The Happy Prince (2018)

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Movie
Original title The Happy Prince
Country of production Belgium , Germany , Italy , United Kingdom
original language English , French , Italian
Publishing year 2018
length 106 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Rupert Everett
script Rupert Everett
production Sébastien Delloye ,
Philipp Kreuzer ,
Jörg Schulze
music Gabriel Yared
camera John Conroy
cut Nicolas Gaster
occupation

The Happy Prince is a period drama by Rupert Everett that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2018 . The film tells the story of Oscar Wilde's last years in exile.

action

Oscar Wilde had to spend the last years of his life in exile. Even when seriously ill, he retains his extravagance, irony, and brilliant wit.

production

Movie title

The film portrays Oscar Wilde in the last years of his life in exile

The title of the film refers to the collection of five art fairy tales by the Irish writer Oscar Wilde, published in 1888, entitled The Happy Prince and Other Tales (original title The Happy Prince and Other Tales ). Almost ten years later, Wilde was released from prison in bad health. On the same evening he fled to Paris from social ostracism and never set foot on British soil again. Wilde spent the last three years of his life under the name Sebastian Melmoth on the European mainland in poverty and isolation, including in a cheap hotel in the Rue des Beaux-Arts. During this time he met with Lord Douglas in Naples, among others. Wilde's wife Constance had also left England with the children and lived in the Nuremberg area under the name Constance Holland.

Staff and cast

It is in The Happy Prince by the directorial debut of Rupert Everett , who also wrote the screenplay. Everett told Sigrid Fischer from Deutschlandfunk that there is a parallel between the life of a gay actor in Hollywood and the tragedy of Oscar Wilde: “I think the film contains everything I had to give. Because it took so long, and meanwhile I was getting older, I thought: if I fail, I'll die. At some point I thought my whole life depends on the success of this project. […] As a gay actor, you're always the outsider. I feel very attached to the story of the film. ”Everett said of Wilde that he was a genius, but just as an idiot, with tons of human impulses like vanity, snobbery and greed. For him he has something of a Christ figure because he literally threw himself into the fire, although he could have run away at any time, which he did not do, but went to prison: “I think he did that because he knew that it would make him immortal. In other words, to be resurrected he had to die. I think without all of that one would remember him less. ”In addition, Wilde was also part of the debates of the 20th century, as the gay movement and liberation started with him, according to the director.

Dietmar Kanthak from General-Anzeiger explains that Everett saw a toothless tramp at work who smelled of urine, sweat and cigarettes. Only in flashbacks, as a father telling his two sons his fairy tale about the happy prince, does Everett Wilde appear young and attractive. The script, which has interwoven the last few years with flashbacks and apocalyptic hallucinations, confronts the creator of the novel The Portrait of Dorian Gray with the fateful love of his life, Lord Alfred Douglas, known as Bosie.

Everett also played Wilde himself in the film. Emily Watson plays his wife Constance and Colin Firth plays his friend Reggie Turner.

The German dubbing was created after the dialogue direction by Susanna Bonaséwicz on behalf of Christa Kistner Synchronproduktion GmbH, Potsdam. In the German version, Tom Vogt speaks Oscar Wilde, Sabine Falkenberg speaks his wife Constance Wilde and Frank Röth speaks his friend Reggie Turner.

Financing and filming

The film received funding of around 1 million euros from the German Film Fund, 1.15 million euros from the special program for international co-productions from the FilmFernsehFonds Bayern and 450,000 euros from Eurimages. The total budget of the film is around 10.5 million euros.

One of the locations: the inner courtyard of the lower palace in Thurnau

The film was shot on 43 days from September 15 to November 30, 2016 in Italy, Belgium, France and Bavaria, and from September 20, 2016 in the Upper Franconian towns of Thurnau , Mitwitz , Kulmbach and Schmölz. In Thurnau, among other things, they shot in the local castle , especially in the unrenovated areas of the north wing and on the bower. In Mitwitz, a prepared room was used in the old Kuratenhaus at the Wasserschloss , rooms in the Upper Castle and the gym on Schlossallee, in which a Paris “ café concert ” and the English criminal court, the Old Bailey , were built as film sets.

Before the start of filming in Upper Franconia, a casting call was made, looking for extras for the film from the region.

publication

The film was shown for the first time on January 21, 2018 as part of the Sundance Film Festival . In February 2018, it was screened at the Berlinale , where the film was also shown as part of the Teddy Awards , a separate competition. The film was released in German cinemas on May 24, 2018. In November 2018 a screening took place at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival .

reception

Age rating

In the USA, the film received an R rating from the MPAA , which corresponds to a rating of 17 and over. In Germany it was approved by the FSK from the age of 12, but allowed from the age of 6 if accompanied by the parents. The reason for the release states: “The film sensitively portrays the bon vivant with self-destructive tendencies and depicts his epoch in opulent images and sophisticated language. The melancholy atmosphere with depictions of excessive drug use and individual dramatic scenes of exclusion and humiliation can make children under 12 emotional overwhelm. But the topics that are hardly relevant for young people in the historical setting make it easier for young viewers to distance themselves. The restrained staging, which focuses on pointed dialogues, also provides relief. "

