The Libertine (2004 film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Libertine (2004 film)
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The Libertine
Film poster
Directed by
Laurence Dunmore
Produced by
John Malkovich
Lianne Halfon
Russell Smith
Written by
Stephen Jeffreys
Starring
Johnny Depp
Samantha Morton
John Malkovich
Rosamund Pike
Music by
Michael Nyman
Cinematography
Alexander Melman
Editing by
Jill Bilcock
Distributed by
The Weinstein Company
Release date(s)
23 November 2004 (2004-11-23)
Running time
130 minutes (US)
114 minutes (UK)
Country
United Kingdom
Australia
Language
English
Budget
$20 million
Box office
$10,852,064
The Libertine is a 2004 British drama film directed by Laurence Dunmore, in his first outing, and adapted by Stephen Jeffreys' from his play of the same name, starring Johnny Depp, John Malkovich, Samantha Morton and Rosamund Pike.
Depp stars as John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, a notorious rake and libertine poet in the court of King Charles II of England. Samantha Morton plays Elizabeth Barry, an actress whose budding talent blossoms and makes her much in demand under Rochester's tutelage. Wilmot and Barry become lovers. John Malkovich plays King Charles II, who is torn between his affection for Wilmot and the danger posed by his displays of contempt for his sovereign. Themes explored in the film include the corruption of a people by their self-indulgent monarch and the pursuit of hedonism.
Contents
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Music
4 Reception
4.1 Critical response
4.2 Box office
4.3 Awards and honors
5 Home media
6 References
7 External links
[edit] Plot
The story begins with John Wilmot, Second Earl of Rochester (Depp), delivering his prologue, the main themes of which are his fondness for drink, his sexual proclivities, and his disdain for his audience.
King Charles II (Malkovich) decides to summon his great friend, the Earl, back to London, retracting a year-long banishment for humiliating him, after only three month's exile. Rochester arrives in London to find his friends in a bawdy house; they are known as the "Merry Gang" and include George Etherege (Hollander) and Charles Sackville (Vegas). On the street, Rochester comes across a thief, Alcock (Coyle), whose frankness about his dishonesty impresses Rochester. He hires Alcock as his gentleman on the spot. The Merry Gang introduce its newest member, 18-year old Billy Downs (Friend). Rochester warns Downs, "Young man, you will die of this company."
Rochester invites Downs to attend a play with the Merry Gang. The group goes to the theatre and sees actress Elizabeth Barry (Morton), who is booed off the stage and then dismissed from her role after refusing to participate in a curtain call. Rochester is taken with Barry, and after the show he secures re-employment with the company for her, personally delivering the notice to her dressing room. He invites her to meet him at the playhouse the next day to coach her in acting, and she hesitantly accepts. The following day Rochester begins his tutelage of Lizzie Barry and gradually they fall in love. Rochester admits that his infidelity to Elizabeth, his wife, has caused her to leave London prematurely. Meanwhile, Barry's acting improves dramatically and she delivers a brilliant performance in her next production. The King then approaches Barry, asking her to spy on Rochester to keep track of his progress. A loyal subject, she agrees.
Charles, in need of money from France, asks Rochester to write a play in honour of the French Ambassador's visit, hoping it will impress the Ambassador to lend his support. The King requests it be a "testament" to his reign. Rochester writes Sodom, or the Quintessence of Debauchery, a scathing satire of the King's reign, which he claims is indeed "a testament to Charles" ¡ª just what the King had asked for. The play involves nude actors having sex on-stage, phallic imagery and props, a backdrop painted to resemble female genitalia, the distribution of ornately carved Italian wooden dildos, characters named "Little Clitoris" and "Signor Dildo", and a brutal portrayal of the King, played by Rochester himself. At the premiere, Charles coolly interrupts the play, coming up onto the stage to make his displeasure known, and the two have a public showdown. Later, young Billy Downs is killed in a sword fight outside the home of a Constable; Rochester backs away from his dying friend, whispering, "I told you."
Hiding from the King in the English countryside, sick with symptoms of syphilis, Rochester uses the pseudonym "Doctor Bendo" where, with the help of Alcock and the prostitute Jane, he peddles "medical services", mainly gynaecological "treatments" for women, including the selling of "potions" made from Alcock's urine. Rochester's face has become disfigured by syphillitic gummata which he hides beneath a mask. After six months of this the King finally finds him but decides that the worst punishment possible is to simply "....let you - be you." Rochester returns to his wife and mother in the country, where he admits to having been constantly under the influence of "the drink" for five years straight. And although Rochester's health continues to worsen, it is still apparent that his wife still loves him despite of his infidelities.
