Prick Up Your Ears (1987) User Reviews (36)

Marvelous

[HoldenSpark · 7/10 · 20 September 2008]

I caught this on cable today. Had never noticed it before which is odd since I've actively tried to be aware of movies with a strong gay component for as long as I can remember. But, be that as it may this is one that somehow slipped past me until today. After watching it in awe I checked to see when it was made thinking that surely it was something made in the recent past few years, after 2000. Certainly, I thought, it must have come out during the "Queer as Folk" era which gave filmmakers permission to finally and honestly show parts of the gay world which, unless you're a part of that world, most of the rest of the world were relatively unaware of until somewhat recently as society has changed for the better in its well reasoned acceptance of gays. Yet, instead, I found that "Prick Up Your Ears" was released in 1987. I couldn't believe it. The movie was so well done. Not only did it portray something that was way ahead of its time with regards to portraying this type of subject matter, the movie itself is so modernly made. The way it was filmed and the actors and how they are acting, everything about this movie screams "I'm way ahead of my time"! And so it is. And what you find is a beautifully made movie about the effects that society's attitude towards gays in the 50's and 60's have upon two gay men, their union, and gays in general during that time. And the movie was made two decades ago, breaking ground in ways that only now that movie audiences have come to take for granted.

This is a marvelous movie, groundbreaking when it was made, about an author and the authors life-partner who were breaking new ground themselves in their day. Everything about this movie is worth seeing. The story presented, the acting, the sets, the locations. Everything. In fact, it reaches far enough into so many different things about writing and movie making and gays and society and relationships and life and death itself, and it does it so well, that one can reasonably say that if you're a student of film this is a movie that should belong on your list of movies to see and study along the way to making your own movies. And if you're a person who loves good movies, this is also required viewing. And if you're gay, well, it will thrill you to see this movie for so many reasons that only if you're gay would you really kind of understand. And if you're just somebody who wants to pass some time watching a minor cinema masterpiece that has stood the test of time, here is one for you to watch, enjoy and be educated by too. Its just a part of who we were. I miss poor Joe and Kenneth.

"What do you expect? Many of them are Australians"

[Krustallos · 8/10 · 29 June 2004]

Although in some ways more theatrical/televisual than cinematic, this is one of the best British films of the 80's, and is probably Alan Bennett's most successful screenplay. Bennett and Orton have a number of things in common - a love of "found" dialogue (here mainly given to Orton's landlady) - theatrical success in the 60's (Bennett in "Beyond the Fringe") - and of course their sexuality.

The film is quite interesting in what it leaves out - anyone who has read Orton's diaries will know that "the latter part" is rather underplayed here. Also sadly missed is "Mrs Edna Welthorpe" an alter ego of Joe's who would write to newspapers denouncing his plays as filth - a rather cunning way of securing free advertising. A very interesting telephone conversation with Brian Epstein "...one of the boys is happily married..." plays with what we now know about Epstein and Lennon in a beautifully understated way.

Orton and Halliwell's relationship is counterpointed in the film by "John Lahr"'s own marriage (Wallace Shawn is great here too, as always) as Lahr's researching of his biography acts as a framing device for Orton's story. As others have commented, the dynamic of the central relationship rings horribly true to anyone who has been in a halfway similar situation.

It's interesting to speculate on what would have become of Orton had he lived. Time has dimmed the shock value of his plays to the point where they will probably never have the same effect, and despite various rumours (the Sex Pistols?) no-one has picked up the Beatles script, probably for the same reason. Live fast, die young, leave a good looking corpse? Perhaps.

If they could have been traditionally married, they could have been traditionally divorced

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 26 October 2015]

Before writing this I saw an interview with Kenneth Williams best known as being part of the Carry On troupe. He gave some interesting insights into Joe Orton and Kenneth Halliwell. As a gay man himself Williams experienced and felt the same things in the days before sodomy laws were repealed in the United Kingdom, considerably before they were in the USA. The pressures of living as a couple increased exponentially especially a May/August couple as Orton and Halliwell were.

Joe Orton whose work I'd like to see and is curiously unavailable is played by Gary Oldman and we see him as a young writer befriended and mentored by Kenneth Halliwell who is older and played by Alfred Molina. Williams says that in his opinion there is no doubt the influence that Halliwell had on Orton's work. But they were two very different types of personality and probably were fated to come apart. Especially when Halliwell who mentored Orton was not finding any success with his own writing. In the end it destroyed them.

Great Britain had some strict sodomy laws as Oscar Wilde was living testimony to. Gay artists however got different treatments depending on who their patrons were. Oscar Wilde and the Orton/Halliwell duo in their respective generations were treated one way. But Noel Coward moved at the highest levels of British society and he had a Teflon like immunity from what befell the other three.

The film is told in flashback with Vanessa Redgrave as Orton's agent telling his biographer Wallace Shawn what the two were about individually and separately. Both Oldman and Molina were brilliant.

