The Happy Prince

2018

Action / Biography / Drama

22
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Certified Fresh 72%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 51%
IMDb Rating 6.2 10 5407

Plot summary



January 19, 2023 at 07:40 PM

Director

Rupert Everett

Top cast

Colin Firth as Reggie Turner
Colin Morgan as Alfred Bosie Douglas
Rupert Everett as Oscar Wilde
Emily Watson as Constance Wilde
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU 720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
965.04 MB
1280*534
English 2.0
R
23.976 fps
1 hr 44 min
P/S ...
1.93 GB
1920*800
English 5.1
R
23.976 fps
1 hr 44 min
P/S ...
890.06 MB
1280*528
English 2.0
R
24 fps
12 hr 0 min
P/S 11 / 6
1.68 GB
1904*784
English 2.0
R
24 fps
12 hr 0 min
P/S 31 / 34

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by PeachesIR 6 / 10

Sentimental, sad look at Wilde's later life

"The Happy Prince" is an interesting, sad look at the great poet and playwright Oscar Wilde at the end of his life, when he lived in poverty, declined health and social exile in France. The film seems like a labor of love for Rupert Everett, its star and director, but the finished product looks a bit low-budget and claustrophobic. The shaky camera work was distracting at times. Anyone who loves Wilde will appreciate this film's sensitive exploration of his inner thoughts and emotions, and how he suffered after his trial, incarceration and social exclusion for his sexual relationship with Lord Alfred Douglas at a time when sex between two men was illegal in England. Although Wilde is shown here living freely in France, he is separated from his two children and his career has been destroyed, so Everett delves into these painful aspects of the writer's later life, partially through dreamily lit flashbacks. "The Happy Prince" is a touching, rather slow film for Wilde fans, but I prefer Stephen Fry's crackling portrayal in Brian Gilbert's "Wilde" (1997), and that earlier film is better overall, perhaps due to superior direction and production quality.

Reviewed by jboothmillard 5 / 10

The Happy Prince

I saw Rupert Everett talking about this film during his Life Stories interview with Piers Morgan, it is his debut as writer and director, I was looking forward to it. Basically, set in 1897, Oscar Wilde (Rupert Everett) has just been released from prison after serving his sentence for gross indecency (homosexuality was illegal at the time). Separated from his wife and children, he arrives in Dieppe, where old friends Reggie Turner (Colin Firth) and Robert "Robbie" Ross (Edwin Thomas) are waiting for him. Wilde assumes the alias of Sebastian Melmoth and tries to rebuild his life. He also wants to make peace with his wife Constance Lloyd (Emily Watson) and writes to her. He is recognised and taunted by some young Englishmen who pursue him into a church. He violently defends himself and receives a severe warning from the police. Oscar reunites with his old lover Lord Alfred "Bosie" Douglas (Merlin's Colin Morgan), which angers Robbie, whose secret love for him has never been reciprocated. Oscar and Bosie flee together to Naples, where they live for some time in a house in Posillipo. Soon Lady Douglas, Bosie's mother, stops her son his allowance, saying she will resume payments, and give a £200 payoff to Oscar, if the two lovers separate. Despite Oscar's anger, they give in and separate. Shortly afterwards Constance, who had forbidden Oscar any contact with Bosie, dies from complications following surgery, and Oscar is denied any contact with their two children. Now incapable of writing, Oscar goes to Paris, where he lives off his wits and the charity of his old supporters. He is reunited Reggie and Robbie and shortly after finds Bosie, whose has received a large inheritance following the recent death of his father, but Bosie angrily refuses to help him. Meanwhile, Oscar begins to show strange symptoms, including coughing blood, he assumes it is mussel poisoning, but then suspects that it may be syphilis. Oscar shares his misery with two begging brothers he meets, he also tells his fairy tale The Happy Prince, which he always told his children. Oscar's illness gets worse, and he receives a painful surgical operation to treat an abscess (his right ear drum was ruptured in a fall, leading to a collection of pus, swelling and inflammation to cause bacteria) in his ear. His uncertain physical state causes post-operative infections. With his last strength Oscar asks for an extreme Catholic anointing, only to die surrounded by the few friends he has remaining. Oscar passes away from meningitis. At Oscar's funeral, Robbie complains to Bosie that he was a hypocrite, because he mourns the death of the man who had always loved him and whom he had abandoned without showing any gratitude. Bosie says that his words are dictated by jealousy, and that only he will be remembered alongside Oscar Wilde, while Robbie will be forgotten. The epilogue says that Bosie died alone and penniless in 1945, while Robbie died in 1918 and was buried with Oscar. In 2017, Oscar was pardoned together with other people convicted of homosexual offences. Also starring Tom Wilkinson as Father Dunne, Anna Chancellor as Mrs. Arbuthnot, Julian Wadham as Mr. Arbuthnot, Béatrice Dalle as Café Manager, John Standing as Dr. Tucker, and Ronald Pickup as Judge. Everett plays the central role as the fallen playwright, gay martyr and self-destructive cynic, and his writing and direction is reasonably good. It is an interesting portrait of a Victorian icon in his final years, it has flashbacks seeing Wilde's previous glittering success, the subject of horrifying homophobic prejudice is strong, it is obviously a story leading to tragedy, but there are moments of humour to soften it a little, it is a reasonably entertaining biographical drama. Worth watching!

