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I give this an 8. JamesHitchcock 12 December This film tells the story of the playwright Joe Orton who was murdered in August by his gay lover Kenneth Halliwell. It is said that Orton had expressed the wish that, should a biography ever be written about him, it should be entitled "Prick Up Your Ears", so when John Lahr came to write such a biography that is precisely what he called it.
Orton's work is noted for its cynical and often bawdy humour, and he was doubtless attracted by the double meaning inherent in the phrase, and possibly because "ears" is an anagram of a British term for another part of the anatomy.
The film is based upon Lahr's book, and he himself appears as a character. Scenes of Lahr researching his book with the assistance of Orton's literary agent Peggy Ramsay form the film's framework, with Orton's life story told in flashback. Orton was born into a working-class Leicester family in His family hoped that he would obtain a white-collar position, possibly with the Civil Service, and sent him to secretarial college where he learned shorthand and typing. He himself, however, harboured the ambition of becoming an actor, and attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts where he first met, and became the lover of, Halliwell, who was older, more sophisticated and from a wealthier background.
Both men wanted to be either actors or writers; their acting careers never amounted to much, and at first they did not enjoy much success as writers either.
In Orton and Halliwell were both arrested and sentenced to six months in prison, not for homosexuality which was illegal at the time but for the crime of vandalising library books. They resumed their relationship after their release, but Orton's increasing literary success and Halliwell's worsening mental state began to put a strain on it, culminating in the murder which was followed by Halliwell's suicide.
It has been suggested that Halliwell was motivated by sexual jealousy- Orton was notoriously promiscuous- but the story told by the film is a more complex one. Promiscuity was a part of both men's lifestyle- they regularly went "cottaging" together- and neither intended their relationship to be monogamous.
Jealousy of a sort was involved, but jealousy in the sense of "envy" rather than in that of "sexual possessiveness".
Orton is better-looking than the balding Halliwell, more attractive to other men and, worst of all from Halliwell's point of view, more successful as a writer. He takes to describing himself as "Mr Orton's personal assistant", but finds it hard to conceal the fact that acting in a subsidiary role to the younger man is an unbearable blow to his pride.
This is not the sort of film which will be to everyone's taste; those with an allergy to bad language or explicit sexual references would be well advised to give it a wide berth. Anyone who can appreciate good acting, however, will enjoy it more. Gary Oldman and Molina combine together brilliantly as the two leading characters. Oldman's Orton is the brash, cocky youngster, full of self- confidence and clearly brilliantly talented, but also probably a right pain in the neck to live with.
Molina's Halliwell is the fussy, neurotic older man, worried about his looks, bitter that he has not enjoyed the same success as a writer as his lover, increasingly isolated, mentally troubled and ultimately despairing to the point of homicidal and suicidal madness. There is also a good performance from Vanessa Redgrave as Ramsay. Alan Bennett's screenplay, while it does not neglect the tragedy which lies at the heart of the story of Orton and Halliwell, is nevertheless surprisingly humorous at times, especially in its accounts of Orton's youth and the book-defacing episode and its treatment of Orton's relatives.
Bennett has great fun at the expense of Orton's philistine brother-in-law who inveighs against the memory of the dead man "He means nothing in Leicester! This mixture of the tragic and the humorous is not inappropriate when one considers that Orton's plays are often categorised as "black comedies" which try and see the funny side even in the blackest of situations. Director Stephen Frears has often picked up interesting subjects for his films. Set in the 60s, this was during the time when 'being gay' in public was considered a criminal offense in parts of UK.
Joe Orton is confident, talented, mellow and liked by everyone while his partner Halliwell is comparatively shy and distant and resentful of Joe's success as he claims to be the man behind his partner's success and complains about not receiving enough credit for it. Frears depicts the relationship quite sensibly. There is almost always a conflict or a disagreement in Orton and Halliwell's sequences but the love is always apparent.
While Kenneth's insecurity worsens as Joe climbs every step up towards success, Joe always stands by him. The viewer is also given brief glimpses of Joe's relationship with his mother, sister and confidant Peggy.
The depiction of the 60's gay culture is also intriguing. The execution isn't first rate as the cinematography is flat and the editing leaves a lot to be desired. The pacing is very slow. The lighting could have used some improvement.
The acting is superb. Gary Oldman is spellbinding as Joe Orton. Even though he is more commonly known for his villainous roles, movies like these prove what a versatile actor he is.
Alfred Molina is brilliant as Kenneth. A foxy Julie Walters makes her presence felt in a limited role. Vanessa Redgrave is remarkable in a brief but memorable role. In addition to the wonderful performances, the writing is first rate, especially the witty dialogues loaded with humour.
The movie ends on a note of leaving the viewer to wonder what would have become of Orton's life had he still lived. Here was a man who had everything going for him Stephen Frears's seriocomic biopic tells the story of Joe Orton and Kenneth Halliwell in flashback, framed by sequences of John Lahr, played by Wallace Shawn, researching the book upon which the film is based with Orton's literary agent, played by Vanessa Redgrave.
I couldn't care less about the story being told in flashback. This cinematic device is growing increasingly stale and unnecessary. But what makes this movie fascinating is its portrayal of Orton and Halliwell's relationship, which is so real and deep and truthful and profound that Gary Oldman and Alfred Molina, who happen to be two of my favorite actors, playing the two fated writers, might as well be right in your living room as you watch them. Orton and Halliwell's relationship is drawn from its initial stages at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.
