page 19
! There May Be SPOILERS in the movie reviews !
page 19
! There May Be SPOILERS in the movie reviews !
Following on the heels of his rakish turn as Capt Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean and as the slightly sinister Willy Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Johnny Depp plays The Libertine (18).
No, it's not a biopic about notorious rock star Pete Doherty, it's the tale of 17th century womanising poet John Wilmot.
Wilmot, the Earl of Rochester, befriended King Charles II (John Malkovich) and died at 33 after falling in love with aspiring actress Elizabeth Barry (Samantha Morton).
The sexually charged period piece doesn't shirk from showing the earl's debauchery - hence the adult certificate.
It's based on a play by Stephen Jeffreys.
Posted Nov 17, 2005, 7:01 PM ET by Karina Longworth
The day after Thanksgiving, the still-newish Weinstein Company will unveil its second release ... sort of. The Libertine, directed by Laurence Dunmore and starring Johnny Depp as the legendary poet/drunk the 2nd Earl of Rochester, will open up on a handful of screens in New York and LA, without a rating. And a week later, it'll be gone – at least, if all goes according to plan. Weinstein originally planned to release the film as part of its early-fall Miramax shelf dump – remember, the one that worked so well for Proof and all those other long-delayed Oscar hopefuls? – but they've now decided instead to release the picture for a one week awards qualifying run, and then regroup and reevaluate after nominations season.
I saw the picture this morning, and I think they're doing the right
thing; Johnny Depp notwithstanding, this thing is going to be nearly impossible
to market. The Weinstein Company are not yet affiliated with the MPAA;
as such, when the ratings board offered them an NC-17 on the film, they
politely declined. Depp is fabulous as the incorrigible Earl, and overall,
the film is definitely worth seeing. But it's literally bursting with filth,
to the point where it's almost like The Aristocrats remade as a narrative
period piece. To say it won't play in Peoria is an understatement – the
only way it'll play anywhere is if it's got a legitimate awards push behind
it.
In The Libertine, Johnny Depp adds another misfit to his impressive
roster of cinematic outsiders. No, not Pete Doherty – John Wilmot, Second
Earl Of Rochester, the infamous, hell-raising, alcohol-guzzling 17th century
poet and playwright who courted scandal with such ribald works as The Quintessence
Of Debauchery, before expiring of syphilis (surprise, surprise) at the
age of 33. He was the Shane MacGowan of his day, Johnny tells us…
Rochester is a very interesting character – how aware were you of him
before you were sent the script?
It actually, it all came about basically from a phone call about 10
years ago. I got a phone call from [the film’s producer and co-star] John
Malkovich who asked if I had any interest in coming to Chicago to see a
play he was doing called The Libertine. And obviously I jumped at the opportunity,
went to Chicago, saw the play, had dinner with John afterwards and he informed
me then that he wanted me to play the part in the film version. And my
first reaction was, “Why don’t you do it?” because he was so good. And
he basically said, “Well I want you to do it”. So it was at that point
that I started learning about Rochester and reading his poems, his books,
his plays…
He’s not that massively well-known even the UK. Was part of doing this
for you to raise awareness of him?
I definitely wanted to raise awareness of him and at the same time
kind of polish up the tarnished image or memory of the guy, cos for the
most part for the last few centuries he was often written off as a pornographer
or a satirist when in fact I think he was a great poet and a very important
poet. He was a very complicated man who never got his fair shake in terms
of history. He got a bit of a raw deal, I think. So yeah, it was an opportunity
to salute him, you know? Write him a love letter in a way.
At the opening of the film, Rochester tells us, “you will not like me”.
Do you think if, via a quirk of time and space, you could meet him today,
that you’d like him?
I think so, yeah. I think I’d like him very much. In a lot of ways
you can look at people over the years, writers, primarily guys like Jack
Kerouac… He was a terrific writer and really changed the way people write.
Like Rochester, Kerouac had his own sort of period where he self-medicated
quite heavily. Hunter Thompson – you know, Hunter was a great friend a
great hero, and another guy who, basically self-medicated. I’m not saying
that that’s what everyone should do, but they were kind of… You know, in
pain. They were looking for a way to deal with it. Someone else, one of
the most important poets I think – for me at least – of the 20th Century
is Shane MacGowan. Shane has certainly had a pretty bumpy road, and he
has, uh, imbibed. You know? His intake has been pretty impressive over
the years, but he’s produced some of the most beautiful lyrics that are
a great gift to the world…
Rochester seems the kind of character that seems to interest you – someone
who exists or thrives outside of society’s normal parameters. Is that a
fair assessment?
Oh, yeah, you know, all my, the majority of my heroes have been almost
exactly what you’re just described.
Why do you think you’re attracted to this kind of character?
Well I’ve always rooted for the underdog. I guess the consistent theme
in the movies or the characters that I’ve been involved with is the… I
guess they’ve been labelled, you know, odd or weird or outside or strange
or freakish or whatever one wants to call it. I’ve always been fascinated
by what kind of, what society deems as normal and abnormal. Because some
of the things that are accepted on a daily basis are pretty strange to
me.
Like what?
Well, I mean, even going back to like my childhood, for example, I
remember as a kid growing up in the ‘70s and even then thinking the idea
of resin grapes was odd. You know, on the table, these fake grapes – basically
made of glass or plastic. Or macrame owls… And no one ever noticed, but
to me it was strange...
INTERVIEW: DAN JOLIN
The Libertine
No genius ... Johnny Depp with Samantha Morton in The Libertine.
There are flashes of fire in Laurence Dunmore's overripe, over-long study of Rochester in his grisly pomp: the priapic Restoration rake compulsively yelping his X-rated exploits in verse. But it becomes weirdly prolix and self-important and Johnny Depp creates an essentially humourless character for the poet who, in some sub-Wildean sense, has put his talent into his life - genius is nowhere forthcoming.
As the king, John Malkovich is given a false nose making him resemble
Olivier's Richard III; Johnny Vegas is eerily Hogarthian in his wig; Samantha
Morton shows grit as the actress who resentfully flowers under Rochester's
tutelage; the same goes for Tom Hollander as the snippy poet and dramatist
Etherege - Salieri to Rochester's Mozart in the art of ribaldry. All the
cliches - alehouses, cackling whores and their sweaty, candlelit embonpoints,
are present and correct.
The Libertine (18)
"Every man needs the whorehouse and the inn," says John Wilmot, the
second Earl of Rochester. The devilish 17th-century rake and pornographer
spends so much time boffing the ladies and boozing the night away that
one wonders how he ever found the time for his day job, writing poetry.
As the Earl, Johnny Depp fastens onto the bawdy, foul-mouthed script like
a terrier on a rat, twitting his king, Charles II (John Malkovich), as
blithely as he cheats on his wife (Rosamund Pike). Only when he falls for
a young actress (Samantha Morton) does he suggest a vulnerability, by which
point syphilis and self-loathing are playing merry hell with him. Moodily
shot and boldly played, the film runs out of steam around the hour mark,
after which monotony takes hold and Depp, like the Earl himself, slightly
outstays his welcome.
Legal Stuff: libertine and the characters,
events, items, and places therein are trademarks Odyssey Entertianment.
Copyrights and trademarks for the books and films are held by their respective
owners and their use is allowed under the
fair use clause of the Copyright Law. This site has no intention to
infringe on the rights of the film owners The libertine of and intellectual
copyright holders of the movies mentioned herein & hold copyright over
the movie, characters, merchandise & storyline.