Wilde (1997)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Brian Gilbert

Writers:

Richard Ellmann (book)
Julian Mitchell (writer)

Release Date:

1 May 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Tagline:

The story of the first modern man

Plot:

The story of Oscar Wilde, genius, poet, playwright and the First Modern Man. The self-realisation of...

Plot Keywords:

Hard Labor | Public Nudity | Male Rear Nudity | Bare Butt | Diving

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 3 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Stephen Fry	...	Oscar Wilde
Jude Law	...	Lord Alfred 'Bosie' Douglas
Vanessa Redgrave	...	Lady Speranza Wilde
Jennifer Ehle	...	Constance Lloyd Wilde
Gemma Jones	...	Lady Queensberry
Judy Parfitt	...	Lady Mount-Temple
Michael Sheen	...	Robbie Ross
Zoë Wanamaker	...	Ada Leverson
Tom Wilkinson	...	Marquess of Queensberry
Ioan Gruffudd	...	John Gray
Matthew Mills	...	Lionel Johnson
Jason Morell	...	Ernest Dowson
Peter Barkworth	...	Charles Gill
Robert Lang	...	C.O. Humphreys
Philip Locke	...	Judge

Also Known As:

Oscar Wilde (Germany) (Japan: English title)
Oscar Wilde (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
Wilde (Portugal) [pt]
Wilde (Spain) [es]
Wilde - O Primeiro Homem Moderno (Brazil) [pt]

MPAA:

Rated R for strong sexuality and language.

Runtime:

118 min

Country:

UK | Germany | Japan

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:18A (Ontario) | Australia:M | Iceland:14 (original rating) | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Ireland:18 | Singapore:R21 (cut) | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Hong Kong:III | Mexico:C | Portugal:M/16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Grip House Studios, Greenford, Middlesex, England, UK

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

'Sting' was considered for a cameo role and Theresa Russell was considered for the part of Wilde's wife.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When Bosie enters Oscar's room in the country house, a picture to the left of the door reflects a studio light and later, when Bosie sits down, the boom.

Quotes:

Oscar Wilde: I do believe in anything, provided it is incredible. That's why I intend to die a Catholic, though I never could live as one.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Venice Report (1997) (TV)

sympathetic reassessment of Wilde

This film was one of the best to appear in the late 90s, and is a sensitive, involving, honest and moving biography of one of the greatest writers of the Victorian era, the infamous Oscar Wilde.

More realistic and better played than previous studies of the writer (Robert Morley and Peter Finch both played Wilde in the 1950s), this film benefits greatly from a cracking performance by Stephen Fry in the lead. Not even regarded as an actor, more of a comedian, prior to this, Fry (himself gay, and something of an intellectual) puts across all the nuances and contradictions of the subject perfectly.

This Wilde is torn between what is accepted love (his wife, and children), and the 'love that dare not speak its name' (primarily his destructive relationship with the needy, selfish and petulant Lord Alfred Douglas, played here by Jude Law in the role which brought him to world attention). We see his charm and conviction when creating his plays or amusing friends, we also see his weaker side and why he was the cause of his own eventual arrest and imprisonment, we see how prison changed him and - as he wrote himself in De Profundis - broke his spirit and his health.

Watch out for other, now big, names in the cast - Ioan Gruffudd, Michael Sheen, Orlando Bloom - alongside the established players such as Vanessa Redgrave (Oscar's mother, Sperenza), Jennifer Ehle (Lady Constance Wilde), Tom Wilkinson (Marquess of Queensbury, Bosie's father), Gemma Jones (Bosie's mother), and Judy Parfitt.

A fitting musical score, a smattering of Wilde's epigrams, and a large chunk of his children's story 'The Selfish Giant' (driving and commenting on the action at key points) leave this film close to perfection when detailing the story of the misunderstanding of another age, not too far back from our own.