This film is a highly complex and well-made biopic of Oscar Wilde, the brilliantly talented, but overly egotistical playright from England, who had a series of successful plays at the end of the 19th century. His talent as a writer and a wit are unchallenged. However, his talent could not salvage his reckless judgement of taking legal action against a moral foe, the Marquess De Queensbury, who, ironically, was the inventor of rules for boxing matches. His talent was obviously tricking his opponent into a losing situation, much like the philosophy of Sun Tzu, the great Chinese military tactician who is studied at all three major military academies in the US: "Battles are won and lost before they take place", and "the key to victory in battle is deception".
The Marquess seems to have mastered these principles of war, and, consequently, was able to defeat Wilde soundly in two legal cases in court. Wilde made the mistake of going after the Marquess in court, knowing fully that he was guilty of serveral of the charges made by the Marquess.
This led to a successful countersuit and trial which the Marquess emerged victorious. Peter Finch gives the best performance of his lifetime, for which he was rewarded with an Academy Award for his role in Network, several years later. The film is not a slick Hollywood production, but a very good account of the actual facts of Wilde's life (according to the data on Wikipedia). The production values are first-rate and the British have a much better feel for these types of films than Hollywood. This is a film far ahead of its time. The gay community should use this film as its standard bearer; this and The Boys in the Band, seem to be the only two films that genuinely examine the world of homosexuality in an honest fashion.
Review of The Trials of Oscar Wilde
