An Ideal Husband (1999)

Cate Blanchett as: Lady Gertrude Chiltern

Director: Oliver Parker
Selected Cast: Minnie Driver, Rupert Everett, Julianne Moore & Jeremy Northam
Written by: Oliver Parker (Based on Oscar Wilde’s play of the same title)
Release Year: 1999
Genre: Comedy / Romance
MPAA Rating: PG-13

 

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Sir Robert Chiltern is a respected government official and a loving husband. His friend, Lord Arthur Goring, is a notorious womanizer who lives a life of casual lounging, meaningless flirtations and multiple illicit affairs. But when old acquaintance Laura Cheveley arrives in London to stir up trouble, the lives of the two men become increasingly complicated and intertwined, and their true natures are revealed.

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On set; DVD featurette
Related Videos

he second video is a playlist of selected interviews, just click on the playlist icon/thumbnails to see the other videos in it.

Quotes from Cate Blanchett

  • “In a lot of ways the play doesn’t really work for me. The end is incredibly clunky. I found Gertrude frustrating. A lot of the time I felt I was bumping into the stylistic furniture.” (Vogue UK, May 1999)

Quotes from Others

  • Oliver Parker:
    — “Gertrude is the most difficult part in the piece but Cate [Blanchett] pulls it off. She has such an integrity and is so unashamed.”

Trivia & Facts

  • Filmed in England.
  • Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 4 wins & 14 nominations, view here.
  • The film premiered Out of Competition and was the closing film at 52nd Cannes Film Festival on 23 May 1999.
  • Cate Blanchett and Julianne Moore are both in The Shipping News (2001) and I’m Not There (2007).
  • The play attended by the characters in the movie is Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. The tall, older man that addresses the audience from the stage at the end of the play represents Wilde who did in reality address the audience when his play first debuted.
  • The green carnation that Arthur selects for his buttonhole is a subtle homage to Oscar Wilde. Wilde and his “inner circle” of gay friends used to wear green carnations as a way of discreetly displaying their sexuality.

Cannes Film Festival photocall and premiere, 23 May 1999