Saw “the Libertine” Saturday night

and I don’t yet have much to say about it.
My problem is that I’m so susceptible to film- it pulls me in. I can’t get back far enough to be critical.

Quite an amazing cast, and the director did okay for his first feature-length film- this is a guy who’s done a lot of commercials, which have bigger budgets per minute than features do. And the film was terribly under-budgeted. Some goofy camera work was distracting- circling, circling, and one argument scene when the camera pulls focus back and forth between Rochester and his wife who stands behind him. Made me want to look at the other person, just to be contrary. Some people complain about the gritty film, the dark and monochromatic palette; myself, I loved the cold, foggy hopeless atmosphere, and the rich textures that replace color in this film.

The script- was adapted from a play, and it shows. Rochester’s life was panoramic, a play, of neccesity is not. The adaptation brought in a little more breadth, but a sense of claustrophobia still lingers. And, since it was a play about a playwright, the self-referential elements- the “all the world’s a stage” business- is, I suppose, unavoidable.

My biggest gripe is that everyone calls the main character “Johnny” which, of course is the name of the actor that portrays him. As far as I can tell, the whole world called the Earl by his title, Rochester.

Johnny’s performance is so good that the only way you’ll see how good it is- is to compare it to his Jack Sparrow. Where Jack never stops hamming, focussing attention, Rochester tries to hide his charisma. Johnny takes the earl’s over-the top, riven, driven, self-aware and self-destructive personality- and, actually, underplays him, just that crucial amount. It’s riveting. As Jack, his tangles and dreadlocks are an open frame that accentuates the unearthly lines of his skull- as Rochester, he pulls his face deep into that restoration wig, and hides within it. (At one point he pulls off his wig to show a rough crop- and he is nearly unrecognisable and still breathtakingly beautiful)

Samantha Morton- I didn’t much feel that her lines were accurate to historical reality, but they were excellent for her. The whole business of acting, and the theater, seemed to me to be more in the interests of self- referentialism- us theater folk love to talk about theater, kind of thing.

That being said, she was delectable- I’d shag her in a heartbeat, with that round forehead, vulnerable mouth, doe-eyes. Great body, too… During the sex scene, all I could think of was; “Johnny does get some good ones!”

I’m sure I’ll have more coherent thoughts about this film, but not yet. I keep brushing those heavy restoration curls away from my face. They’re so distracting!

Tags: family life, memoryfic