In the meantime, Charles' unpopular choice of heir, his Roman Catholic brother James, Duke of York, has led to a showdown with Parliament. Parliament is fearful of what will happen when James becomes king. Parliament introduces the Exclusion Bill to deny James the throne, sure to pass by 15 votes. Rochester makes a dramatic entrance into Parliament, wearing a silver nose-piece and heavy pancake makeup to conceal the ravages of syphilis and hobbling on two canes. He makes a brief but effective speech, rationally and eloquently denouncing the Bill. As Rochester then hobbles off, the subsequent vote kills the proposed Bill by over 40 votes. He goes to see Barry who reveals they had a daughter together, ironically named Elizabeth like his wife. She rejects him.
He returns home to his deathbed where he dies aged 33 with his wife, mother, a priest who was summoned by Rochester's mother to "bring God to him" as she did not want Rochester to die as an atheist, and Alcock. Before he dies, Rochester asks the priest to recite Isaiah verse 53; he also asks his wife to retell the story of how he had abducted her as an 18 year old lady when they fell in love. The film then cuts between Rochester's actual death, and the death scene of The Man of Mode, the play about him written by his friend Etheridge. In a final irony, Elizabeth Barry is playing his wife on stage.
The film closes as it opens, with an epilogue. Rochester slips into the background in the wavering candlelight, sipping his drink and asking repeatedly, growing less arrogant and more vulnerable with each utterance: "Do you like me now?"
[edit] Cast
Johnny Depp as John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester
John Malkovich as King Charles II
Samantha Morton as Elizabeth Barry
Rosamund Pike as Elizabeth Wilmot, Countess of Rochester (n¨¦e Elizabeth Malet)
Tom Hollander as Sir George Etherege
Johnny Vegas as Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset
Richard Coyle as Alcock
Rupert Friend as Billy Downs
Jack Davenport as Harris
Kelly Reilly as Jane
Clare Higgins as Molly Luscombe
Francesca Annis as Rochester's mother
[edit] Music
Main article: The Libertine (album)
The score to the film was composed by Michael Nyman, and released as The Libertine: Music for the Film by Laurence Dunmore in November 2005. The music represents Nyman's last score for a major motion picture to date, and his last soundtrack release.
[edit] Reception
[edit] Critical response
The film received mixed to negative reviews from critics. Film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 30% of 116 sampled critics gave the film positive reviews and that it got a rating average of 4.6 out of 10.[1] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times gave the film 3 stars out of 4 praising Johnny Depp's performance, stating "Libertines are not built for third acts. No self-respecting libertine lives that long. Johnny Depp finds sadness in the earl's descent, and a desire to be loved even as he makes himself unlovable. What a brave actor Depp is, to take on a role like this. Still, at the screenplay stage, "The Libertine" might have seemed a safer bet than Pirates of the Caribbean, a movie [which] studio executives reportedly thought was unreleasable."
[edit] Box office
The film has grossed $4,835,065 in North America and $6,016,999 in other territories, making for a total of $10,852,064 worldwide.[2]
[edit] Awards and honors
The Libertine was nominated in eight categories in the British Independent Film Awards for 2005, and won in one category, gaining a Best Performance by a Supporting Actor or Actress in a British Independent Film award for Rosamund Pike. The other nominations were:
Best British Independent Film
Best Performance by a Supporting Actor or Actress in a British Independent Film (Tom Hollander)
Best Technical Achievement (Ben van Os)
The Douglas Hickox Award (Laurence Dunmore)
Best Director of a British Independent Film (Laurence Dunmore)
Best Performance by an Actor in a British Independent Film (Johnny Depp)
Most Promising Newcomer (Rupert Friend)[3]
[edit] Home media
The Libertine is available on DVD as of 2004.
[edit] References
^ "The Libertine (2004)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/libertine/. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
^ "The Libertine (2005)". Box Office Mojo. Internet Movie Database. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=libertine.htm. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
^ "The Libertine". British Independent Film Awards. Archived from the original on 20 February 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5wd0yzplb. Retrieved 6 July 2010.
[edit] External links
Official website
The Libertine at the Internet Movie Database
The Libertine at Rotten Tomatoes
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