7.1 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Brilliant, egocentric and completely unique, Oscar Wilde defied convention on almost every level. While coming to terms with his newfound sexual identity, he also experienced his most creative period, resulting in some of his best-known works. As his literary career flourished, the self-realization of his homosexuality caused Wilde enormous torment as he juggled marriage, fatherhood, and responsibility with his obsessive love for Lord Alfred Douglas. It is this passionate and stormy relationship which consumed and ultimately destroyed him.
Starring: Stephen Fry, Jude Law, Tom Wilkinson, Jennifer Ehle, Gemma JonesDrama | Insignificant |
Biography | Insignificant |
History | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
2091 kbps
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
In an introduction to the illustrated screenplay/movie companion book, Wilde (Dove Books, 1997), Stephen Fry recalls filming Peter's Friends (1992) during which he and director Kenneth Branagh discussed the possibility of collaborating on a film about Oscar Wilde. They apparently were considering adapting Richard Ellmann's 600-page biography on Wilde, which was first published in 1987 and won the Pulitzer Prize. Fry had received a "very charming letter" from Lucy Ellmann, Richard's daughter, who wrote that she imagined Fry as the primary actor to portray Wilde and inquired if he had any plans to do so. Fry went on to play Wilde in an episode on the 1993 TV series, Ned Blessing: The Story of My Life and Times. When Branagh became involved in various productions on stage and screen, he passed on a potential Wilde project. Fry recollects while sitting in a bar of the Savoy Hotel, film producer Marc Samuelson and director Brian Gilbert paid him a visit. They also sent him a screenplay by Julian Mitchell, which Fry loved. After discussions with the producer and director, Fry met Jude Law in Samuelson's house. Fry knew Law would be his co-star: "[T]here is no question that he would be perfect for Lord Alfred Douglas. He is only twenty-three but knows more about films than most people twice his age" (p. 20).
Due to the changing times and archival material previously unavailable about Wilde's life, Gilbert's Wilde (1997) is a markedly different film than Ratoff's Oscar Wilde (1960) and Hughes's The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960). Unlike those two features, Gilbert's picture begins well before the premiere of Lady Windermere's Fan. It starts rather unexpectedly in Leadville, Colorado where Wilde visits a group of miners. Gilbert's script and the film also give greater exposition to Wilde's family and friends prior to Lady Windermere's Fan and in subsequent scenes. While not an all-encompassing biopic of Wilde's life, the narrative is kind of an epic, spanning the years 1882–1898.
Sony Pictures Classics released Wilde over the summer on an MPEG-4 AVC-encoded BD-50 (disc size: 42 GB). This is a true 24fps 1080p transfer, unlike UK-based Altitude Film's Blu-ray, which delivers the movie in 1080i 50hz with a speed of 25fps. Arthaus/Studio Canal also released Wilde on Blu-ray in Germany. I haven't seen that transfer but reports are that the video quality is subpar. The film's Metrocolor was developed using bleach bypass, thereby retaining the silver and color dyes on the emulsion. Sony's HD transfer delivers a faithful rendition of this process. The image is light years ahead of Columbia TriStar's 2002 "Special Edition." I've consolidated several identical screen captures between the DVD and BD so you can see how much clearer and sharper the latter is. There's edge enhancement on the R1 DVD which has been corrected on the BD. The two transfers are possibly taken from different prints because the Blu-ray ironically has a few minor blemishes pop up in the frame during the courtroom scenes that the SD doesn't have. Sony has encoded the feature at an average video bitrate of 25217 kbps. My video score on Sony's BD is 4.25/5.00.
Screenshots 1-20, 22, 24, 26, 28, & 30 = Sony Pictures Classics 2022 BD-50
Screenshots 21, 23, 25, 27, & 29 = Columbia TriStar 2002 DVD-9
Sony includes thirteen chapters, which are accessible only via remote. (There's no option on the popup menu.) The DVD has twenty-eight scene selections.
Sony has supplied a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo (2091 kbps, 24-bit) as the lone sound track. While the R1 only has an option for 2.0 audio, some of the European DVDs of Wilde have a Dolby Digital 5.1 option. The back cover on Sony's region-all Blu-ray incorrectly lists an English 5.1 DTS-HD MA track, which would have been a great addition. Still, the lossless audio on the 2.0 mix sounds clear and crisp. Julian Mitchell's beautifully written dialogue is delivered with aplomb by the British cast. Composer Debbie Wiseman wrote a lovely score full of lush melodies. She employs the theme-and-variation method throughout her score but it never sounds overly repetitive.
English SHD is the only subtitle option Sony provides for the feature.
Sony has recycled all the extras from its DVD sans the leaflet of production notes.
Brian Gilbert's great film Wilde (1997) has finally been given a respectable HD transfer on BD. I've been longing for a solid Blu-ray of Wilde since the format's inception. Sony has ported over all the bonus features from the R1 except for printed production notes. A VERY STRONG RECOMMENDATION for the movie and this BD-50.
(Still not reliable for this title)
2011
1942
2017
Young Man of Music / Warner Archive Collection
1950
2006
1928
2004
Fox Studio Classics
1953
1987
Warner Archive Collection
1967
1980
Warner Archive Collection
1965
1961
2011
2011
1998
Restored Edition | Warner Archive Collection
1937
The Director's Cut
1998
2004
2017