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.

Stephen Fry is well cast as the 19th-century Irish author/playwright Oscar Wilde. This biopic deals frankly with his homosexuality and torment of being attracted to young men. Married with children, Wilde entered a passionate love affair with Lord 'Bosie' Douglas(Jude Law)the son of the Marquess of Queensberry(Tom Wilkinson). The affair led to a celebrated trial and two year prison sentence for outraging the decency of a stoic Victorian society. At times this film seems to drag, but is punctuated with the vivid homosexual love scenes. Supporting cast includes:Vanessa Redgrave, Michael Sheen and Jennifer Ehle.

This film biography of Oscar Wilde is a showcase for Stephen Fry. He not only looks like Wilde, he breaths life into the many passages from Wilde's writings that are woven into the screenplay. The difference between reading Wilde and experiencing Fry's performance is like reading Shakespeare and seeing Olivier perform. An evening listening to Fry read from Wilde's works would be worth paying a tidy sum to attend.

I had no idea that Wilde had married young to Constance Lloyd (Jennifer Ehle in a fine performance) and had two adorable boys by her. In an effective plot device, periodically throughout the movie Wilde reads to his sons from his children's story, "The Selfish Giant." The readings are presented in a way that cleverly integrates the storyline of the writing with the storyline of the movie, with Wilde being the selfish giant. And how many people know that Wilde wrote children's stories?

There are many examples given of Wilde's biting wit, such as, "Give a man a mask and he will tell you the truth," "The world is a stage, but the play is badly cast," and "I find that alcohol, taken in sufficient quantities, can bring about all the effects of drunkenness." Fry delivers these with perfect tone.

Of course a good part of the movie is devoted to Wilde's arrest and ultimate imprisonment for "indecent acts" with Lord Alfred Douglas (Jude Law). Wilde truly did live his life in accordance with his comment, "Where your life leads you, you must go. I defy society." As presented here, Wilde is a courageous and sensitive man who was forced into a tragedy by the strictures of a hidebound society. In current America most would judge his infractions with mild distaste at worst.

There are some disconcerting transitions, mostly in scenes with Lord Douglas. Douglas is seen to have a volatile personality. He could be needy and tender, but he could also be a first-class ass and manipulator with an explosive temper. His fits of anger seemed exaggerated and disrupted the tone of the movie. I had a similar reaction to the sex scenes in terms of disrupting the flow. Robbie's initial advances were abrupt and without foundation. The explicit sex scenes between Wilde and Lord Douglas would have been better hinted at than seen - their kisses and embraces could well be imagined but they felt incongruous and unbelievable in the flesh.

Wilde was much more than a wit. He could express emotions with eloquence. Consider this quote about encountering a previous lover after a hiatus of a few years:

"Life cheats us with shadows. We ask it for pleasure, it gives it to us with bitterness and disappointment in its train. And we find ourselves looking with dull heart of stone at the tresses of gold-flecked hair that we once had so wildly worshiped and so madly kissed."

The movie is nicely filmed with a good musical score. I wound up liking it more after having thought about it.

Watching this has expanded my appreciation for Wilde as a writer and as a person - I have been left wanting to know more about him and his work.

I saw this film for the first time over the weekend, drawn to it I'm ashamed to say for the fact that it contained Orlando Bloom's debut appearance, all one line of it. I was pleasantly surprised to discover Jude Law as Lord Alfred 'Bosie' Douglas as well, making this film highly appealing to the voyeurs of the world. However distracting these heavenly creatures are though, they do become quite rightly overshadowed by Stephen Fry in a role that could not be more perfect for him if it were based on fiction rather than fact.

I have been a fan of Oscar Wilde for some time, and this film gave amazingly accurate insight into the life of a great Irish literary. Indeed, many a speech by Stephen Fry has been quoted word for word from the actual trial monologues, and the uncanny resemblance of Fry to Wilde himself is astounding.

'Wilde' proved to be entertaining and beautiful, maintaining the historical biopic status is revels in, but never drawing away from the fact that this story is of real people and real events.

So much can be gained by observing the prejudices of the past, and such sadness realized from knowing the suffering of those who were not meant for their time.

'Wilde' deserves credit in all aspects from accuracy to acting, direction and scene, it is a beautiful film and a credit not only the cast and crew, but to Oscar Wilde himself.

"Wilde" is an elegant film with sterling performances by Fry, the title character, and a superb supporting cast. However, "Wilde" is also a shaded and skewed partial portrait of the 19th century playwright, poet, and master of the epigram. The film is not so much a biopic as it is a drama: A drama which spends too much time on the sensational aspects of the writer's life and not enough on his history, early life, idiosyncrasies, works, and last years. Nonetheless, "Wilde" is solid entertainment for anyone interested in Victorian period dramas or the man himself. (B+)