Wilde: Special Edition

Writing in VL-1/99, I said: "Born Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde in Dublin on October 16, 1854, Oscar Wilde would eventually become a leading light in Britain's aesthetic movement, championing Walter Pater's doctrine of "art for art's sake." In Brian Gilbert's Wilde, we first meet Wilde (very impressively played by noted British novelist Stephen Fry) in an uncharacteristic and deliciously disorienting moment: surrounded by bare-chested miners in Leadville, Colorado while on his 1882 American tour. Wed to Constance Lloyd (Jennifer Ehle) in 1884, Wilde fathered two sons and produced the notorious novel The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891) before finding his true callings: 1) writing for the theatre, where he amassed a string of hits between 1892-1895, and 2) partying with young men--especially the foppish Lord Alfred "Bosie" Douglas (played by Jude Law). Eventually, Bosie's father, the Marquis of Queensbury would publicly denounce Wilde as a "sondomite" (sic) and Wilde would unwisely press charges for libel (and eventually go to jail). Although the casting and acting in Wilde (with the notable exception of a miscast Vanessa Redgrave) are uniformly excellent, the script witty, and the direction solid, the film does not...quite...work. Oddly, viewers will come away with a better understanding of the boy toy Bosie than Oscar Wilde. Optional." On DVD, however, Oscar Wilde's story becomes much clearer, thanks to a pair of enlightening documentaries (80 minutes total)--"Simply Wilde" and "Still Wild About Wilde"--which feature commentary from cast and crew--in particular, novelist/actor Fry, whose intelligent, eloquent commentary provides more insight into Wilde than does the script. Fry also appears on a scene-specific audio commentary with director Brian Gilbert, writer Julian Mitchell, and producer Marc Samuelson. Excellent background materials, combined with a sharp DVD transfer presented in anamorphic widescreen and backed with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, bump this up a notch. Recommended. (R. Pitman)