A Short Film based on the play An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde
Directed by Chad Hylton
“The Gay Nineties” Victorian England gets gayer when high-society bachelor, Lord Goring, is in the company of Dandy Mabrey Chiltern. In this queer adaptation of the Oscar Wilde play, love is tested when Goring’s ex-fiancé, Mrs. Cheveley, returns to London with blackmail, scandal, & quick-wit; turning the lives of high society upside down!
NOTES FROM
THE DIRECTOR
When my partner, Colin, suggested I read An Ideal Husband, I fell in love. Wilde’s biting wit (with a dose of sugar) spoke of real social issues — poking fun at society with its own tools. Beyond the play, Wilde’s personal story was especially striking — a gay writer in the Victorian Era! Our short, An Un-Ideal Husband, introduces the bachelor Goring as gay — instead of courting Robert’s sister, Mabel, he courts his brother, Mabrey. Goring is well-known in literature as the Wilde figure, so framing him as a gay man was fated — and cathartic, presenting Goring how Wilde possibly wished he could.
In adapting the play, I first wrote a feature adaptation entitled An Honourable Bachelor and then, with Colin, reworked that feature into An Un-Ideal Husband — a proof-of-concept, but a standalone story all its own. Our film adheres closely to the original play’s theme of public and private honour and the perceptions of love — with compassion prevailing over morality. Our modern society is as polarizing as ever in values — strict ideals of what is right and who is wrong. But, the beauty in people is that we are constantly evolving. And this film highlights that although people are Un-Ideal, they can still be Honourable. As Goring states, “Every man is supremely imperfect, but, therefore, inclined to change.” And that universal message is one we all need to hear.
AN HONOURABLE BACHELOR
Compassion over Ideals
An Un-Ideal Husband is a proof-of-concept for a completed feature script, entitled, An Honourable Bachelor. This feature adaptation interweaves classic Wilde text with razor-sharp original dialogue, enriching Wilde’s expertly crafted archetypes by giving each character an expanded voice, full of convictions – and contradictions. We were so excited about the feature, we knew we had to make it – into a short.
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Crafting the feature into a short was a challenging puzzle, pieced together by centering its themes of public versus private honour, and the perceptions of love – then, condensing it to one scandalous afternoon Tea! Our short maintains the feature’s sensibility to be is as funny as it is passionate, and dramatic. Witty repartee, slapstick comedy, and good-old-fashioned melodrama are ingrained in the film’s story – with heightened stakes by presenting the character of Goring as gay, amplifying Wilde’s message of empathy in the face of scandal.
An Un-Ideal Husband is the perfect film for right now. With the ever-growing appetite for period romance, from the steadfast reverence of Austen to the modern mania of Bridgerton, this movie feeds that audience, as well as answer the call for more LGBTQ+ depictions in Cinema; we uplift queer voices by telling a queer story, adapted by a queer filmmaker, based on literature from a queer Victorian playwright.
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