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Film Description
A triumph for Stephen Fry as a most credible Oscar Wilde, whose trial turns him from celebrated wit and playwright to infamous prisoner and lonely exile. Jennifer Ehle is his wife Constance, Jude Law is a temperamental and often unpleasant Bosie, Tom Wilkinson is Bosie's brutish father. Wilde's epigrams also star.
Genius, raconteur, bon viveur and society wit par excellence - Oscar Wilde was all of these things. He was also, however, a doomed figure from the moment in his adult ... more >
Genius, raconteur, bon viveur and society wit par excellence - Oscar Wilde was all of these things. He was also, however, a doomed figure from the moment in his adult life when he was finally forced to confront his homosexuality, at a time when it was still considered a capital offence. The subsequent descent of his personal life - exacerbated by a passionate and turbulent affair with Lord Alfred Douglas (aka 'Bosie') and culminating in his imprisonment for "gross indecency" - is one of the great tragedies of the 19th Century.
In the wrong hands, and with the wrong cast, this is a film that could have gone horribly wrong. That it doesn't is testament to all those involved. Stephen Fry is nothing less than perfect in the title role, his gigantic frame and considerable acting talent dominating the screen from beginning to end. The other two leads are also excellent, with Jude Law appropriately boyish, brattish and irritating as Bosie, and Jennifer Ehle lending considerable gravitas to her role as Wilde's long-suffering wife Constance. Indeed, it is hard to find fault with any of the performances. Tom Wilkinson as the Marquess of Queensberry, Bosie's bigoted father, and Michael Sheen as Wilde's closest friend Robbie Ross also stand out, and it says much that only a minor role is afforded to the marvellous Vanessa Redgrave as Wilde's mother - the scene with her shortly before Wilde's sentence is passed is both memorable and deeply moving. The settings, costumes and score all add to the creation of a Victorian England that is beautiful, yet fragile.
Although Wilde's trial had been the subject of a 1960 film starring Peter Finch, it is a wonder that his life had not been covered in greater detail sooner. Although there are concessions here to 'artistic licence' (for example, Wilde and Bosie were re-united while Constance was stil alive, and not after she died), the wait was undoubtedly worth it, as this is a tale is told with great intelligence, care and sensitivity. < less
