Separating performance from film leaves me unsettled...
Added 11/16/2009
There is an awful lot going for this film, but sadly, the way it is presented takes it down a notch or two for me. I just found the construction of this film to be somewhat of a mess, and while I wanted it to engage me, and at times it is, it failed to really rally me in the way I wanted it to. It is an effective piece that kind of falls short of truly grasping all that it could have been, beings that it carries with it some weighty subjects.
The life of playwright Joe Orton is an astonishing one.
Director Stephen Frears (and screenwriter John Lahr) really share all the blame in making this film less than brilliant, for the acting across the board is beyond stellar, and the crisp cinematography (from starlit skies to murky bathrooms to cramped and repressive apartments) is a true highlight. The script is just jumbled to me and it fails to really capitalize on what it has to work with. There are moments that really seem to float and give promise that this is going to really take off, and then it just falls flat once again. I particularly liked the way in which Joe's demise was handled, but it is really just a brief glimpse at Frears capabilities.
Frears is better than this.
The most important aspect of this film is the acting, for it is the most redeeming. Around many a cinematic circle, Gary Oldman is considered one of the most overdue actors for an Oscar nomination in who knows when. He is an astonishing actor who has proven himself time and time again, and this is one of his crowing achievements. He posseses a naughty sensuality that completely compliments the man that was Joe Orton and gives light to Orton's own artistic viewpoints. His self-centered theatrics are superbly handled without any clichéd manipulations. Alfred Molina is astonishing here. When I first saw the film I found him to be rather annoying and obnoxious and I felt he was forced; until the end when his character seemed to click. Upon rewatching the film I saw how his entire performance was really a stem of the inevitable, like a work reversed. If you watch the scenes from end to beginning you can see the progression of his character (or at least the full understanding of his character) and that made me absolutely adore his performance. The queen of the film is Vanessa Redgrave, who just oozes with absolute control as Peggy, Orton's agent. Her scenes were some of my favorite, such a superb supporting work; never taking away from the star but never allowing us to forget she is there.
Marvelous.
Like I said; the acting across the board is phenomenal and some of the best work of the 80's (I'd place Molina and Redgrave on my best supporting ballot for, like, EVER). I only wish that the remaining facets of the film met their grandeur. It was a nice idea, but the execution leaves one wondering how this could have gone so wrong.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Jealous Talent
Added 3/11/2009
A next movie of a grey boring existence in London of the Beatles is of a jealous talent killing his partner of a more attractive appearance and successful writer's fate.
May be watched, may not to.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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DVD Pick Up Your Ears
Added 7/9/2007
DVD arrived in goodly time and in great quality... the movie itself wasn't as good as I had remembered it, but the service was A-1.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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What a Way to GO
Added 12/30/2006
"PRICK UP YOUR EARS"
What a Way to Go
Amos Lassen and Literary Pride
"Prick Up Your Ears" is a gem of a movie. It tells the true story of English playwright Joe Orton and his homosexual relationship with his talented but not so successful partner, Kenneth Halliwell. It is a solid drama and most amazing is that it is twenty years old.
Joe Orton was a daring and rebellious writer. Told through flashbacks, Orton's literary agent, played wonderful by the incomparable Vanessa Redgrave, relates her memories and reads entries from Orton's diary, beginning and ending with his horrible murder.
Born into the lower class, Orton (Gary Oldman) teamed up with an ambitious writer, Halliwell (Alfred Molina) at the Royal Academy of Drama in England,. They collaborated for years and when Orton broke out on his own, fame bit him on the neck. His plays include "loot" and "What the Butler Saw" and the charmed the critics and the public with his black comedies. At the same time he was living in a homosexual relationship which, back then, was illegal. He was also extremely sexually adventurous. The competition between he and hi s lover heightened and Halliwell dejected, feeling rejected, and very jealous hammered Orton to death in 1967 and took his own life immediately afterwards.
It was not only success de t talent that brought Orton fame. His personal charisma and luck also helped. The two men, who seemed to be talented equally were split apart when one of the pair became an award winning playwright and the other had no luck whatsoever.
Orton's death in 1976 caused quite a stir not only by the way he dies but by the fact that the nature of his relationship with Halliwell was revealed to the public.