I can't help thinking that if they could have been traditionally married back then, they could also have been traditionally divorced when the love faded. That certainly would have been better all around.

But then we would not have had this fascinating tragedy.

Essential Joe Orton Bio

[Maharis · 23 September 1999]

The single best biographical film I've ever seen. Gary Oldman, Alfred Molina, and Vanessa Redgrave are all brilliant. (Check out Simon Callow's book "Love Is Where It Falls" for more information on the Vanessa Redgrave character.) Much of the last third of the film is difficult to take, but it is nevertheless essential viewing for anyone interested in Joe Orton. And it needs to be said that there is real joy in the film as well -- particularly in the mischievous looks that cross Oldman's face while cruising tea rooms. Has any other het actor played gay so utterly convincingly?

entertaining and informative

[gsygsy · 7/10 · 16 May 2017]

Gary Oldman follows up his unknowable Sid Vicious in SID AND NANCY with an equally elusive Joe Orton in what is ultimately a riff on A STAR IS BORN. As Orton's star rises, that of his needier, more vulnerable lover Kenneth Halliwell, played with compassion by Alfred Molina, declines.

The screenplay, by Alan Bennett, is based on critic John Lahr's biography of Orton. Bennett makes the writing of the biography part of the story, and briefly tries to parallel the relationship of Lahr and his wife Andrea (played by Wallace Shawn and Lindsay Duncan), but I'm not sure that it helps the film much. Splitting the story's focus in its early sections removes us from Orton himself. That's who we want to stay with. The only real benefit the Lahr section gives us is one wonderful scene between Ms Duncan and the great Joan Sanderson as her hyper-middle class mother, decoding shorthand sections of Orton's diary to reveal highly salacious behaviour. Ms Sanderson's deadpan performance, enthusiastically uncovering Orton's meaning while remaining steadfastly unshocked, is one of the highlights of the film for me.

There are a dozen or so cameos from other wondrous actors, mostly known for their theatre work -- Margaret Tyzack, John Moffatt, Julie Legrand, Selina Cadell -- as well as substantial support from Francis Barber and Janet Dale as, respectively, Orton's warm-hearted sister and eccentric landlady.

Ultimately, the film rests on the shoulders of the central trio: Orton, Halliwell and Orton's agent, the redoubtable Peggy Ramsay. She is played by Vanessa Redgrave in a glowing performance, that helps to hold the disparate parts of the film together.

Molina's work I've already praised. So we're back to Gary Oldman, who is absolutely brilliant as Orton. What Oldman is able to do is to accept, rather than explain, his characters. He thinks it's OK not to make them totally knowable, and he's right.

Director Stephen Frears is equally difficult to pigeon-hole. He favours realism on the one hand, but on the other he is capable of pulling off highly-charged scenes - like the orgy in a public lavatory -- which might floor less gifted artists.

All in all, an entertaining and informative film, not without its flaws. In particular, its depiction of gay men's lives in the late fifties and early sixties is interestingly honest.

A loving punch in the gut

[danielledecolombie · 10/10 · 25 November 2017]

Gary Oldman plays real life British 60's sensation Joe Orton, the author of "Entertaining Mr. Sloane". His performance, for me, goes at the very core of a gallery of real life characters who run the gamut from A to Z and then some. From Sid Vicious to Ludwig Van Beethoven, from Lee Harvey Oswald to Joe Orton and in 2017 Winston Churchill - not to mention fictional literary characters like Count Dracula. With Joe Orton, Gary Oldman reaches some kind of mountain top. He finds innocence in this emotional and sexual misfit and he projects Orton's genius with a profound flawed humanity. His tragic lover is played by another extraordinary actor, Alfred Molina - I've just seen him in "Feud" playing Robert Aldrich with such virtuosity that I have developed a personal relationship with Aldrich as if I knew him personally. Oldman and Molina create something we've never seen before and Stephen Frears know exactly how to capture it. As if this wasn't enough, Vanessa Redgrave play's Orton's agent. Even if you've never heard of Joe Orton, do yourself a favor, venture into this dark and human universe.

Pointed, needling exercise in callow delights

[moonspinner55 · 6/10 · 30 September 2007]

The life and death of devilish homosexual British playwright Joe Orton who, in 1964, had his first play "Entertaining Mr. Sloan" produced on the London stage after years of flailing about. Orton's open-ended relationship with his flatmate/lover, the hulking, desperate Kenneth Halliwell, is often brilliantly observed by director Stephen Frears, who manages to make this masochistic relationship funny and creepy at the same time. Gary Oldman's performance as Orton is prankish, malicious and enormously amusing; his prodding of Halliwell is excruciating, yet one can see how much it turns Orton on. Alfred Molina's Halliwell is really Orton's flip-side: self-conscious, needy and hopeless, he begins as Orton's writing partner but quickly degenerates into a lackey, his morose despair becoming more anxious and impenetrable. A finely-tuned, intentionally callow, brightly-colored bauble of immoral behavior. Terrific supporting cast includes Vanessa Redgrave looking marvelous as a literary agent with a soft purr of a voice. **1/2 from ****

An intimate, carefully crafted biopic with uniformly superb performances.