Reviews

Rupert Everett directed and starred as homosexual writer Oscar Wilde

Peter Zander from Berliner Morgenpost explains that The Happy Prince is not a biopic in the classical sense: “The once sophisticated life of the author of such epoch-making works as Salome or The Portrait of Dorian Gray is already being touched upon, but only in flashbacks. And not with a factual look, but very personally, as a stream of consciousness that is not always very clear. ”About Rupert Everett in the lead role, Zander says that this wild man has no vanity, has even put on extra pounds and is ashamed. and relentlessly in pathetic situations. Everett has to make several comparisons here, according to Zander, on the one hand with Stephen Fry , who, in his opinion , gave Wilde an exemplary 1997 Oscar Wilde , but also the one with the literary figure himself The gay star Wilde also sets a very personal memorial with his film. And it is remarkable how Everett finds himself in top form thanks to the great genius he pays homage to. "

Patrick Heidmann from epd Film remarks that Everett's script was convincing in the narrative construction that interspersed those last years of life with flashbacks and hallucinations, but this cannot always be said at the dialogue level, which is of course particularly noticeable when the master of eloquence is at the center. In the staging, too, one recognizes certain weaknesses, says Heidmann, because Everett made it a little too conservative, be it in the lighting or the shameless handling of sexuality. But the film makes up for all of this with the emotional force of its main actor. "Everett plays with such unconditional dedication as if it were - vanity or not - the part of his life."

From the German Film and Media Review was The Happy Prince with the predicate particularly valuable provided. The reason stated: “A first-class lighting design creates lighting moods that appear absolutely believable for the time shown. The historical furnishings are evidence of great care, without being built in, looking too perfect. Then it would be better to set a cleverly placed blurring than to give up credibility in favor of perfectly coated paper mache and construction foam. An all-round successful directorial debut, which the jury found clever, entertaining and visually appealing at the same time and would therefore like to recommend it to every viewer without reservation. "

Awards

The film was in the preselection for the 2018 German Film Award . In addition, the producers of the film received an award worth 100,000 euros as part of the Bavarian Film Prize 2017 . Further nominations follow.

British Independent Film Awards 2018

German Film Award 2018

European Film Award 2018

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Certificate of Release for The Happy Prince . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry (PDF; test number: 178520 / K). Template: FSK / maintenance / type not set and Par. 1 longer than 4 characters
  2. ↑ http://www.deutschlandfunk.de/rupert-everett-in-the-happy-prince-als-schwuler.807.de.html?dram:article_id=418458
  3. ↑ http://www.general-anzeiger-bonn.de/freizeit/kino/Eine-Filmhommage-an-Oscar-Wilde-article3859963.html
  4. ↑ Filming location Franconia: Film star Rupert Everett starts shooting for 'The Happy Prince' in Upper Franconia In: infranken.de, September 22, 2016.
  5. ↑ Ute Eschenbacher: 'Five Friends' hunt dinosaurs In: Nordbayerischer Kurier, June 13, 2017.
  6. ↑ The Happy Prince; Hollywood shoots at Thurnau Castle In: thurnau.de, 29 September 2016.
  7. ↑ When is Brad Pitt coming to the castle? In: infranken.de, September 26, 2016.
  8. ↑ Rupert Everett feels comfortable in Mitwitz In: infranken.de, October 21, 2016.
  9. ↑ Bayreuth: Casting for 'The Happy Prince' In: Nordbayerischer Kurier, August 2, 2016.
  10. ↑ 2018 Sundance Film Festival: Feature Films Announced In: sundance.org, November 29, 2017.
  11. ↑ Program of the Sundance Film Festival 2018 In: sundance.org. Retrieved January 13, 2018 (PDF; 258 KB)
  12. ↑ Press releases competition 68th Berlinale In: berlinale.de, January 22, 2018.
  13. ↑ The Happy Prince In: teddyaward.tv. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
  14. ↑ Start dates Germany In: insidekino.com. Retrieved May 24, 2018.
  15. ↑ The Happy Prince. In: filmfestival.gr. Retrieved November 20, 2018.
  16. ^ Reasons for the release of The Happy Prince . In: Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  17. ↑ https://www.morgenpost.de/kultur/article214359515/Das-tragische-Ende-von-Oscar-Wilde-The-Happy-Prince.html
  18. ↑ Patrick Heidmann: Review of The Happy Prince. In: epd Film, 2018.
  19. ↑ The Happy Prince. In: fbw-filmbeval.com. German film and media rating. Retrieved May 29, 2018.
  20. ↑ The preselection 2018 ( memento of the original from February 6, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.deutscher-filmpreis.de archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: deutscher-filmpreis.de. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  21. ↑ http://www.filmstarts.de/nachrichten/18516457.html
  22. ^ Georg Szalai: 'The Favorite' Leads British Independent Film Awards Nominations. In: The Hollywood Reporter, October 31, 2018.
  23. ↑ Nominations for the German Film Prize 2018 In: bundesregierung.de, March 14, 2018.
  24. ^ David González: Cold War tops European Film Awards nominations. In: cineuropa.org, November 10, 2018.