Wilde (1997)

Director:

Brian Gilbert

Writers:

Richard Ellmann (book)
Julian Mitchell (writer)

Release Date:

1 May 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | History

Tagline:

The story of the first modern man

Plot:

The story of Oscar Wilde, genius, poet, playwright and the First Modern Man. The self-realisation of...

Plot Keywords:

Homosexuality | Love | Playwright | Hard Labor | Aristocracy

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 3 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Stephen Fry	...	Oscar Wilde
Jude Law	...	Lord Alfred 'Bosie' Douglas
Vanessa Redgrave	...	Lady Speranza Wilde
Jennifer Ehle	...	Constance Lloyd Wilde
Gemma Jones	...	Lady Queensberry
Judy Parfitt	...	Lady Mount-Temple
Michael Sheen	...	Robbie Ross
Zoë Wanamaker	...	Ada Leverson
Tom Wilkinson	...	Marquess of Queensberry
Ioan Gruffudd	...	John Gray
Matthew Mills	...	Lionel Johnson
Jason Morell	...	Ernest Dowson
Peter Barkworth	...	Charles Gill
Robert Lang	...	C.O. Humphreys
Philip Locke	...	Judge

Also Known As:

Oscar Wilde (Germany) (Japan: English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong sexuality and language.

Runtime:

118 min

Country:

UK | Germany | Japan

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:18A (Ontario) | Australia:M | Iceland:14 (original rating) | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Ireland:18 | Singapore:R21 (cut) | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Hong Kong:III | Mexico:C | Portugal:M/16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Grip House Studios, Greenford, Middlesex, England, UK

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

Last feature of Peter Barkworth.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When Bosie enters Oscar's room in the country house, a picture to the left of the door reflects a studio light and later, when Bosie sits down, the boom.

Quotes:

Lady Speranza Wilde: You're an Irish Gentleman. Of course you'll be staying. Your father fought when he was libeled. I was in the courts myself. I fought...
Oscar Wilde: Yes, I know, Mother.
Lady Speranza Wilde: You'll fight these English philistines and you'll win! And even if you lose, if you go to prison, you'll always be my son.
Oscar Wilde: Well, of course, it's too late to change that now.
Lady Speranza Wilde: If you go, Oscar, I'll never speak to you again.
Oscar Wilde: No one will ever speak to me again whatever I do. Of course I'm your son, which is why, even if I lose, the English will never forget me.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Venice Report (1997) (TV)

Mild Wilde

Playwright, celebrated wit and persecuted homosexual Oscar Wilde is excellently portrayed by Stephen Fry in this biopic but without a hint of the expected waspishness. Instead, we see Wilde as a kindly, sensitive, almost avuncular man. What's more surprising is the parallel absence of manifest sordidness, self-loathing, or desperation, which one might have assumed would have been par for the course in an age where homosexuality was stigmatised and criminal. But as 'Wilde' tells it, Oscar, on discovering his true nature in early middle age, then enjoyed a number of halcyon years in a gay literary milieu, tensioned only by the childish behaviour of his lover, Bosie, and was taken quite by surprise when he suddenly became a figure of public scandal. Which may have been the case, but it makes for a less pressing and gripping drama than one might have hoped for. What's interesting is Wilde's defence in court, which has very little to do with "normal" homosexual behaviour or ordinary human relationships, but which rather comprised a divine idealisation of the bond between a wise older person and a beautiful younger one: hardly the sort of argument that gay rights campaigners would make today. A special credit should go to the team responsible for allowing Fry to appear so convincingly both a dashing young twenty year old and a ruined man, on the verge of death. But this is a mild and indulgent film.