wilde ( uk , 1997 ) * * * 1/3 directed by brian gilbert . written by julian mitchell , from the book " oscar wilde " by richard ellmann . photography , martin fuhrer . editing , michael bradsell . production design , maria djurkovic . music , debbie wiseman ; produced by marc samuelson & peter samuelson . cast : stephen fry ( oscar wilde ) , jude law ( lord alfred douglas ) , vanessa redgrave ( lady speranza wilde ) , jennifer ehle ( constance wilde ) , gemma jones ( lady queensberry ) , judy parfitt ( lady mount-temple ) , michael sheen ( robert ross ) , zoe wanamaker ( ada leverson ) , tom wilkinson ( the marquess of queensberry ) . a sony classics release . 116 minutes . r ( sex , full rear male nudity ) because i take for granted that oscar wilde the writer , the man and his wit are familiar to the film's potential public , i will not go into a general intro . wilde's homosexuality ( a crime under english law until the late 1960s ) , his famous affair with lord alfred douglas , and the ensuing trials that finished off poor oscar , have made him a " cause celebre " --if i am not mistaken , the first of that nature in modern history . understandably , all this has made of wilde a patron saint of gay artists . among the many cinema genres , few can be as difficult and as vulnerable to criticism as the biographical picture . biopics are compromises . to relate a life -- or part of one -- and remain faithful to history in two hours of film is an impossibility , one that is even nastier than screen adaptations of major novels . condensations , simplifications , selected episodes are unavoidable . a case in point is the set of biopics directed by william dieterle in the 1930s and early 1940s . they were all reverent works on major figures : louis pasteur ( with paul muni , oscared ) , florence nightingale , emile zola ( best picture 1937 , also with muni ) , juarez ( with muni ) , reuter ( with e . g . robinson ) , dr . erlich ( robinson ) well-made , using major actors in both main and supporting roles , these works were big popular hits in their time . but today , with audiences and critics , movies in that style would get a much more cautious reception . even the sacrosanct epic " napoleon " ( 1927 , by abel gance ) might be --but is not-- faulted for historical inaccuracies . dieterle and his likes represented the old school of biopics . after a transition period ( e . g . wilson , the desert fox , viva zapata ) came the new school , in which no two of the better films followed the same strategy . creative and unconventional treatments days were given so such masterful works as --and i cite a few pell-mell --raging bull , van gogh , chaplin , joe hill , lenny , lawrence of arabia , malcolm x , tous les matins du monde , vincent and theo , stevie , camille claudel , rosa luxemburg , hanussen , an angel at my table , ed wood . . . although wilde , was not an easy item to tackle , it acquits itself honorably . there must have been good rapport between director and writer . brian gilbert , who made the funny , witty vice versa , the underrated not without my daughter , then tom and viv , opted here for a masterpiece theatre/ivory-merchant style , unrevolutionary but fitting the subject . versatile novelist-playwright julian mitchell is the author of many scenarios , including those of arabesque , another country , vincent and theo , august ( the directorial debut of anthony hopkins ) -- not to mention nine episodes of that civilized delight , the inspector morse tv series . mitchell had already worked on another gay theme i know of , in his prize-winning stage-play another country which is about 1930s students public-school students for whom homosexuality was trendy . years later , as in the notorious guy burgess and donald maclean case , several government officials were found spying for the soviet union . a very good film was made of this . it starred rupert everett . the script was by mitchell . for the current movie --the third about wilde-- mitchell based his scenario on the admirable biography by richard ellmann . the great scholar and critic finished this long labor of love as he was dying of lou gehrig' s disease . he died in march 1987 . the book appeared in early 1988 . there is no way for a film script to reconstruct a 680-page volume . the scenario wisely opted for selective choices and inspirations . it is faithful to ellmann's belief that wilde was as original and major a writer , and a cultural influence , as he was a man who invented his own public persona , as wit , esthete , dandy , poseur , society lion and , among much else , a sly critic of the middle and upper classes of england , the very people who were the butt of wilde's plays yet applauded them . the film does not go into wilde's irish and english past and upbringing . it plunges right away into an already established oscar who marries constance . his wife , in older parlance " gave him two boys " . robert ross , a younger houseguest , reveals to wilde that he ( oscar ) is really a homosexual . a relationship starts between the two . it is followed by others , culminates in the love affair between wilde and handsome , some 20 years younger lord alfred douglas ( " bosie " ) . it's a bizarre affair . oscar's love is steadfast , while the capricious , self-spoiled bosie blows hot and cold , introduces oscar to lower class people , often insults , hurts , exploits , taunts him and is despicable . he flaunts their couple in public , also taunts his father . the latter , played by tom wilkinson --who has a very different role in the full monty-- is here the wealthy marquess of queensberry , a crude , rude , violent sportsman whom bosie hates . ( he is the same lord queensberry after whom the basic codes for boxing were named , although another sportsman wrote them ) . delightful is the movie's inclusion of some aspects of wilde's enormously growing fame as a playwright , plus much wildean humor , wit , and the expected wildean thoughts and epigrams . but concurrently as well as exponentially , we see the sadness of the man's public and private life , the unavoidable troubles and scandals . the tragedy , latent throughout the writer's life , now springs out of the closet . it becomes all the more painful to watch since wilde is a most likable fellow , generous to a fault , and never really inflicting harm or hurt on others . actor stephen fry is an uncanny match for wilde . he even looks like him , though taller , less rotund , and with a face not so soft as in the photographs of wilde . fry , also a writer and a wit , temperamental , unpredictable , rather sweet , openly gay , is a rare case of perfect casting . superior too is the casting of lord alfred douglas and that of robert ross . robbie remains through thick and thin oscar's true friend and helper , and the voice of reason . because we know how everything comes out , the earlier and/or some lighter scenes are made suspenseful as we wait for the axe to fall . and we wish that the so-smart oscar had not been so dumb as to be prodded by bosie into initiating that terrible libel suit against queensberry . if there was a time when " don't ask , don't tell " was the best possible advice , it was in victorian days . 
