Wilde times

An Ideal Husband Reviewed by Ziauddin Sardar The only surprise in Oliver Parker's film of the famed Oscar Wilde play is the appearance of the writer himself. As we watch them, all the major characters of the play are watching each other watching a play - Wilde's masterpiece, The Importance of Being Earnest. And when the curtain goes down, Wilde himself comes out to take a bow. "All society," he seems to say, "loves it." A neat combination of homage and postmodern twist.

But what would Wilde make of this adaptation? I think he would approve. Parker remains faithful to the text, merely tinkering with it a trifle to make its contemporary relevance more obvious. He also opens it up - a few street scenes, rides in Hyde Park, a debate in the House of Commons - as a half-hearted nod to the language of film, but makes no attempt to hide the stage origins of his material. This is not too much of a drawback - the essence of Wilde is the witty, acidic language and the flamboyant nature of his characters and the film delivers on both fronts. The acting is uniformly suburb and Wilde's scintillating dialogue just bubbles off the screen with all its panache and style.

An Ideal Husband is unique in Wilde's oeuvre for exploring notions of tenderness not found in his previous works. Sir Robert Chiltern (Jeremy Northam), a brilliant politician with a bright future, is an ideal husband for the engaging Lady Chiltern (Cate Blanchett). The couple are widely admired and present a perfect picture of wedded bliss. In contrast, their friend, the elegant Lord Arthur Goring (Rupert Everett), is renowned for his philandering. He is the object of constant prodding from his father (John Wood), who wants him to get married, and the subject of adoring attention from Lady Mabel (Minnie Driver), Sir Robert's sister. Enter the deliciously mischievous Mrs Cheveley (Julianne Moore), a former lover of Lord Goring and the current blackmailer of Sir Robert. Unless he gives in to her demand of supporting a scandalous project in Argentina, she will reveal a dark secret from his past - threatening both his career and his marriage. Both Sir Robert and Lady Chiltern turn to Lord Goring for help and series of misunderstandings, with Lord Goring at the centre, follow. Lady Chiltern thinks her husband is going to sell out; Sir Robert thinks his wife is having an affair with Lord Goring; and Mrs Cheveley is playing both ends against the middle. Can Lord Goring rise about the tangled web of lies, enticement and seductions and rescue his dear friends? Will he finally give in to Lady Mabel's persistence and sacrifice his cherished bachelorhood? Will Mrs Cheveley be sent packing? Enjoy the glorious sets and production designs and the sumptuous photography as Lord Goring sets about untying the knot. As the man in the middle of all this, Rupert Everett is simply a joy to behold. The relationship between him and his father is not burdened by close authority - the son wants to defy the father without engaging in open conflict - but the humour here arises out of distant defiance rather than proximate rebellion. Just like Wilde himself, Goring is a poser as well as a protest writ large against macho masculinity and Everett catches the flavour of this exquisitely. He is equally matched by Minnie Driver, whose portrayal of Lady Mabel is just the right balance of unstated dare and feminine desire. The scenes between the pair are openly electric. An Ideal Husband was written when Wilde was abandoned, after being physiologically tortured, by his promiscuous lover and was suffering from persecution. Wrapped in its drama of political scandal, so reflective of New Labour, is a heartfelt plea for tolerance towards human weakness. We should see our partners not as idealised projections, he suggests, but as defective individuals capable of gross errors. His own biography was one long stand against the existence of everyday life and the film manages to communicate both - the essence of Wilde's life and the message of his play: that banality is not just boring, but rather counter-productive. Don't be put off by the obvious theoretical look of this adaptation. This is a beautiful film that is truthful in more ways than one. Go see it - and take the kids with you.

Copyright 1999
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