WILDE
Director: Brian Gilbert Cast: Stephen Fry, Jude Law, Vanessa Redgrave, Jennifer Ehle Running Time: 117 minutes
Unlike the United States, Brian Gilbert's bio-pic WILDE has been released in Australia and for those living in the U.S, I have written a short review to whet your appetite until the film arrives on your shores. The delay in the U.S. distributor closing a deal on the film may have something to do with a handful of rather explicit homosexual scenes. Although it must be said, explicit only for the mainstream set; the arthouse cinema goers will hardly raise an eyebrow, no pun intended.
If you though a big deal was made about Ellen DeGeneres coming out, then you should see what happens to Oscar Wilde. Brian Gilbert's bio-pic of Oscar Wilde begins like a gay tribute to a great writer. We see Oscar Wilde's (Stephen Fry) penchant for young men and his sudden breakthrough of the personal and social barriers that prevented him from fulfilling his latent homosexual desires. Oscar's dilemma is made all the more difficult because, you see, Oscar is married to Constance Lloyd (Jennifer Ehle) and they have two children. Once his sexual desires are unleashed, however, Oscar is cruising the streets for all the prime meat he can get his hands on.
That is, until he meets Lord Alfred Douglas (Jude Law) or as his close-knit friends call him, Bosie. They strike up an immediate attraction and before you know it, they're in the sack, raising some serious sweat. At first, they seem to be enjoying themselves going out to dinner and gay clubs (similar to today's gatherings but without the techno dance music). However, things begin to get ugly when Bosie's father, the wicked Marquess of Queensberry, sets upon destroying Oscar by taking him to court for charges of gross indecency (that is, for being gay). However, the real reason for the court action probably lies in the Marquess' inability to love his son in the caring way that Oscar is able to. The court action leads to imprisonment and we are left to ponder, once again, how cruel history can be.
Brian Gilbert has attempted to tell this story of Oscar Wilde in a very noble manner. Oscar is painted as being the first truly, sensitive, new-age guy while the conservative establishment is seen as a sinister, prejudicial lot. At the beginning of the film, we see a happy-go-lucky Oscar walk through a horde of uniformed legal representatives as a signal of his future disregard for the establishment (ah, symbolism!). Wilde's constant outpour of razor-sharp witticisms are a pleasure to the ears and Stephen Fry's endearing performance ensures that we are made to feel pity for him throughout his ordeal while we seethe at the evilness of the people persecuting him.
The main problem with the film lies in the depiction of Wilde himself. Despite Stephen Fry's breakthrough performance, we are still none the wiser as to the inner thoughts of Wilde. The film is all too quick to jump straight into Wilde's foray into homosexuality without giving us a foundation of his previous life to compare and contrast. Fry was good at giving us the droopy eye look whenever Oscar felt any emotion but the film needed some more background on Oscar and why, all of a sudden, he turned from Robert Young to Mr. Brady. Okay, we know he loved Bosie but why did he always go back to him when everyone else, but he, could see that Bosie was an insecure, spoilt brat who caused nothing but mayhem to all those who knew him. Is love really that blind? I know that Bosie was attractive and I know that the director thought so too because we kept seeing Bosie's athletic buns. In fact, all the gay men were handsome with great bodies while Oscar had the face of Jay Leno and the body of, well, Jay Leno. No doubt Bosie's love was blind as well.
Although the homosexual scenes may cause a stir among mainstream audiences, they are rather timid when compared to some of the independent films shown at gay and lesbian festivals. The Melbourne premiere screening of this film resembled the opening night of the Mardi Gras. I haven't seen so many gay people at a screening since PRISCILLA: QUEEN OF THE DESERT. Being an extremely, right-wing, breast-loving, heterosexual male myself, I must say the first male-to-male kiss caught me off guard. I am so used to seeing gorgeous blondes being toungued by George Clooney that I wasn't prepared for this homosexual tryst. However, as the film progressed, I became quite used to it. In fact, by the fifth sex scene where two men are pounding away in, amazingly, the missionary position, I forgot what a naked woman looked like.
WILDE is definitely worth catching for Stephen Fry's performance alone but, overall, Oscar Wilde still remains a mystery to me as the film did not manage to explain or delve into the inner psyche of this great writer. It tread the surface while depicting his downward spiral from fame and fortune to obscurity and exile. However, I did walk away with a better knowledge of Bosie and his motivations and the ugly presence of homophobia in late 1800's England and that society hasn't really changed that much. We've just become better at hiding our prejudices.
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