Search - Prick Up Your Ears

This unadorned biography of playwright Joe Orton (Gary Oldman) charts his bawdy, dangerous relationships. Alfred Molina plays Orton's brutish lover, Kenneth Halliwell, a pathetic figure who becomes horrific and then tragic before the film is over. The hilarity of scenes from such Orton plays as Loot and What the Butler Saw is evenly balanced by the bleakness of the playwright's tormented (and tormenting) off-stage existence, which ended suddenly at age 34 with half a dozen blows to the head from a hammer. Prick Up Your Ears is based on the book by theater critic John Lahr, who is played in the film by Wallace Shawn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Gary Oldman - Joe Orton
Alfred Molina - Kenneth Halliwell
Vanessa Redgrave - Peggy Ramsay
Wallace Shawn - John Lahr
Julie Walters - Elsie Orton

1987	Best Artistic Contribution (winner)	Cannes Film Festival	Stanley Myers
1987	Best Foreign Film (nominee)	Independent Spirit Awards	Stephen Frears
1987	Best Supporting Actress (winner)	New York Film Critics Circle	Vanessa Redgrave

Stephen Frears' disturbing biopic of controversial homosexual playwright Joe Orton and his destructive relationship with Kenneth Halliwell contains a pair of fantastic performances by Gary Oldman and Alfred Molina. The film makes a well-deserved, if very belated, debut on DVD offering a pair of transfers. The widescreen transfer preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and is preferable to the standard full-frame image. The English soundtrack is rendered in Stereo Surround. English, French, and Spanish subtitles are accessible. Supplemental materials are limited to the original theatrical trailer. While it is sad that there are few extras, having this underrated film on DVD in its original screen format is enough to recommend this title from MGM. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

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