Despite being a fan of Oscar Wilde, I was terribly ignorant of his (at the time) controversial work, Salome (Sal-o-may). It was not clear beforehand whether I was about to watch a film adaption of Salome or filmed stage adaption – well, it was kind of both.
This Al Pacino Salome event was in cinemas nationwide – the Savoy, Showcase and Cineworld in Notts – and included two films and a live Q & A. The story of Salome is of the legend of King Herod and his lust for his young stepdaughter, Salomé, and her sexual baiting of John the Baptist.
The film adaption sees Pacino having fun with the King Herod part, playing it completely over-the-top but mesmirisingly so. The film is set in one room, and is like the play is made – a staged reading. Characters are rarely move from their key position; the sky – from the ‘terrace’ they are all sat on – is clearly just a screen; and they are all in modern dress despite the play being written in the late nineteenth century and set in the time Jesus - if he had been an actual historical figure - would have been around.
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It is a powerful adaption – the stripped back nature of the film, allows Wilde’s writing to speak for itself and along with Pacino’s performance, Chastain – at the time of filming, almost unknown – gives a terrifying performance as the sexually crazed, spoilt, childish, and somewhat insane Salome – the exact same personality traits that Pacino has to deal with in King Herod.
As an event, it was slightly hard work. The documentary, Wilde Salome, was certainly interesting. It showed the story behind Wilde writing the original play, the simultaneous Pacino project of making the film, play and documentary, as well as some hilarious behind the scenes Pacino – but it was a bit of a mess. It was also full of long sequences from the film. At least half an hour of its ninety-five minute running time must have been lifted straight from the film we had just sat through.
The subsequent live Q & A from BFI Southbank has Stephen Fry as the Q, while Pacino and Chastain were there for the A. It was a decent, if slightly sycophantic and repetitive, addition to the event. Fry, of course, a good choice of host, having been a lifelong fan of Oscar Wilde and starred as him in the 1997 biopic, Wilde.
Overall, both films are well worth a watch – but best not seen within the same afternoon.
Salome and Wilde Salome was shown at Savoy, Showcase, and Cineworld Cinemas on Sunday 21 September 2014.
Salome website
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