inulro | The Libertine

I went along to ogle Johnny Depp like any good fangirl, but it was much better than I expected. I'd go as far as to say it's as close to art as one can get with Restoration subject matter. At least there is a Serious Theme about squandering one's talent, and a rather interesting photographical style that worked very well to convey how dark & smoky indoor places must have been at the time, which worked better for me than the usual Restoration theme that the party has to end some time.[1] John Malkovich was a damn fine Charles II.

I was subjected to some of Rochester's poetry in a class once (yes, I have read 17th-century porn for credit), but I don't know how much of the film is true. Certainly I never thought he had that much talent to squander. I'd have thought I'd have known about the play for the French ambassador if that really happened, but as I've always found that period a literary and historical wasterland, I might not. It's worth finding out, though.

[1] It's all fun until somebody gets syphillis. Or goes to war.