The Importance of Being Oscar
A BBC film featuring an all-star cast depicting Oscar Wilde's illustrious and controversial career prior to his prosecution for gay offenses and sad fall from glory. A cast includes Freddie Fox, Claire Skinner, Anna Chancellor, and James Fleet adapts and performs highlights from Oscar Wilde's classic comedies such as The Importance of Being Earnest and stories such as The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Canterville Ghost. Wilde aficionados and specialists, such as Stephen Fry, Wilde's grandson Merlin Holland, and his most recent biographers, present illuminating explanations of how his personal life influenced his works. His Irish background, his early profession, his marriage, and the significance of women as well as men in his life all combine to create a compelling and complex depiction and celebration of a man who is frequently caricatured.