10 Oscar Winning Films With Huge Historical Inaccuracies

6. Shakespeare In Love (1998) - Bill Was Anything But A Real-Life Romeo

The film Shakespeare In Love suggests that Britain's best-known playwright wrote his most famous work - Romeo And Juliet - after falling in love with Viola de Lesseps. However, William Shakespeare had no such romantic involvement with De Lesseps and the film is actually largely historically inaccurate and is a fabricated tale. In fact, Shakespeare drew inspiration for his tragic romance from Arthur Brooke's 1562 poem The Tragical History Of Romeus And Juliet - written more than 40 years before the playwright constructed his plot - which itself was a nod to Italian folklore and an ancient Venetian love tail.

References to representatives of the "House of Wessex" in the film are also factually inaccurate, as this lineage died out during the Norman Conquest in the 11th Century. Also, the "Virginia tobacco plantations" mentioned throughout the film did not exist at the time - with the colony of Virginia yet to sprout into being in the late 1500s. Seven Academy Awards in 1999 - for Best Picture, Best Actress (Gwyneth Paltrow), Best Supporting Actress (Judi Dench), Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Original Musical or Comedy Score and Best Original Screenplay - though is still not bad for a film almost entirely fabricated...