The Happy Prince
The untold story of the last days in the tragic times of Oscar Wilde, a person who observes his own failure with ironic distance and regards the difficulties that beset his life with detachment and humor.
Director:
Rupert Everett
Cast:
Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, Emily Watson
Screenplay:
Rupert Everett
Screening Date:
Sep 29, 2018
Studio:
Sony Pictures Classics
Running Time:
1 hour 45 minutes
| Excellent | Very Good | Good | Fair | Poor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 39.1% | 15.2% | 19.5% | 19.5% | 6.5% |
“A wonderful film, performance by Everett but also so sad,
tragic and depressing. Saddest fact (this is not shown in the
film) is fact that Wilde is choosing to sue the guy for slander,
and what was he thinking? How could he have risked the
inevitable exposure and revenge? Wilde brought on what
would follow, so sad!” Jeanne K
“Another uplifting film for Saturday morning!”
“The highlights for me were the few moments of readings from
THE HAPPY PRINCE and especially Rupert’s delivery of ‘Every
man kills the things he loves’ from The Ballad of Reading Gaol.
Could there not have been more? Even a one-minute scene
from ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ would have been
wonderful and endeared us more to his character.”
“So sad! What an unfortunate end for such an important
writer. We never see him writing in this film which I felt was a
missed opportunity. Writers write, no matter what they
produce, artists create because they have no choice, I found
that aspect of the film unrealistic. Rupert Everett has certainly
changed since COMFORT OF STRANGERS. The film is such a
constant assault in terms of his life. Visually it creates a
magnificent tableau.”
“Very disjointed film. Hard to determine when and what he
was recalling at the end.”
“This is a film that does indeed demand a lot of its audience,
beginning with asking us to care for a character who is self-
admittedly self-destructive.”
“A challenging but remarkable tale of the terror of what it was
to be gay at the end of the 19 th century”
“Apart from what I expected, I did enjoy seeing Wilde’s dark
side and what led to his downfall.”
“Colin Firth is largely dispensable as his character goes away for
long stretches of the film.”
“THE HAPPY PRINCE a miserable disappointment. If Oscar
Wilde viewed this film of his death it would have killed him.
Vanity, thy name is Rupert! As I viewed the extensive list of
end credits, I am heartened and depressed to see so many
people were employed to produce such a bad film.”
“A beautifully shot and acted period piece. A little slow at
times. Clearly an important project for Everett, a labor of love.
Great attention to visual detail. What a great cast. Didn’t get
why he loved Bosie so much, didn’t understand their
relationship. Robbie was a poignant figure of unrequited love.”
“Of the two films shown on the tragic life of writers COLETTE is
far more approachable, inviting the audience to get-on-board
with the story. Wilde’s saga is much more tragic to be sure, but
that should have made it more profound and intense. Sadly it is
not.”
“Too confusing. Impossible to read the subtitles. They were
too fast.”
“I understand that the film is set largely in the last years of his
life, but in one of the sparse flashbacks I wish there had been
more about his wife and children. We see him kiss a picture of
his wife and tell the ‘Happy Prince’ story to his children, but
their family dynamic and relationship to his life was lost. As was
the exquisite Emily Watson.”
“A very interested and creative film. For me it was quite an
emotional experience to see how a writer could be brought so
low. The film was beautiful to watch.”
“A sad story poorly told. Beautiful scenery and music. Choppy
and confusing!”
“The movie was clearly a labor of love with gorgeous sets and
cinematography.”
“Not so much a film about a great writer, what makes him tick,
what creative juices flow and why, as it is an essay on how
wrong it was that he was treated so badly for being a
homosexual. That said the film was a gorgeous period piece,
superbly acted, shot and directed.”
If you'd like to know more about the film...
https://youtu.be/aYTXoxpdb_c Here is an interview with Rupert Everett speaking about his role as Oscar Wilde, being a director, and gay actors in Hollywood.
http://www.wilde-online.info/oscar-wilde-biography.htm Here is a short biography of Oscar Wilde along with pictures, facts of his life, and who he really was.
https://www.ft.com/content/3d61fb5e-58ec-11e8-bdb7-f6677d2e1ce8 This article tells the story about how Rupert Everett finally got his opportunity to write, direct, and act in telling the story of Oscar Wilde.
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2018/jun/05/oscar-wilde-grandson-ter... Here is an article of how Oscar Wilde's grandson was "terribly moved" by the film.
https://variety.com/video/rupert-everett-the-happy-prince-oscar-wilde/ Here is an interview with Rupert Everett, Colin Morgan, and Edwin Thomas speaking about their roles in the film.
http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20170405-the-victorian-view-of-same-sex... This article speaks about the Victorian view of same-sex desire.
https://www.landmarktheatres.com/the-happy-prince-filmmaker-letter
This is a single page letter from Rupert Everett briefly discussing Oscar Wilde, the origins of the film, and other versions of the same story (there were three!)
