- Two souls are so deeply in love with one another that they are entangled beyond life itself.
- The beginning and end of the relationship between the physical beings of William Ward, a black man, and Venus Ward née Redhawk, a Native American, is presented. The end is marked by Venus' passing, about which William makes no medical intervention based on Venus' wishes. This lack of action places a strain between William and Venus' young adult son, Ricky, and William. In the aftermath, William displays some behavior which Ricky finds unusual, William stating it all having to do with Venus, making Ricky believe that William is becoming unhinged in denying his mother's death. These actions, all based on William indeed searching for Venus - his "Juliet" - become all the more clear as the beginning of their relationship is presented starting in the early 1970s. They initially meet during an audition as Juliet in a fundraising production of Romeo and Juliet, with Venus, who deeply feels and truly does understand the works of William Shakespeare, trying to break the color barrier in acting, not just in general but the works of Shakespeare specifically. Her lifelong work toward breaking that color barrier is only what appears on the surface of her life, the underlying being remaining true to her Native American roots, especially the Redhawks being a "lightning" clan. William arguably begins to understand the soul of Venus through the stories of Mountain, the Redhawk family's guide. William's relationship with Venus and the Redhawks is placed against his own struggles with his farmer father, who wants him to follow in his footsteps in taking over the farm, which William has no intention of doing.—Huggo
- FILM REVIEW: CHASING SHAKESPEARE by Leonardo Santana, SUMMIT DAILY NEWS
Told in flashback from his wife's deathbed, "Chasing Shakespeare" protagonist William Ward (Danny Glover) dives under the gloomy waters of his memory to recall the love story of his life with Venus, a girl belonging to the Lighting Clan, a peculiar Native American family living in Arkansas with a strange communion with electricity. Their love is a difficult scenario to play: in a very Greek-Shakespearean tragedy manner, both of them belong to different cultures and backgrounds.
Theater was the predecessor of cinema, and as it grew, cinema incorporated theater's parallels and metaphors. In 1918, Swedish silent films began to transform idyllic landscapes into active participants, characters even, in cinematic drama. The stormy seas were now a metaphor of inner turmoil. Chasing Shakespeare puts to use its tempestuous and spectacular displays of thunder and lightning to indicate the passion felt between two young lovers, despite cultural divisiveness.
Chasing Shakespeare was written by James Bird, a Native American writer/director/producer. Directed by Norry Niven the film is edified by the vision, aspirations and ideas of Niven's artistic view on the world, a deeply layered, artistic story about love in a world governed by racial and ethnic differences.
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