Review: Wilde
Starring: Stephen Fry, Jude Law, Jennifer Ehle, Gemma Jones, Michael Sheen
Directed by Brian Gilbert
Approx. running time: 110 min
It seems a trend in modern works about Oscar Wilde to narrow him down to nothing but a man ruined by his homosexuality. "Wilde", which opened friday, can't be excluded from that group. Both San Francisco and Broadway in NY have a play called "Gross Indecency" about the trial surrounding Oscar Wilde's sexual affairs with younger men. SF also had a one man show last winter that focused largely on the torment he had to endure because of his sexuality. What "Wilde" and all these other plays forget is that behind this "scandal" was a brilliant, witty and successful writer in the late 19th century who contributed to world literature.
The first 30 minutes of "Wilde" does nothing but pound into the viewers heads that the character is indeed homosexual in spite of his wife and two children. Moderation was not used to introduce it. Each scene of social and family events seemed intercut with homosexual love scenes. After the first half hour, I found that the film up to that point lacked focus and drive. I wondered where it was going, and if it was going to live up to it's name. After all, a film simply named after a real person should cover that person's life, their personality and what was important about them, or at least how their work influenced culture. "Wilde" has the amazing ability to turn such a fascinating man into a nobody. Oscar Wilde did not need to be the focus of this film, and, should you decide that you want to see this to learn more about him, you will be disappointed. The story is one of a man who has a social status and how his sexual affairs with younger men, one in particular, ends up ruining him. The fact that he is Oscar Wilde, playwrite, poet and author, seems secondary. The successful opening nights of "Lady Windermere's Fan" and "The Importance of Being Earnest" as well as references to "The Picture of Dorian Gray" and "Solome" are tossed in to remind the viewer who they are watching.
Stephen Fry did a fine job of portraying the tormented writer, but his talent seemed wasted on a character who never lived up to what the real man really was. Jude Law played his younger lover, Lord Alfred Douglas, "Bosie" as he is known, quite well. His performance as a snotty, slutty pretty boy is another thing that makes the film watchable.
Perhaps a year of anticipation of a film about the life and times of Oscar Wilde in which the lead role would be played by one of my favorite British comics, had something to do with the letdown, but not much. The costumes are glorious, the sets decadent and the performances good, but "Wilde" does not hold together as anything other than a preachy film about how difficult it was to be homosexual 120 years ago. I am still waiting for a production about a man who was known for his wit and intelligence, a true artist, rather than the men he slept with.
** out of **** stars Copyright © 1998 Nick Amado Comments, questions, complaints? Email me at namado@concentric.net
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