The story of John Wilmot, a.k.a. the Earl of Rochester, a 17th century poet who famously drank and debauched his way to an early grave, only to earn posthumous critical acclaim for his life's work.
Acting
Depp's Rochester is rotting from the inside out in every frame.
Cinematography
Shot entirely by candlelight—every scene looks like a Caravaggio fever dream.
Costume
The wigs alone deserve their own supporting actor nomination.
Director
Laurence Dunmore
Johnny Depp
Rochester
Samantha Morton
Elizabeth Barry
John Malkovich
Charles II
Rosamund Pike
Elizabeth Malet
Paul Ritter
Chiffinch
Stanley Townsend
Keown
Francesca Annis
Countess
Tom Hollander
Etherege
Johnny Vegas
Sackville
Richard Coyle
Alcock
Tom Burke
Vaughan
Hugh Sachs
Ratcliffe
Rupert Friend
Downs
Kelly Reilly
Jane
Cara Horgan
Acting Troop
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The film was shot with only natural candlelight, requiring special lenses developed for Kubrick's Barry Lyndon. Cinematographer Alexander Melman basically went blind for your aesthetic pleasure.
Rochester's actual poems were so obscene that Victorian scholars burned them; the film quotes his real 'Signior Dildo' verse, which 17th-century courtiers apparently sang at parties. Classy era.
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