It was Halliwell that seduced Orton when they were students and it was Halliwell who was more imaginative but a bit disturbed. After the two had begun their relationship each spent half a year in prison for defacing library books and while there Orton`s agent discovered his talent and guided him to success while Halliwell stayed behind in the shadows of his lover.
The acting in the movie is far above anything else dealing with homosexuality at the period in which it was made. In many cases, it is far above what we see today. The script is brilliant and it is very sad that the movie did not get the exposure it deserved. At times it is very raw and the death of Orton is shocking as we watch it from beginning to end. As is typical of so many British movies, it is literate and beautifully acted and photographed. Were it to be re-released today, I am sure it would find its rightful audiences and acting prizes would be handed out to the entire cast.
1 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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A Well-Acted, Fascinating Biography
Added 9/26/2006
I've been a huge fan of both Gary Oldman and Alfred Molina for years and I think they are both outstanding in this biography of the late British playwright Joe Orton.
Although most people think of Oldman from films like AIR FORCE ONE or the Harry Potter films and Molina from SPIDER-MAN 2, they are both some of the most dependable and most talented actors in films today.
PRICK UP YOUR EARS would be worth seeing for either one of these actors, but both of them make this an excellent film.
I would recommend it to anyone who likes them but I would also warn anyone about the film's openness about their characters' homosexuality. If you have a problem seeing men kissing, then you might want to take a pass (or just turn your head). I don't know. I wouldn't trick anyone into watching this movie without letting them know that the main characters are gay--and one of them loves to pick up strange men in London public bathrooms (called "cottages").
But this is a good movie with great performances. If you see and like this film, I would also recommend CARRINGTON with Jonathan Pryce and Emma Thompson.
2 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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Separating performance from film leaves me unsettled...
Added 11/16/2009
There is an awful lot going for this film, but sadly, the way it is presented takes it down a notch or two for me. I just found the construction of this film to be somewhat of a mess, and while I wanted it to engage me, and at times it is, it failed to really rally me in the way I wanted it to. It is an effective piece that kind of falls short of truly grasping all that it could have been, beings that it carries with it some weighty subjects.
The life of playwright Joe Orton is an astonishing one.
Director Stephen Frears (and screenwriter John Lahr) really share all the blame in making this film less than brilliant, for the acting across the board is beyond stellar, and the crisp cinematography (from starlit skies to murky bathrooms to cramped and repressive apartments) is a true highlight. The script is just jumbled to me and it fails to really capitalize on what it has to work with. There are moments that really seem to float and give promise that this is going to really take off, and then it just falls flat once again. I particularly liked the way in which Joe's demise was handled, but it is really just a brief glimpse at Frears capabilities.
Frears is better than this.
The most important aspect of this film is the acting, for it is the most redeeming. Around many a cinematic circle, Gary Oldman is considered one of the most overdue actors for an Oscar nomination in who knows when. He is an astonishing actor who has proven himself time and time again, and this is one of his crowing achievements. He posseses a naughty sensuality that completely compliments the man that was Joe Orton and gives light to Orton's own artistic viewpoints. His self-centered theatrics are superbly handled without any clichéd manipulations. Alfred Molina is astonishing here. When I first saw the film I found him to be rather annoying and obnoxious and I felt he was forced; until the end when his character seemed to click. Upon rewatching the film I saw how his entire performance was really a stem of the inevitable, like a work reversed. If you watch the scenes from end to beginning you can see the progression of his character (or at least the full understanding of his character) and that made me absolutely adore his performance. The queen of the film is Vanessa Redgrave, who just oozes with absolute control as Peggy, Orton's agent. Her scenes were some of my favorite, such a superb supporting work; never taking away from the star but never allowing us to forget she is there.
Marvelous.
Like I said; the acting across the board is phenomenal and some of the best work of the 80's (I'd place Molina and Redgrave on my best supporting ballot for, like, EVER). I only wish that the remaining facets of the film met their grandeur. It was a nice idea, but the execution leaves one wondering how this could have gone so wrong.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Jealous Talent
Added 3/11/2009
A next movie of a grey boring existence in London of the Beatles is of a jealous talent killing his partner of a more attractive appearance and successful writer's fate.
May be watched, may not to.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
|
DVD Pick Up Your Ears
Added 7/9/2007
DVD arrived in goodly time and in great quality... the movie itself wasn't as good as I had remembered it, but the service was A-1.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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