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Wilde AKA Oscar Wilde
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - United Kingdom - Altitude Film Distribution Review written by and copyright: James-Masaki Ryan (13th December 2015). |
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The Film
 "Wilde" (1997) After a successful lecture tour of America in 1882, celebrated Irish-born poet/playwright/author Oscar Wilde (played by Stephen Fry) returns to England where he resides. He decides to marry Constantine Lloyd (played by Jennifer Ehle), the daughter of a wealthy Queen's Counsel, and the couple eventually have 2 sons, Cyril (born in 1885) and Vyvyan (born in 1886). But after meeting young Canadian Robbie Ross (played by Michael Sheen), Oscar’s life changes drastically. Robbie makes a homosexual move toward Oscar, to which Oscar accepts and awakens his inner desire that he was previously unaware of. The two men start a gay relationship in secret from family and society, but things start to get more complicated when Oscar is introduced to other gay men. Throughout the following years, he had relationships with John Gray (played by Ioan Gruffudd) and most infamously, Lord Alfred “Bosie” Douglas (played by Jude Law). During the years of sexual awakening, he undoubtedly created some of his finest work as a writer, including “The Importance of Being Earnest” in 1895. But while the play was enjoying a huge success on stage, Bosie’s father Marquess of Queensberry (played by Tom Wilkinson) is unhappy that his son is involved with Oscar, accuses Oscar Wilde of indecency and illegal homosexual conduct, leading to the “Oscar Wilde Trials”. Directed by Brian Gilbert, the 1997 film of “Wilde” focuses much on the most well-known and infamous part of Oscar Wilde’s life: His sexual awakening which causes his ultimate fall from society. It’s no secret that Wilde was imprisoned and sentenced to 2 years of hard labor which took a toll on his health, leading to an early death at the age of 46 in 1900. Of course it was not just him that took a severe beating in society, as his wife Constance and his two sons had to change their family names to save face from the public, and other family and friends close to Wilde were shamed in society. Constance died in 1898 at the age of 39 from unrelated health issues, and not mental anguish or syphilis contracted from Wilde as initially speculated. Gilbert’s direction of the material is quite linear in fashion and straightforward, with the story moving in chronological order and not taking any risks technically. As the camerawork is not in the way, it is the acting that stands as the high point. Stephen Fry as Oscar Wilde is a perfect match, not only in likeness but portraying Wilde’s known wit and charm. Though at the time in 1997 Fry was not as famous as he is at present, which caused problems raising financing and support for the film, in which he was the title character. Regardless, his performance was very well received, including a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor. The supporting male leads were played by young newcomers who are major names now, with Michael Sheen and also Jude Law in a breakout year with “Gattaca” also being released in 1997. Law’s very emotional and theatrical performance of Bosie and Sheen’s quiet yet subtle performance of Ross were like polar opposites feeding to both the rambunctious experimental side and the quiet passionate side of Oscar Wilde respectively. Tom Wilkinson comes off with power as he is very known for and 1997 was also a huge year for Wilkinson, as he also starred in the huge international hit “The Fully Monty” causing a huge boost to his career. And minor as it is, blink and you’ll miss a young Orlando Bloom having a few lines of dialogue near the beginning of the film. As for weaknesses, the other smaller parts like Vanessa Redgrave as Oscar Wilde’s mother, Jennifer Elhe as Constance are underused in their roles and should have had a larger presence, as it would have been more interesting to have their viewpoints rather than the almost all-male leads. Also weak was the standard structure of the film. Biopics such as “Mishima” or “I’m Not There” fused the artist’s work into their lives (Yukio Mishima and Bob Dylan respectively), creating an abstract yet complimenting sense of the man. Of course works such as “The Picture of Dorian Gray” and “The Importance of Being Earnest” are frequently mentioned and lines and scenes on stage are presented, but not exactly incorporated into the narrative. The one exception is the frequent telling of Oscar Wilde’s magnificent short story “The Selfish Giant”, running parallel to Wilde’s own selfishness, which was a great addition to the narrative. Note this is a region ALL Blu-ray with the film encoded in 1080i 50hz, which is playable on Blu-ray players able to handle 50hz and PAL signals.
Video
Altitude Film Distribution presents the film in 1080i 50hz in the original 2.35:1 aspect ratio in the AVC MPEG-4 codec. The film comes from a 25 fps source, rather than a proper film speed of 24 fps, unfortunately causing a 4% speedup in film and audio. As for the source, the film seems to be from a dated high definition source, with colors looking pale and images lacking detail, though the film is stable and dust and specs are incredibly rare. It’s a shame Altitude could not get access to or make a new 24fps high definition transfer. Fortunately Altitude’s simultaneous Blu-ray release of director Brian Gilbert’s 1994 film “Tom & Viv” thankfully has a proper 24fps 1080p transfer.
Audio
English LPCM 2.0 stereo The stereo track is the only track available and it is adequate. The film is dialogue heavy and music is a very minor part of the presentation. With a pro-logic set-up, the dialogue is completely centered with occasional music and background sounds relegated to the left and right sides. The previously released DVDs worldwide included the original 2.0 audio (with some releases having an additional bumped up 5.1 track). There are no instances of dropouts or errors, dialogue is clean and clear, so the audio track gets good marks. There are optional English HoH subtitles available for the main feature.
Extras
Unfortunately, no extras are available. Considering the previously released UK DVD from Universal included a making of featurette entitled “Simply Wilde”, it is a shame. Even more disappointing is the US DVD release from 2002 included not only “Simply Wilde”, but also an audio commentary by Brian Gilbert, screenwriter Julian Mitchell, producer Marc Samuelson and Stephen Fry, as well as a 55 minute documentary on Oscar Wilde. Altitude really skimped out here by not including any existing extras and not producing anything new.
Overall
“Wilde” is a good biopic but not a great one. The performances stand out highly but the conventional directing and conventional storytelling limits it from becoming something more than that. With the film’s lackluster picture quality and zero extras, it is difficult to recommend.
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