Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen and Forest Whitaker as the late Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland.
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A flood of biopics are beginning to hit theaters, signaling that Oscar season is about to move into high gear. Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen and Forest Whitaker as the late Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland have already drawn considerable Oscar buzz—and for good reason. These are riveting, full-bodied portraits and both movies that contain them are grandly entertaining. Toby Jones as Truman Capote in Infamous, alas, has both the bad fortune to follow on the heels of Philip Seymour Hoffman's triumph of last year ( capped by his Oscar win ) as the diminutive gay writer and the added burden of playing in a movie that covers the same time period as its predecessor. But though Infamous isn't of the same Oscar-winning caliber that Capote was ( nor is Jones' portrait ) , it's the kind of biopic that will appeal to a much wider audience than the chilly Capote did.
But first, there's The Queen. It makes perfect sense that when we first encounter Mirren's Queen Elizabeth, she is sitting for yet another royal portrait. As she stares directly into the camera, we see this stickler for protocol with the regal bearing and sense of duty above all. The movie follows the events surrounding the tragic accident that killed Princess Diana ( which director Stephen Frears re-creates ) in the fall of 1997 and the public's desire to see a display of grief by the royal family, who remain sequestered at Balmoral, the Queen's private estate. Frears shows us the family ( including the distinctly sour Prince Philip, played by a note-perfect James Cromwell ) going about their usual duties, determined to mourn in private. When Prime Minister Tony Blair ( Michael Sheen ) phones up to offer condolences and ask the Queen about the possibility of a state funeral, she snaps 'This is a family funeral, not a fairground attraction,' and abruptly hangs up on him.
But as the hysteria mounts and the pressure builds, Elizabeth is slowly shaken out of her cocoon of privilege. Throughout, the contrast between the privileged, wanton isolation of the royals and the messy, modern-day Blairs who are larger versions of the English people is striking ( emphasized when Blair dubs Diana the 'people's princess,' a phrase that nauseates the royals ) , and Elizabeth's gradual awakening to this is beautifully realized in Peter Morgan's layered script. The film is sumptuously designed, shot and scored, and Mirren is magnificent, heading a marvelous cast. The whole is the equivalent of a rich dessert but a decidedly semi-sweet one.
The critical hosannas for Mirren are being matched by those for Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland. Again, they are deserved. The role of Idi Amin, the crazed crackpot who ended up killing 300,000 of his countrymen during his dictatorial reign in the 1970s is perfect for the rather odd talents of Whitaker ( a gentle giant who looms over costar James McAvoy and everyone else on screen ) . As he alternates between childlike enthusiasm, blistering verbal attacks on his enemies and back to joking in the flash of a second, one watches with fascination. This grinning, deadly megalomaniac is breathtaking to behold.
Inspired by real events, the movie traces McAvoy as a young Scottish doctor who has come to Uganda on a whim, his accidental first encounter with Amin, his quick rise to eminence when Amin improbably makes him his personal physician and the eventual terror that overtakes everyone around Amin as his quest to hang on to his power overwhelms everyone. Nice support is offered by Kerry Washington, Gillian Anderson and Simon McBurney. This is the first non-documentary feature for director Kevin Macdonald ( whose One Day In September won the Oscar in 2000 ) . It's a tense, cautionary tale of innocence and bravado versus the paranoic effect of power.
The unsung star of both movies is Peter Morgan, who wrote both richly detailed screenplays. Douglas McGrath's script for Infamous ( which he also directed ) goes a much more gossipy route, not entirely inappropriate given its focus on Truman Capote. As noted, thanks to last year's much-praised Capote, the story of the elfin gay writer and toast of New York society who traveled to Kansas to cover the murder of the Clutter family ( ultimately writing In Cold Blood ) , is overly familiar.
But McGrath based his script on George Plimpton's lighter-in-tone oral biography rather than Gerald Clarke's more psychologically in-depth one, making the resulting airier. This Capote ( Jones, in his first starring role ) likes to go to nightclubs and listen to Peggy Lee ( an improbable Gwyneth Paltrow cameo ) sing and dish with his high society 'swans' ( played with relish by Sigourney Weaver, Hope Davis, Isabella Rossellini and a memorable Juliet Stevenson as fashion priestess Diana Vreeland ) . It's Truman's celebrity name-dropping that finally gains entry to the closed-off Kansans, not Harper Lee's ability to smooth the way ( and Sandra Bullock seems to be along for the ride rather than a true collaborator, as opposed to Catherine Keener in the previous version ) .
The movie also includes many more nods to Capote's flaming homosexuality so out of place in Kansas in 1959. It doesn't skimp on the male eye candy, either. Time and again, James Bond hunk Daniel Craig ( as killer Perry Smith ) is shown lolling fetchingly in a wife-beater, eyes smoldering. McGrath also makes explicit the rumored gay affair between Capote and Smith ( right down to a big ol' French kiss ) . Even teenaged male murder victim Kenneth Clutter is glimpsed shirtless and panting. Repressed homosexuality on Smith's part as a motive for the murders is even offered up. This homoeroticsm of the events will please many that found it missing from Bennett Miller's film ( and I, who loved Miller's movie, ain't complain'n ) .
Whereas Miller's Capote was the complex morality play of a self-centered writer destroyed by the guilt over lies he told his subject to gain his trust in order to create a work of art, Infamous is its gossipy cousin. If Capote was the cinematic equivalent of a gourmet meal savored long after being finished, Infamous is a bag of chips, greedily devoured and quickly tossed away.
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Film Festival
The 42nd Chicago International Film Festival ( CIFF ) continues through Oct. 19. See www.WindyCityMediaGroup.com for last week's wrap-up of GLBT films.
The usual assortment of movies ( about 10 ) with specific GLBT-themed content will screen out of the almost 100 being showcased. And did I mention Liza Minnelli's going to be on hand for a film retrospective?
A legendary Tony, Emmy, Grammy and Oscar winner as well as a longtime friend of Our People, Minnelli makes a rare appearance in an intimate one-on-one conversation with journalist John Russell Taylor for 'Liza Minnelli: Her Films, Her Life' at Northwestern University's Thorne Auditorium, 375 E. Chicago, on Oct. 17.
In addition, the fest, in what is becoming a nice tradition, is premiering another movie hotly anticipated by the gay community. Two years ago it was Kinsey ( which had the additional honor of being the opening-night selection ) and last year it was Transamerica. Now, it's Shortbus, John Cameron Mitchell's follow-up to Hedwig and the Angry Inch. The movie follows Sonia, a sex therapist unable to achieve orgasm and her gay client, James, who wants his boyfriend to OK an open relationship. Both head for the pansexual title salon/nightclub, where everyone meets for in-depth conversations, witty banter and lots of graphic orgy action. From all reports, it's an Altmanesque look at the sex lives of a disparate group of characters ( played by actors all new to the screen ) that pushes the envelope into hardcore—and has musical numbers to boot.
All the films will screen in three locations—at the Landmark Century Centre Cinema ( 2828 N. Clark ) , AMC River East 21 ( 322 E. Illinois ) and Thorne Auditorium ( 375 E. Chicago ) . The opening-night gala takes place at the historic Chicago Theatre, 175 N. State.
In addition to Shortbus, which Windy City Times is sponsoring ( for the Saturday, Oct. 14 screening, including an after-party at Spin at the corner of Halsted and Belmont, with stars from the film ) , there are other GLBT-related titles reviewed in last week's edition.
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Complete information on tickets, show times and special events are available by calling 312-332-FILM ( 3456 ) or online at www.chicagofilmfestival.org
