The Libertine
Last night, Kate, Kevin, and I went to go see The Libertine in Chattanooga. It was very well done. The whole thing was grainy with faded colour (I could almost hear a naration saying "and here we have actual footage from the period..."), and everything was truthful and nasty. All the actors were either wearing the heavy white exaggerated makeup of the period, or were wearing no makeup at all and their faces were greasy and imperfect, their pores large, and the guys needed to shave. Everyone looked like they'd slept in a car for three days. There was mud everywhere, and near constant sexuality. Now, I'm not the same little innocent kid I was when I came to sewanee and I've seen a lot of movies with "questionable content" and I knew going into this movie that this was one of them too. They did say at the very begining of the movie that "sexual intercourse" flourished during this period, along with the fine arts. I guess censorship... no, not censoship, that's not the right word... thoughts of what people are willing to perform and what people are able to get away with goes in cycles. There is a play that is produced in the movie that has women running around in nearly sheer shifts, a giant (like 12 feet long, with a midget riding on it) phallus, and a simulated blowhob in it. There was also apparantly supposed to be like a six-couple sex scene or something - they didn't get to that point becuase the King stood up and expressed his displeasure. So, yeah, I mean the show got cancelled and people got in trouble, but just the fact that there were enough people willing to go along with that says something. Maybe I'm just sheltered after all - I dunno.
Along with the unabashed picture of the sexuality of the period was the very unforgiving portrayal of what the Earl of Rochester's symptoms were doing to him, becoming more and more grotesque as the film went along. I won't go into it much here because I think it needs to be experienced without warning or expectation. I will say however that I am now even more impressed with both Johnny Depp's skill and bravery as an actor.
Along with the unabashed picture of the sexuality of the period was the very unforgiving portrayal of what the Earl of Rochester's symptoms were doing to him, becoming more and more grotesque as the film went along. I won't go into it much here because I think it needs to be experienced without warning or expectation. I will say however that I am now even more impressed with both Johnny Depp's skill and bravery as an actor.