Reviewed by Horst_In_Translation 6 / 10

Everettwhere

"The Happy Prince" is a new British historic drama focusing on the final years in the life of renowned British writer Oscar Wilde. The latter is played by Golden-Globe nominated actor Rupert Everett (slightly under the age of 60) and this film is also the first theatrical release by him as writer and director, so obviously it is a project pretty close to his heart. It runs for 105 minutes and features more established British actors like Firth, Watson and Wilkinson next to Everett, but eventually their characters may bear some significance, but it's all about Everett's Wilde and nobody else. With the exception of the final moments, he is in every scene and he simply makes the movie and everything about it. The film is less about his art really because there are many moment when we hear that his writing career was basically over, for example when he mentions that he sold his newest work to several publishers without having written a single word about it. It's not a biopic. The focus is just on the man's last years and how he was struggling not necessarily with his homosexuality, but with how homosexuality was perceived back in the day. His own approach to (gay) love was dedicated and true, even if the man he showed an interest in did not always have an easy time due to who Wilde was. The part with the alias is the best example. But also they struggled with his preferences because it is never really clear who he loves, who he is just interested in and who he cares deeply about. the only similarity there is that basically all his love interest were considerably younger than him, even very young at times like the flower vendor near the end. The film is as much about homosexuality as it is about everything else. The scene with all these men meeting and one guy's mother eintering the room and expressing her reluctance with the scenario clearly thinking they hid women somewhere while not even getting close to the core of the men's sexual preference because of who she was and how stuff like that had no place in her life by any means. Then there is also the aspect of money, financial struggles and how Wilde eventually moved that deep into poverty that he had to ask a fan for some money in what was maybe the most heartbreaking scene of the film as his sexual tendencies destroyed not only his career, but his life as a whole. The meltdown scene with the boys following him and bullying him is the most obvious example there. Still, he can be lucky throughout the entire film that he never lost touch with friends or was really completely alone, also thanks to his charisma for sure, which stayed for a long time after his writing skills had faded away apparently. For example, during several occasions you see that he was a pretty appreciated entertainer and singer too and not because he was everybody's fool. So I give a big thumbs-up to Everett here, it's fairly impressive for a rookie project there's no denying. And it's obvious that he drew a lot of inspiration from all the big filmmakers he already worked with when making this collaboration between several European countries. It's not a film that will attract a great deal of awards recognition during the big ceremonies I'm afraid, even if it was rock solid in terms of sets and costumes and make-up. I definitely enjoyed the watch and it never dragged and for a film as close to 2 hours as to 90 minutes, that is always a success. I somehow doubt Everett can repeat the awards success Fry had with the same character many years before, but it would not be undeserving at all. And I am writing this as somebody who has virtually no connection with Oscar Wilde as I have not read a single piece of his works I think and also as somebody who is not that big on period pieces in general. But this one deserves to be seen for sure. A thumbs-up without a doubt. Go check it out. Everetts portrayal alone is worth the entire watch.

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