it is a spoof, enjoyable for those who are on the wavelength, probably something of a mystery for those who over-reverence Shakespeare or do not understand this playing with history.
So, there is a great deal of potential for entertainment, checking in with history and the facts, moving towards interpretation, the comic perspective, and the role of satire.
This is the 1590s, and Elizabeth has been on the throne for some decades with another decade to go. She is presented as very haughty, moody, calculating – a performance by Helen Mc Crory, with dialogue going back to her father, Henry VIII, the intervention of Philip II of Spain who had married her half-sister, Mary, and the failure of the Armada.
We are taken to the court of Philip II, with Damian Lewis as an envoy who is arrested and tortured. it seems that diplomatic manoeuvres are in progress, with the ambassador to Elizabeth’s court but also the hiring of a group of assassins (all with comic touches on their way, including a cross-dresser who always wants the female parts). the entourage goes to the UK, lands on the coast, is exposed to Customs officials, but they fight, with corpses strewn on the beach. When they go to court, they intend to assassinate Elizabeth during the performance of a play.
One of the characters who turns up, full of self-importance and fanaticism against Catholics, searching for them everywhere, is Francis Walsingham.
The scenes of life in Stratford are entertaining, especially with Shakespeare and the band. On his way to London, he sees criminals held high in cages and gets directions from them only to find that he is almost instantly robbed. Going to an inn, he meets up with Christopher Marlowe, has a good talk, gets a gig where they both roam the streets with placards advertising vegetables – although Marlowe goes over to meat! Marlowe encourages Shakespeare, helps him write and changes the play.
Enter another character, the Earl of Croydon, very snobbish but disdained by fellow aristocrats. He drinks but is not accepted, goes to the court where he volunteers to write a play for Elizabeth’s celebration but finds it very difficult to do the lines. Another character is his servant on whom he relies – and who succeeds at the end.
At this stage, Anne Hathaway comes to London, is set upon in the streets and injured and is rescued by the Earl of Croydon. In his laments about the difficulties in writing a play, Anne volunteers the news that her husband writes plays. The play is accepted, as it is being performed there is a variation on the gunpowder plot and the Spaniards are exposed, especially with the loyalty of the cross-dressing actor transferring to Shakespeare.
For Shakespeare lovers, there are plenty of references to the plays and quotations – and some further amusement with the murder of Marlowe as a spy and his appearing as a ghost to encourage his friend Bill.
One of the main features of the film is that the very versatile cast perform in a wide range of different characters throughout.
