DIRECTED by Roland Emmerich to a screenplay by John Orloff, “Anonymous” tells of the political struggle about choosing a sovereign to succeed Elizabeth I.

And to flesh out that well-documented issue, it speculates about the authorship of those plays, sonnets and epic poems which four centuries later we affectionately call “Shakespearean”.

“Anonymous” is full of male characters whose identities are best known to the actors playing them behind thickets of whisker.

Chief male protagonist is the Earl of Oxford (Rhys Ifans). David Thewlis plays William Cecil and Edward Hogg his scheming son Robert. Rafe Spall is Shakespeare.

Leading the female cast, Vanessa Redgrave as the aged Elizabeth and her daughter Joely Richardson as the young one wear bodices compressing their bosoms in a manner looking uncomfortable.

Mildly challenging, often violent, “Anonymous” depicts historical realities and modern conjectures with unabashed frankness and arguments of some cogency. The costumes and locations are impressive.

Leaving the cinema, a stranger and I agreed that the experience had been worthwhile. The number of children borne to the virgin queen really doesn’t matter.

Neither does the name of the author of Shakespeare’s collected works.

They are with us forever. For which we give thanks.

At Dendy, Greater Union and Hoyts