Orton starts out as the inexperienced, amateurish youth to Halliwell's older scholar. As the relationship grows, Orton grows more and more doubtless of his ability while Halliwell's writing languishes.
They descend into a twisted caricature of a conventional married couple, with Orton as the "husband" and Halliwell as the selfless and ever more overlooked and disregarded "wife. Maybe, maybe not. The circumstance and descent of their relationship is heartbreaking, but what impresses me the most is the portrayal in and of itself, in the writing, in the acting.
Joe Orton is an insatiable, fun-loving bottom boy with an artistic streak and from the start, he is most concerned with self-preservation, pleasure, materiality and substance. Without any self- doubt or feeling, Orton is inclined to exploit whoever would give him a leg up to a life of notoriety and privilege. When quiet, intellectual Halliwell endeavors to cultivate him, Orton takes advantage and Halliwell grows more compliant and eager to be immersed in the depths of his growing love for him.
Halliwell alludes to childhood, which he gives the impression of being less pivotal than it really was for him, having been disregarded by his father and coddled dearly by his mother.
His mother's death when he was a young boy was surely an immensely damaging turning point in his life, as when his father committed suicide, he came downstairs and "put the kettle on, got dressed and called an ambulance, in that order.
He is inclined to travel the wave of his feelings for Orton, unable to help his protective, nurturing nature from integrating itself into Orton's life, even if it provides Orton with a convenient safety net and Halliwell himself with never-ending jealousy, disdain and longing for affection of any kind. The name was suggested by Halliwell who had provided much of Orton's titles all through the successful portion of his career.
The cruelty of Orton's aloofness is infuriating, and the effect it had on the outsized emotional state of Halliwell is widely known, and demonstrated at the very beginning of the movie. Orton seemed only ever concerned with the quality of his own existence and seemed to an almost surreal extent to lack feeling.
There is no true way of knowing how Gary Oldman and Alfred Molina interpreted these roles, how different they are from my interpretation and how similar they, or Alan Bennett's astute screenplay, are to the real people. Nevertheless, they deliver profound performances. To set things straight, right from the start, Joe Orton, was, indeed, gay.
Well, he was. And this flick makes no whispered, hush-hush secret about that truth, either. In fact, as you will soon see, PUYE does a fairly thorough job of actually exploiting Joe's sexuality for its own sensationalistic benefit.
At the age of 28, Orton, as a respected playwright, was already on his way up the ladder to fame and fortune. Orton's play "Loot", written in , was an immediate success. Orton spent so much time, either, falling down drunk, or cruising public washrooms for male-sex, that his play-writing abilities absolutely dumbfound me. Like - Where the hell did this gay-man find the time to write anything?
I'd sure like to know. Anyways - Eventually, our washroom-sex, slime-boy, Orton meets up with a real looney-tuner named Kenneth Halliwell. Needless to say, the "relationship" that develops between these 2 incompatible gays is a mighty rough and rocky one, indeed.
In , at the age of 34, Joe Orton, whose career as a playwright looked mighty bright, was brutally murdered. Orton's untimely death was caused from numerous, skull-fracturing, hammer blows to the head, courtesy of that little, wacko, Kenneth Halliwell.
A hopscotch series of flashbacks reconstructs events leading to the brutal murder of controversial young British playwright Joe Orton by his lover Ken Halliwell.
There's an attempt to explain the crime in the context of England's then draconian anti-gay legal system, but underneath the forthright candor of the homosexual love scenes is an all-too conventional biography, like others emphasizing a tragic story of romance gone sour. The leapfrog structure opens before the couple's first meeting in drama class where, in a playacting exercise, Halliwell throttles an imaginary cat , and continues through the moment they became lovers during a TV broadcast of the Queen's coronation to their inevitable estrangement, as the insecure Halliwell becomes increasingly jealous of Orton's professional acclaim and uninhibited promiscuity.
The performances alone are enough to recommend the film, but the brevity of Orton's life cut short almost at the moment of his first success doesn't allow for much in the way of character development.
And because no examples of his eccentric playwriting are included, the author himself remains to anyone unfamiliar with his work too much of a mystery. Joe Orton was just 34 when he was battered to death in August ; had he lived, he would almost certainly have become one of the greatest dramatists of his age.
But Orton had a dark side, and it was this that contributed in no small measure to his untimely demise. This play begins with his murder and then fast forwards twenty years. Orton was killed by his male "lover" Kenneth Halliwell, who took his own life immediately afterwards. They may have lived together, written together, and ultimately died together, but that was as far as their similarities went, because while Halliwell was a lost soul, tortured by his homosexuality, Orton revelled in it, and in a brazen depravity which would have made him a more than suitable target for the "Operation Yewtree" witch-hunt that ensued nearly a half century after his death.
Using the ears. What is the pronunciation of prick sth up? Browse pricing. Test your vocabulary with our fun image quizzes. Image credits. Word of the Day clean sth out. Blog Learning by heart and cramming Learning words January 12, Read More. New Words supercold. January 10, To top. Sign up for free and get access to exclusive content:. Free word lists and quizzes from Cambridge.
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