- Actors: Stephen Fry, Jude Law, Vanessa Redgrave, Jennifer Ehle, Gemma Jones
- Directors: Brian Gilbert
- Writers: Julian Mitchell, Oscar Wilde, Richard Ellmann
- Producers: Alan Howden, Alex Graham, Deborah Raffin, Marc Samuelson
- Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DTS Surround Sound, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
- Language: English
- Subtitles: English
- Region: (US and Canada This DVD will probably NOT be viewable in other countries. Read more about DVD formats.)
- Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
- Number of discs: 1
- Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
- Release Date: May 28 2002
- Run Time: 118 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (61 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B00005V5NU
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#14,567 in DVD (See Top 100 in DVD)
- #5 in DVD > Art House & International > British Cinema > Gay & Lesbian
- #41 in DVD > Gay & Lesbian > Drama
- #42 in DVD > Drama > Gay & Lesbian
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Most helpful customer reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
Item not as described!,
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Wilde (Special Edition) (DVD)
I ordered this DVD because the audio format was described as DTS Surround Sound on your Web site. I was very disappointed to see on the back cover of the item that it was on dolby surround; not DTS.
4.0 out of 5 stars
A well-made depiction of Wilde's life,
By "mippy47802" (Terre Haute, IN United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Wilde (VHS Tape)
Wilde is a beautifully made film, and I agree with the other customer reviews that found it an impressive portrait of the writer's life. As an expert on Wilde myself (I am writing my master's thesis on him) I would like to comment on some of the objections raised to its handling of his life by scholars and critics. Several scholars whose comments on the film I have read (they know who they are) have pointed out its factual inaccuracies, and have complained about its emphasis on Wilde's love life rather than his literary career. Admittedly, if the viewer wants a more scrupulous account of Wilde's life than is given by this film, she/he would be better off reading Ellmann's biography, on which the film is rather loosely based. Artistic liberties aside, I think we would all agree that the sight of a man making love is more dramatically interesting than the sight of him writing; the film's depiction of Wilde's intimate experiences, speculative as they are, serve to give us additional insight into who he was and the emotions that drove him. The film's greatest strength is its depiction of the neurotic relationship between Wilde and Douglas, which helps the viewer to understand how Wilde got into the jam he did.I'm sure nobody can complain about the performances in the film, which are dead on, especially that of Stephen Fry in the title role; unlike many actors portraying famous people he not only acts as Wilde must have acted but looks quite like him, which adds to the film's feeling of verisimilitude. Unfortunately, since we don't have a DVD player yet, this review is based on my copy of the video. Hopefully, I'll be able to get the DVD later to examine the extras.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stephen Fry's memorable performance as the tragic Oscar,
By Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER) (HALL OF FAME)
This review is from: Wilde (Special Edition) (DVD)
My introduction to Oscar Wilde consisted of three disparate sources. First, I read "The Importance of Being Earnest," the wittiest play ever written in the English language. Second, there was Monty Python's Oscar Wilde sketch, where Wilde, James McNeil Whistler and George Bernard Shaw force each other to turn insults into compliments for the Prince of Wales. Third, there was the "Masterpiece Theater" mini-series "Lillie," in which Peter Egan played Wilde and where for the first time I heard the speech from Wilde's court case where he explains "the love that dare not speak its name." It is one of the most unforgettable declarations from the docket in human history and I think I just about have it memorized because it was really burned into my mind the first time I heard it. When I watched "Wilde," my knowledge and understanding of Oscar Wilde was extended in several key ways. In playing the title role actor Stephen Fry makes Wilde seem less the dandy and more the kindly man he must have been to be put in the situation that caused his down fall. In contrast, Lord Alfred Douglas (Jude Law), known as "Bosie," might be beautiful of face but it is most decidedly skin deep. He is an ugly human being and when Wilde does what he does out of the goodness of his heart, the tragedy that it is for somebody who does not deserve it. I had not really thought much of Bosie before, but after watching "Wilde" I consider him a most despicable figure. Wilde was in prison within three months after the opening of "The Importance of Being Earnest," and the thought of what has been lost to literature and drama is rather sickening. It is only in the film's final scene that for the first time I found myself thinking of Oscar Wilde as a pathetic figure, and again it was because of Bosie. I had long appreciated the irony that despite his homosexuality Wilde truly loved his wife Constance (Jennifer Ehle), but in Julian Mitchell's screenplay, based on Richard Ellmann's noted biography, I learn an even greater irony with regards to Wilde's downfall, namely that his physical relationship with Bosie had been of short duration and that they were not lovers at the time of the libel suit involving the Marquess of Queensberry (Tom Wilkinson). In that regard this 1997 film enhances the tragic aspects of the story. Of course, the essence of the tragedy is articulated by Wilde himself, who declares: "In this life there are only two tragedies. One is not getting what one wants. The other is getting it."
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