Big Gay Picture Show

Taking a look at the world of film through gay eyes - news, reviews, trailers, gay film, queer cinema and more

Taking a look at the world of film through gay eyes - news, reviews, trailers, gay film, queer cinema & more

The Happy Prince Trailer – Rupert Everett takes on the final days of Oscar Wilde

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We caught The Happy Prince recently at the BFI Flare LGBTQ+ Film Festival – you can read what we thought here – and now the trailer and poster for the movie has arrived. You can take a look at it below.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘THE HAPPY PRINCE, written and directed by, as well as starring, Rupert Everett, opens in cinemas across the UK on 15 June. The film features a stellar supporting cast of British actors including Colin Firth (The King’s Speech, A Single Man), Emily Watson (On Chesil Beach, Gosford Park), Colin Morgan (The Fall, Testament of Youth) and Edwin Thomas (Endeavour).

‘Building from his own 2012 lauded stage portrayal of Wilde in David Hare’s The Judas Kiss, Everett physically and emotionally embodies the literary genius as he lives out his last days in exile in Europe, in a performance described by critics as “flawless” and “the best thing Everett has done”.

‘The film opens in Paris, where Wilde, by now in his forties, penniless and in poor health, is still reeling after being imprisoned in England for his love affair with Lord Alfred ‘Bosie’ Douglas (Morgan). Out of prison but a pariah, Wilde swings between grief and a determination to wrest whatever pleasure and beauty he can from the time he has left. His body ailing and heavy, his mind spinning, he survives by falling back on the flamboyant irony and brilliant wit that defined him.

‘Everett’s Wilde is tortured but determined to remain true to himself. His thoughts are filled with love and betrayal and permeated with those closest to him: Bosie, his literary agent Robbie Ross (Edwin Thomas), his great friend Reggie Turner (Firth) and his estranged wife Constance (Watson).

‘As the film travels through Wilde’s final act, and journeys from England to France and Italy, desire and loyalty face off, the transience of lust is laid bare, and the true riches of love are revealed.

‘THE HAPPY PRINCE will be released in cinemas on 15 June 2018 through Lionsgate UK.’ [Read more…]

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The Happy Prince (BFI Flare Review) – Rupert Everett takes on Oscar Wilde’s post-prison life

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The Happy Prince has been a true passion project for writer, director and actor Rupert Everett. After years of trying to get it to the screen he’s finally been able to make the movie, which looks at the lesser known story of what happened to Oscar Wilde after was released from prison following his sentence for gross indecency with men.

Knowing his fame/infamy means staying in Britain is impossible, Wilde (Everett) heads for the continent. We first see him ill and barely surviving in Paris, still trying to live it up (beyond his means), but only just hanging on. The film then flashes back to his arrival in France when things seemed very different. Friends including Robbie Ross (Edwin Thomas) and Reggie Turner (Colin Firth) are keen to help him build a new life. He’s got money thanks to a stipend from his estranged wife and after two years of hard labour the sun of France gives Oscar a sense of optimism. [Read more…]

The Happy Prince Film Clip – Take a look at Rupert Everett’s film about the final years of Oscar Wilde

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As its writer, director and star, The Happy Prince is undoubtedly a labour of love for Rupert Everett. The look at what happened to Oscar Wilde after his release from jail premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and it also screened at the Berlin Film Festival a couple of weeks ago. Sony Pictures Classics recently picked up distribution rights for North America and Latin America, and it will screen at the upcoming BFI: Flare London LGBT Film Festival.

We can now take our first look at the movie with a clip from the film, showing Everett as a broken Wilde, trying to escape his notoriety as perhaps the most famous ‘homosexual’ in the world. As the actor/director recently said, “I was always much more drawn to the fall of Oscar Wilde. I always found it a very romantic and tragic story. It’s one of the great stories of the end of the 19th century.”

Here’s its synopsis from the Sundance FIlm Festival: ‘Rupert Everett writes, directs, and stars in his moving debut feature, detailing the final three years (1897–1900) in the life of Oscar Wilde. Rich in period detail and eschewing the familiar narrative of the writer’s notorious trial and imprisonment on charges of indecency, this seldom-told story recounts Wilde’s life following his release from incarceration—a period encompassing some of his most profound writing and most intimate experiences.

‘Sequestered at a remote seaside hotel in France by faithful friends (played by Edwin Thomas and Colin Firth), a buoyant Wilde is soon restlessly traversing Europe under assumed names, beset by familiar, warring impulses: to reunite with his estranged wife (a radiant Emily Watson) or his former lover Sir Alfred “Bosie” Douglas (Colin Morgan), whose former provocations brought Wilde to ruin. Fading health, dwindling funds, and still more betrayals await Wilde, who relentlessly seeks love and creative outlets in whatever taverns and alleyways still welcome him. It’s here that Everett particularly shines, evoking the spirit of the once-celebrated fallen genius who finds divine light even in the darkest corners of life.’

Take a look at the clip below. [Read more…]

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Hugh Dancy Up For Rupert Everett’s Oscar Wilde Biopic The Happy Prince

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hugh-dancyHugh Dancy may spend part of the year being a bit nuts in Hannibal, but now he’s got a plan for the autumn, as ScreenDaily reports that he’s signed on for Rupert Everett’s long-gestating Oscar Wilde biopic, The Happy Prince.

Everett has been planning the movie, which will also serve as his feature directorial debut, since 2012, but now he’s finally pulling it together and hopes to shoot this October.

The film is said to focus on Oscar’s final days. It will see Wilde considering his own failure through his trademark wit and irony. After his imprisonment for homosexuality, Wilde spent his days in self-imposed exile in France. He briefly reunited with his love, Lord Alfred Douglas, but was kept away from his children. Although he published The Ballad Of Reading Gaol, he did very little writing and his health began to fail (partly due to poverty). He died of cerebral meningitis at the age of 46.

ScreenDaily doesn’t say who Dancy will play, but Lord Alfred Douglas would be a smart bet.

Colin Firth, Edward Fox, Emily Watson and Tom Wilkinson are also onboard the movie, which plan a very multi-national shoot taking in Italy, Belgium, France and the UK.

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Rupert Everett Directing Oscar Wilde Biopic With Colin Firth

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It seems Colin Firth is going to spend much of the next year or so playing gay. Just yesterday we reported he is attached to a biopic of gay entertainer Noel Coward, covering his time in Las Vegas. Now Variety reports that Firth is set to play Oscar Wilde in a movie called The Happy Prince, which is being written and directed by Rupert Everett.

While Stephen Fry’s 1997 film, Wilde, concentrated on Wilde’s most productive years and the run up to the trial that ended up with him getting imprisoned on charges of sodomy and gross indecency, The Happy Prince focuses on Oscar’s final days. It will see Wilde considering his own failure through his trademark wit and irony. After his imprisonment, Wilde spent his days in self-imposed exile in France He briefly reunited with his love, Lord Alfred Douglas, but was kept away from his children. Although he published The Ballad Of Reading Gaol, he did very little writing and his health began to fail (partly due to poverty). He died of cerebral meningitis at the age of 46.

As well as Firth, Edward Fox, Emily Watson and Tom Wilkinson are also onboard the movie. While the movie will mark Everett’s directorial debut, he’s no stranger to Wilde, having starred in adaptations of The Importance Of Being Earnest and An Ideal Husband. It’s due to shoot sumer 2013.

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