Libertine, The

Download Libertine, The
(drama)

In 1660, with the return of Charles II to the English throne, theater, the visual arts, science and sexual intercourse flourish. Thirteen years later, in the middle of political and economical problems, Charles II asks the return of his friend John Wilmot, aka the second Earl of Rochester, from the exile to London. John is a morally corrupt, drunkard and sexually active cynical poet, and the King asks him to prepare a play for the French ambassador to make him pleased. John meets the aspirant actress Elizabeth Barry in the playhouse and decides to make her a great star. He falls in love for her, and she becomes his mistress; during the presentation to the Frenchman, he falls in disgrace in the court. When he was thirty-three years old, he was dying of syphilis associated to alcoholism and he converted to a religious man..

actors:

Johnny Depp as Rochester
Samantha Morton as Elizabeth Barry
John Malkovich as King Charles II
Paul Ritter as Chiffinch
Stanley Townsend as Keown
Francesca Annis as Countess
Rosamund Pike as Elizabeth Malet
Tom Hollander as George Etherege
Johnny Vegas as Sackville
Richard Coyle as Alcock
Hugh Sachs as Ratcliffe
Tom Burke as Vaughan
Rupert Friend as Billy Downs
Jack Davenport as Harris
Trudi Jackson as Rose
directors:
Laurence Dunmore
rating:6.50

See also: Drama: Blindness

See also: Johnny Depp in Nick of Time