The libretine, What was that about?

Question

I saw a film called The Libretine, it was a load of rubbish! anyone seen it? Opinions?

Answer 1

It's a film on the life of the Earl of Rochester back in the late 1600's or early 1700's. He was famous as a playboy of the day, and his poetry is filthy in the extreme. We won't go into it here (gotta respect those guidelines!) but as an English teacher I find it embarrassing to tutor Rochester's stuff becuz you end up having to explain all kinds of naughty Elizabethan words for subects and objects indecent. He was disliked in his own day, in fact another famous poet wrote a poem about a "post boy" (messenger) who had to take a letter to Hell--and he was told "the quickest way is by Rochester." The humour lies in the similarity of Rochester-the-city and Rochester-the-famous-rake. The Earl of Rochester's official portrait shows him leaning on a table with a monkey on it, and a goat at his feet...both symbols of lechery in those days. He basically lived for drink, gambling and lewdness. Search "Earl of Rochester" on the Web and you'll get more info than you could ever want. His poems are still in print, and studied at the University level, I think Penguin has an edition.
RE: the film, I haven't seen it yet but I did hear on the radio that they had a hard time getting it released--don't know whether that is due to the "grainy-gritty" way it was filmed (supposedly to make it more realistic??) or due to the content. I know Mr. Depp can act when he chooses to...anyone have an opinion on whether or not he chose to in this film?

Answer 2

Johnny Depp was excellent in the movie, but the movie itself played off of weak sexual addendums, weak dialogue, lack of character empathy, and virtually no meaningful character interaction. I would give it about five out of ten stars for being average. I've seen much worse.

Answer 3

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