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Product Description
- Audio commentary with Director Oliver Parker
- The making of The Importance of Being Earnest
- Behind the Scenes
DVD Technical Information:
- Closed captioned
- Running time: 90 minutes
The Importance of Being Earnest is a comedy masterpiece set during the Victorian era. The film concerns a pair of flamboyant bachelors called Algy (Rupert Everett) and Jack (Colin Firth) who secretly lead double lives. Using aliases and false alibis, the pair woo respectable ladies by day and cavort in music halls at night. Through countless blunders and haphazard tomfoolery, it is only a matter of time before they are caught out by their own lies. Sparkling dialogue, razor-sharp wit and electric performances make The Importance of Being Earnest unforgettably funny, whilst the grandiose sets and fabulous period costumes add romance and charm. Reese Witherspoon is radiant as Cecily, an alluring English rose, and Judi Dench puts in a fantastic performance as Lady Bracknell.
Customer Reviews
Firth plays Jack, who lives in the country and heads to the city under the name of Earnst. Everett plays Algernon who lives in the town but heads out to the country under the name of earnst. Why? Well, Jack is in love with Lady bracknell's daughter who dreams of marrying a man named earnest. Algernon inteneds to marry Jack's ward, Cecily, by going to Jack's house (while Jack is in town) posing as Jack's fictitious brother Earnst. (Jack say's to his country folk he's off to town to visit his brother earnst) Cecily also wants to marry a man named earnst. Confused yet...I am!!
Annnyyyway, Jack comes back from town only to find Algernon flirting with Cecily and pretending to be jack's fake brother. Jack is astonished but doesn't blow his cover because Algie knows he's pretending his name is also earnst so he can marry Gwendoline Bracknell (algie's cousin). And so ensues a hilarious tale of thse two men attempting to explain who they really are and what they're up to to their adoring fiances.
As is expected of Wilde, this story is full of quirky one liners;
"Are your parents living?"
"My parents are both dead."
"To lose one parent in unfortunate. To lose two could be considered careless."
The cast are excellent so I honestly can't say who my favourite is. Jst know that this adaptation is first class and a bargain at the price being offered. Enjoy.
However, although Colin Firth and Rupert Everett may seem too old, they feasibly carry off their roles. Dame Judy has the unenviable task of delivering lines immortalised by Dame Edith Evans; her reinterpretation is creative and appropriate, although the playful smile at the corner of her mouth somewhat reduced her traditional authority.
The film was enjoyable, but it's earnestly flippant direction prevented it from being the hillarious comedy of manners of Wildes' original play
If you're looking for a mildly entertaining bit of froth with generally good actors you will probably enjoy this. What you will NOT see is Oscar Wilde's 'Ernest'. Nowhere that I can see does it say that this is heavily adapted from the play but it is, there are too many changes to the script to quote them all but, to site the worst aberation, the fact that Jack is referred to as Algenon's YOUNGER (not older as Willde wrote it) brother towards the end makes the whole premise of the plot nonsense. OK, Algie's played as a bit of an ibecile but surely he would have known he once had a brother around the house so why should it come as such a surprise?
If you want to see a somewhat dated but beautifully played version of the original get the old Redgrave/Dennison/Evans DVD. I bought this as a Judi Dench completist (sic) and funny as her performance undoubtedly is, Edith Evans simply IS Lady Bracknell.
The actors are the best. I see it over and over again.
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