Libertine, The2004

Director
Laurence Dunmore

Acters

Johnny Depp (Rochester)
Paul Ritter (Chiffinch)
John Malkovich (Charles II)
Stanley Townsend (Keown)
Francesca Annis (Countess)
Rosamund Pike (Elizabeth Malet)

He didn’t resist temptation. He pursued it.

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

“Johnny Deep is a wonder. One of a kind spellbinder!” Rolling Stone

“Quick, literate, funny and filthy, a head-turning mix of high thoughts and low schemes.” – Jam! Movies

“You will not like the Second Earl of Rochester. But you will not be able to take your eyes from him.” – Roger Ebert