The Libertine
2004 dir. Laurence Dunmore

"I am John Wilmot, the Second Earl of Rochester, and I do not want you to like me."

There's small chance of that. Johnny Depp's Earl of Rochester is one of the most unlikable characters in recent film history, which is not to say unwatchable or uninteresting, but purely unlikable.

There are other charismatic villains, to be sure, but few are played for such downright loathsomeness as the title character in the Libertine.

On the surface, this story is pitched as a battle of wills between an inveterate drinker and womanizer, a scandalous, atheistic teller of truth and the forces of social hipocrisy that would see him silenced. We've seen these stories before: the noble artist speaking truth to power which strikes back by exploiting his personal weaknesses.

But that's not quite what you get here. The Second Earl, for all his scandal, was not in the end a very accomplished man. He died young, having spent much of his youth flailing in the British court and writing insulting plays about Charles II. Your run of the mill high school YouTube blogger basically has more to say.

No, this film is a study in pretense, on the part of both society AND the Earl.

Cynicism is the enemy of passion, and the Earl claims both as central to his nature. But where cynicism and passion reign in equal parts, no worthwhile crop can grow and for the poor unfortunate soul trapped between these poles, the best one can hope for is a kind of stasis or slow deterioration.

Depp's Libertine is the original rebel without a cause. Charles is a pompous boor, but not a tyrant by any means and he gives Wilmot opportunity after opportunity, favor after favor. The women in Wilmot's life are, without exception, loving, honorable and supportive...even his wife who must endure his snide apathy.

In the end, Rochester is consumed not by society's hipocrisy, but from within by the consequences of his own actions. As he falls into a wretched state, the words which sounded so bold and enticing coming from a healthy, youthful man with clear skin take on a pathetic air of revulsion. His hissing, syphilitic boasts of sexual conquest should be required viewing in any "abstinence-only" sex ed program. The wages of sin are made as visible here as in Wilde's 'The Picture of Dorian Grey.'

And for all the Libertine's boasting, the character who truly embodies his stated values is the actress, Elizabeth. She will be no man's wife. She sees no dishonor in prostitution so long as the market is so widely indulged. She refuses to surrender the passion in her life, acting, despite it's emotional difficulty and lack of subtantial reward. She is no cynic, and this is what the Earl finds so appealing. In his place, she would achieve the greatness he never could.

And he knows it.


Brilliant performances all around. Fantastic directing by first-timer Laurence Dunmore. The combination of "Barry Lyndon"-esque natural light with a "Matrix"-like cold green color palette really brings out the sense of a country rotting from within, with the Earl festering like a kidney stone.

Only quibble is with some of the makeup. John Malkovich's prosthetic nose borders on the laughable in a few scenes, but this is only a quibble.

Three and a half stars. Gaius Jason sez he does not want you to like it.