The Libertine review
Issue #25
Directed by Laurence Dunmore
By Michael Hastings
Published: September 1st, 2005 | 2:13pm
Now that Johnny Depp has been granted second and third helpings of mainstream acceptance — and the Oscar nominations that go with it — it’s nice to see him delve back into his semi-perverted indie past. In The Libertine, the actor may don stirrups and frilly shirts, but the Restoration costumes and settings do little to dampen his gleeful depravity.
Playing the debauched John Wilmot, the Earl of Rochester, Depp finds a way to channel the rock-star charisma of his recent Hollywood work into a superbly controlled, technically proficient performance. Powdered wigs haven’t been this much fun since Tom Hulce hyperventilated his way through Amadeus.
Based on screenwriter Stephen Jeffreys’ play of the same name, The Libertine draws on the history of the period to fashion the tale of a spoiled, knavish Earl who’s determined to squander his privilege in the most spectacular way possible: “Anything worth doing will be done at one’s own expense,” as he puts it. What stops him in his tracks is the talented would-be actress he takes under his wing and into his bed, the commoner Elizabeth Barry (Samantha Morton). Still, repeated attempts to shape up the errant Earl only result in elaborate pranks, as when he pulls a Marquis de Sade and stages an X-rated play featuring his benefactor King Charles II (John Malkovich) as a character.
Bawdy without being silly, and accurate without being dull, The Libertine pulls off the enviable feat of being a period piece worth seeing outside of public television. Recalling such irreverent films as Quills or The Draughtsman’s Contract, director Laurence Dunsmore makes certain to bathe his vision of the past in mud, bodily fluids, and murky candlelight; a mid-film orgy has the base, rutting qualities of a Bruegel tableau. In other words, we’re not in Merchant-Ivory-land. Although Wilmot’s fate is a dire one indeed, Dunsmore and Jeffreys resist moralizing, and Depp turns what could’ve been a hackneyed “redemption” scene into a phlegmatic, weirdly uplifting rant. Finally, the actor who looks to Keith Richards for inspiration can claim a role that’s nearly as decadent as the guitarist himself.
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