Oscar Wilde (1997)

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Movie
German title Oscar Wilde
Original title Savage
Country of production GB
original language English
Publishing year 1997
length 118 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Brian Gilbert
script Julian Mitchell
production Marc Samuelson
Peter Samuelson
music Debbie Wiseman
camera Martin Fuhrer
cut Michael Bradsell
occupation

Oscar Wilde is a 1997 British motion picture directed by Brian Gilbert about the life of Oscar Wilde, starring Stephen Fry .

action

The film covers Oscar Wilde's life from his lecture tour in the USA in 1882 until shortly before his death in 1900. On his return from America he married Constance Lloyd and they have two sons. The film shows Oscar Wilde in his role as a family man as well as a famous personality and successful playwright at the premieres of his plays Lady Windermere's Fan and The Importance of Being Earnest . An essential role was played by the discovery of his homosexuality through his relationship with Robert Ross and the development of his relationship with Lord Alfred Douglas . When Lord Alfred's father, the Marquess of Queensberry , wants to forbid them to interact with one another and provokes Wilde, the latter sued him for insult. In the third of the ensuing court cases, Wilde is sentenced to two years in prison for fornication. In prison he has to work in the treadmill . After his release, he is considered dishonored and financially ruined and forced into exile. The forced labor in the penitentiary affected his health. He visits the grave of his wife Constance before he settles in Paris at the instigation of Robert Ross. The film ends with his reunion with Lord Alfred Douglas.

The fairy tale The Selfish Giant serves as a kind of framework, which is told piece by piece to accompany the plot - partly by Oscar Wilde telling it to his children, partly by Constance reading it out loud - and which ends in prison with the giant's death. Other texts by Wilde are spoken by Stephen Fry during the course of the film.

background

Julian Mitchell wrote the screenplay based on Richard Ellmann's 1989 Pulitzer Prize- winning Wilde biography . The only character he invented is Lady Mount-Temple (played by Judy Parfitt ). She represents the attitude of Victorian society towards Oscar Wilde in a more moderate way than the eccentric Marquess of Queensberry. Another departure from Wilde's real life is the visit to Constance's grave before meeting Lord Alfred Douglas, as Constance actually died a year later. The addition “Wife of Oscar Wilde” was also carved into her tombstone a few years later.

According to Brian Gilbert and Marc Samuelson, Stephen Fry was ideal for the role of Oscar Wilde from the start, but it was still uncertain whether he would be able to play it, as it was difficult to fund the film without a star in the title role. Fry had never played a leading role before and was little known as a film actor. Jude Law was still largely unknown at the time and played one of his first major roles in this film. Also in Oscar Wilde Orlando Bloom made his first film appearance in a minor supporting role as a young prostitute.

Oscar Wilde's life had previously been processed in the films Oscar Wilde and The Man with the Green Carnation , both of which appeared in 1960. Both films had a clearer focus on the judicial process.

Reviews

“With the well-groomed British poet portrait, Brian Gilbert exposes the fear of late Victorian society about Wilde's homosexuality. [...] The tragic vita is told like a phlegmatic classic illustration by James Ivory, no better and no worse. The film draws its tension primarily from the play by Stephen Fry. He turns the designated victim into a fascinating hero: broken, but upright to the grave. "

“It remains to be seen whether Gilbert, with his nuanced correction of the popular Oscar Wilde image, does justice to the historical figure or perhaps too much 'tamed' it. His ambitious portrait is remarkable - not only for Wilde fans - in any case. "

- Reinhard Lüke, Munzinger film review

“The cinematic biography of the Irish writer Oscar Wilde and his scandalous life in the second half of the last century. Carried by an outstanding leading actor and free from any voyeuristic tickle, the film describes the author as a tragically torn character who grinds himself between the fronts of "his desire. Not without length and with some rather flavourful moments, but overall remarkable as an ambitious portrait. "

“Director Brian Gilbert seeks drama almost exclusively in the main character and neglects the social realities of the Victorian era. The deep fall of Oscar Wilde from literary dandy to hushed up pariah - that would have been worth more than just a tasteful costume film. After all, Stephen Fry, who is almost a coherent ideal cast, leaves the character Wilde its dignity and contradiction - and thus promotes the film to a character study that is well worth seeing. "

- Joachim Kronsbein, Der Spiegel

Awards

won
nominated

DVD

The film was released in English on DVD in September 1999 by Sony Pictures Entertainment . In addition to the film, the DVD contains the documentary "Simply Wilde", in which Stephen Fry, Brian Gilbert, Julian Mitchell and Marc Samuelson talk about Oscar Wilde and the making of the film.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Lexicon of International Films
  2. film-dienst 21/1997
  3. ^ Official website of the film
  4. IMDb.com ; Documentation "Simply Wilde"
  5. Cinema film archive
  6. Oscar Wilde. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  7. Der Spiegel 43/1997