Of all the amazing-looking films premiering at the Toronto Film Festival in September, I'm perhaps the most perversely curious about Anonymous, the Elizabethan drama from none other than Roland Emmerich, master of apocalyptic mayhem in movies like Independence Day and 2012. Not only is it set in the hoity-toity Elizabethan era, but it's actually about Shakespeare, or rather, the anonymous playwright who actually wrote Shakespeare's most famous works. Between the whiplash-inducing contrast of Emmerich making a historical drama and the bizarre use of Radiohead's "Everything In Its Right Place" in the first trailer, Anonymous looks entirely unpredictable, and that's what I like about it.

The mystery keeps deepening in another new, presumably international trailer that popped up online today. The Radiohead is back, along with a lot of shouting about the power of words and the imperious presence of Vanessa Redgrave as Queen Elizabeth I. Take a look below.



The one thing that's a little maddening about these trailers is that they don't make it all that clear who the players are-- who is the author writing Shakespeare's words instead of him? Why are there cannons being fired? How exactly is Elizabeth involved? The trailer does a good job conveying atmosphere, though, and the sense that this is an Elizabethan drama cranked up to a new level. What can I say, I'm still intrigued, and maybe still hoping a world-ending tidal wave might come into play. Anonymous will premiere at the festival in Toronto before opening worldwide on September 30, so expect to be hearing much more about it very soon.