Before he was William
Shakespeare has reasons to be proud, but maybe not as much in his early days.
Bill, a comedy about William Shakespeare’s life before he became famous, was released in theaters in the United Kingdom on September 18, 2015, but was only shown once in theaters the United States, on April 16, 2016, one week before Shakespeare’s birthday.
The film was directed by Richard Bracewell. According to Wikipedia, “the film will tell the “real story” of what happens when “hopeless lute player Bill Shakespeare leaves his family and home to follow his dream. It’s a tale of murderous kings, spies, lost loves, and a plot to blow up Queen Elizabeth.”
The movie has an extensive soundtrack with a lot of songs built on puns and twists. It plays with lots of famous Shakespearian quotes, and makes fun of the history of the late sixteenth century. It is aimed at pleasing a British audience with a British sense of humor, so unless you know literature and history and have a dry wit, this movie is probably not for you.
However, if you do want to see it here in the United States, you can find it at https://ww4.fmovie.sc/online/bill-2015/.
