Genre: Drama
Director: Laurence Dunmore
Starring: Johnny Depp, Samantha Morton
RunTime: 1 hr 50 mins
Released By: GV
Rating: R21
Official Website: http://www.miramax.com/thelibertine/

Opening Day: 27 July 2006

Synopsis :

The story of John Wilmot (Depp), a.k.a. the Earl of Rochester, a 17th century poet who famously drank and debauched his way to an early grave, only to earn posthumous critical acclaim for his life’s work.

Movie Review:

Johnny Depp is, right at this moment, the biggest movie star in the world. He’s a bona fide heartthrob, an alpha male and has a practical and down to earth approach to his stardom. He is also the bravest movie star in the world. Taking on the odd roles, daringly contrary to his image. And he revels in them while being refreshingly grateful for the opportunity to perform them. After the thundering success of the first Pirates of the Caribbean, he took on various roles including but not limited to his memorable portrayals of Willy Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Sir James Barrie in Finding Neverland. These films were fated with the good fortune of expeditious commercial releases, which was not the case for The Libertine as it was plagued with financial and distribution troubles early on. But finally, it has arrived on our shores.

Depp portrays The Libertine’s mainstay, the historical figure of John Wilmot, the Second Earl of Rochester who was a sinner compared even to the Marquis de Sade. Asking for a succinct description would be complicated, but I will try. That said, it is very much a companion piece to Jack Sparrow, sans the absurdity. Also included is the minor and forgivable snag of his tacky accent that sounds like it was straight out of a Hallmark period piece. But therein lies sincerity in Depp’s depiction of a brilliant but fundamentally flawed man who reverberates the solitude and audacity felt in many of the greatest talents the world had, including Marlon Brando, to whom this film is dedicated.

A scurrilous monologue of self-loathing sets the scene as the film starts with an unusual warning. It’s almost as if it sensed that our appreciation for Johnny Depp would hinder our observation (even his character is dubbed Johnny in many scenes) of his character’s dissolution of morality and possibly even fail to encompass us in his role as the famous rapscallion. He continues on by rhapsodising about the thrills of sex and decadence, daring us to transcend the times and ages to compare his rapturous experiences with ours. Although it starts not at his birth but at the descent of his life, it is important to know who the tragic Earl was.

Born heir to the original Earl of Rochester, John Wilmot led a prodigal life in the Age of Restoration (1647-1680). His father was a staunch military man who believed that the monarchy and God led the way. He became the new Earl when his father passed on, and his courage in the military had brought him many friends, including King Charles II (John Malkovich). Wilmot also married Elizabeth Malet (Rosamund Pike), a wealthy heiress he tried to abduct years before and who had gradually fallen for him.

When Charles II brought forth a new era in theatre by reinstating women performers to the stage, Elizabeth Barry (Samantha Morton), who’s now considered the foremost actress of the Restoration Age, had caught the fancy of Wilmot. This triggers an act of sedition towards the King that had cost him everything and everyone. His reputation of debauchery with men and women, his nihilistic tendencies and general perverseness also overshadowed his own brilliance as a progressive writer and poet amidst a decaying but still present Puritan backdrop. A staunch atheist all his life, he died at age 33 from syphilis and a deteriorating illness caused by alcohol, but not before renouncing his godlessness.

You might ask, why the history lesson? Well, for the simple enough reason that the film is just a mere shard of John Wilmot's short life. It’s an insistent and incomplete shard no less, which showcases the fleeting and less scoundrelly acts of his eventual self-destruction. Being based on the play by Stephen Jeffreys, it is also as true to the original idea as it can be with Jeffreys also responsible for the streamlined screenplay that culminates in the famous speech in Parliament with Wilmot in his silver nose and pancake makeup covering up his rotting skin. Although you can’t fault the material it’s based on, you can fault its translation to the screen. Gifted with talented actors, the director, Laurence Dunmore shamefully manages to build such a shallow atmosphere teeming with gags like smoke and shoddy, truncated editing between key scenes. Having more to work with in film than in theatre, he still creates an unfortunately superficial and retrograded look at the genuinely interesting characters.

The film does not belong just to Depp though. Its supporting case is excellent and clearly got into the operatic style of the script. There’s an impressive subtext of guilt demonstrated in Rosamund Pike’s performance as the long-suffering wife of Wilmot’s. Her vivid rage displayed at the end to Wilmot was retching, and telling of the part she played in his downfall. The grimy, grainy quality of the cinematography seems a throwback to silent movies with its grayish tint and dim lensing. This decision, although initially strident, ultimately enhances the squalid and seedy encounters he has with his harlots and prurient cohorts. Interestingly, there’s an air of contempt for puritanical decency in the film. Almost ridiculing the idea by lifting up a tragic and victimised caricature of a man whose life was spent trying to circumvent these societal blockades while citing the nebulous misery that lays outside the brothels and indeed, the ungrateful spectre of love itself.

Movie Rating:

(Great performances all round, coupled with an intriguing story of a tragic figure in history)

Review by Justin Deimen