Most
author’s biographies are boozy stories, but to be fair to Oscar Wilde, he had
more than his share of sorrows to drown. He also had the defense mechanism of
his caustic humor, but it started to fail him during his final years of
disgrace. After his release from a British prison, Wilde lived like a refugee
in France and Italy, but the “Bosie Affair” continued to reverberate. First-time
helmer Rupert Everett directs himself returning to the role he previously
played on-stage (Hare’s The Judas Kiss)
in his literary biopic, The Happy Prince,
which screens during this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
Due
to his disastrous libel action against the Marquess of Queensberry, Wilde was
imprisoned and humiliated, but he was still profoundly attached to his nemesis’s
son, Lord Alfred “Bosie” Douglas. Broken by the scandal, Wilde now survives on
a small allowance provided by his long-suffering wife Constance and the charity
of a small group of friends, including novelist Reggie Turner and his besotted
literary executor Robbie Ross. However, Wilde pushes away Ross and risks permanently
severing ties with Constance when Douglas joins him in exile.
Everett
has garnered raves for his performance as Wilde and raspberries for filmmaking
prowess, but frankly Happy Prince is
perfectly presentable. Despite the exquisitely cinematic locations (seriously,
we should all be tarred with scandal if it allows us to stay in such
picturesque digs), Everett’s film is meant to be a memory play in the tradition
of literary theater. It meanders, because that is what the genre does.
Regardless,
Everett is downright spooky channeling Wilde’s acerbic wit and soul-weary
moroseness. To his credit, he does not sanitize the literary icon, fully
expressing all the bitterness and depression sapping his strength. Yet, there
is something quite poignant about the rapport he develops with Colin Morgan, as
the entitled Douglas. Problematic in several ways, Morgan is both a callow and
sentimental figure, which is a tricky role to play, but Morgan pulls it off
nicely. Executive producer Colin Firth basically roller-skates in and out as Turner,
the concerned bystander, but Tom Wilkinson adds some much-needed energy and
flair, as Father Dunne. He literally appears in deathbed scene, but he still
invigorates the film.
Fans
of literary dramas will be pleased by the film’s classy package. Cinematographer
John Conroy gives it a gauzy, painterly look, while Gabriel Yared’s score isn’t
particularly memorable after the fact, but it always unobtrusively supports the
drama on screen. Expectations might be a factor into how Happy Prince is received. It is not a definitive statement on homophobia
or a brilliant directorial debut, but it is a very nice British period piece. Regular
viewers of Merchant-Ivory films and PBS’s Masterpiece
will find it satisfying, while they wait for the next big mini from Julian
Fellowes. Respectfully recommended, The
Happy Prince screens again today (1/28) in Salt Lake, as part of the 2018
Sundance Film Festival.
