findyourgugl.blogg.se - Wilde chicago

The film premiered at the 1997 Venice Film Festival and was the opening night selection at the 1998 San Francisco International Film Festival. Scenes were filmed at Knebworth House in Hertfordshire Lulworth Cove, Studland Bay, and Swanage Pier in Dorset Houghton Lodge in Hampshire Luton Hoo in Bedfordshire Magdalen College in Oxford Lincoln's Inn in Holborn and Somerset House in the Strand. He says Jude Law, Michael Sheen and Ioan Gruffudd were quick to put him at ease. In the DVD commentary, Fry, who is gay, admitted he was nervous about the love scenes with his heterosexual co-stars. Everyone agreed he was physically perfect for the part and more than capable of carrying it off, but the fact he wasn't a major presence in films made it difficult for them to obtain financing for the project. In a featurette on the film's DVD release, producer Marc Samuelson confesses casting Stephen Fry in the title role was both a blessing and a problem.

Tom Wilkinson as John Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry.

Gemma Jones as Sibyl Douglas, Marchioness of Queensberry.

Vanessa Redgrave as Jane Francesca Agnes "Speranza", Lady Wilde.

Jude Law as Lord Alfred "Bosie" Douglas.

Portions of the beloved Wilde story The Selfish Giant are woven throughout the film, beginning when Wilde tells the story to his children, then as Constance reads the book to them and so on until Wilde almost finishes the story in a voice-over as the film nears its end. A printed epilogue notes that they parted after three months and describes Wilde's death in Paris in November 1900 at age 46 and the fates of Bosie and Ross. Since she died (in April 1898) he is no longer allowed to see his children. He goes straight into exile, to continental Europe. The children love him and he is welcome to visit-as long as he never sees Douglas again.Īda meets Wilde when he is released from prison in May 1897, carrying the manuscript of De Profundis. He tells her he has always loved her, and that he did not know himself in the beginning, She tells him she does not want a divorce. She is sending Cyril to school in Germany, and she may need back surgery. Bosie tells Robbie he will look after Wilde in some pleasant sunny place when he is released. Prison life is grueling the penal treadmill permanently wrecks Wilde's health.

Constance is advised by friends to go abroad and change her name to protect the children. He is eventually tried for gross indecency and sentenced to two years' hard labour. When Wilde sues the Marquess for criminal libel, his homosexuality is publicly exposed. The hedonistic Douglas is not content to remain monogamous and frequently engages in sexual activity with rent boys while his older lover plays the role of voyeur.ĭouglas' father, the Marquess of Queensberry ( Tom Wilkinson), a violent and cruel man, objects to his son's relationship with Wilde and demeans the playwright shortly after the opening of The Importance of Being Earnest. The two fall into a passionate and tempestuous relationship.

On the opening night of his play Lady Windermere's Fan, Wilde is re-introduced to the dashingly handsome and foppish poet Lord Alfred Douglas ( Jude Law), whom he had met briefly the year before. While their second child is still an infant, the couple hosts a young Canadian named Robbie Ross ( Michael Sheen), who seduces Wilde and helps him come to terms with his homosexuality. Wilde returns to London and weds Constance Lloyd ( Jennifer Ehle). Despite his flamboyant personality and urbane wit, he proves to be a success with the local silver miners as he regales them with tales of Renaissance silversmith Benvenuto Cellini. The film opens with Oscar Wilde's 1882 visit to Leadville, Colorado during his lecture tour of the United States.