[bijin_chick · 10/10 · 11 August 2004]

I don't usually enjoy biopics, but PRICK UP YOUR EARS is a glorious exception. Many biopics don't have strong narrative arcs (simply because people's lives generally don't), but this one does -- primarily because it focuses on the rapid deterioration of the relationship between playwright Joe Orton and failed novelist Kenneth Halliwell. With the obvious exception of the horrific conclusion, the issues faced by these two London writers will probably ring painfully true for many members of the audience. Who hasn't felt like Halliwell at some point -- or even Orton, dealing with a Halliwell-esquire partner?

This is where PRICK UP YOUR EARS succeeds while so many other biopics fail: while it does not shy away from the sensationalistic aspects of Orton's life, it never neglects the complex relationship beating at the center of the narrative. I can safely say it's one of the rare cases where I found myself relating on a human level to the biographical subjects, instead of dryly watching them from afar.

Director Stephen Frears deserves kudos for his warm, understated approach. It's almost hard to praise his directing because it's so unobtrusive; but this is exactly his strong point. He is confident in the story's inherent power, so he wisely gets out of the way and lets it unfold naturally.

And he is helped marvelously by the uniformly great performances; there simply isn't a wrong note struck by the cast. Even supporting roles, like those of Orton's sister and brother-in-law, feel like real human beings. Of course, the real standouts are Oldman, Molina and Redgrave.

Though his physical appearance isn't dramatically altered, Gary Oldman still seems unrecognizable compared to his previous work; this is how strongly he becomes Orton. His carefree swagger is by turns charming and infuriating. You understand why Halliwell is both entranced and insanely frustrated with him. He also looks a little bit like Dana Carvey - just by the by.

Molina is no less astonishing. Bald at 25, frustrated, neurotic, sexually incapable... the character is a hulking mass of awkwardness, but somehow he evokes tremendous sympathy. You alternately want to hug this guy and shake him silly. (The scene in which Orton is informed of his mother's death is heartbreaking - for both men's reactions.)

Meanwhile, Redgrave is a delight. Her line readings are exquisite and she gives the movie a crisp cleverness without crossing the line into self-indulgence.

For all the tragic and uncomfortable elements of Orton and Halliwell's relationship, the movie still features some hilarious scenes. The cheeky title, Orton and Halliwell's divergent accounts of their lifestyle together, the conversation with Brian Epstein, and Halliwell's "we were having a conversation" gave the movie a gleeful edge of naughtiness -- one the viewer suspects was strongly inspired by Orton's own approach to life and work.

In short, I highly recommend this movie. Though its description may seem sensationalistic -- a gay man brutally murders his successful young lover -- PRICK UP YOUR EARS triumphs as both a simple human drama and as a biography in which its subjects are made more intimate rather than more remote.

crimes of passion

[mjneu59 · 6/10 · 27 December 2010]

A hopscotch series of flashbacks reconstructs events leading to the brutal 1967 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.

Fantastic- need I say more?

[Bon_Jovi_chick · 10/10 · 13 December 2003]

One of Gary Oldman's first films and need I say, one of the best? Based on the biography by John Lahr, this film tells the true story of British playwright Joe Orton and his "friend" Kenneth Halliwell.

This film is sad because we all know the outcome of Joe and Kenneth right from the beginning. Interesting storyline, fantastic acting all round especially from Gary Oldman (Joe) and Alfred Molina (Kenneth) who both absorb into the characters with incredible style.

This film is a classic, especially if youre a Gary Oldman. This is another piece of evidence that Gary can not just act in a role, he can go into it.

5/5

Unflinching Realism

[harry-76 · 7/10 · 22 May 2001]

This frank account of famed playwright Joe Orton boasts three stellar performances. Gary Oldman sinks into the playwright's character with remarkable skill. Alfred Molina is appropriately irritating and erratic as Orton's companion, and Vanessa Redgrave is suave and stylish as the playright's agent. This biographical script pulls no punches in relaying the Orton's private lifestyle, while his career success is given rather short shrift. An insightful and informative presentation.

Prick Up Your Ears

[jboothmillard · 6/10 · 9 October 2017]

I had heard the title of this British film a few times, I remembered the leading actor in it, and it was 30 years old in 2017, so I was hoping for something worthwhile, directed by Stephen Frears (My Beautiful Laundrette, The Queen, Philomena, Florence Foster Jenkins). Based on the true story, it tells the story of the life and death of gay playwright Joe Orton (BAFTA nominated Gary Oldman), and his lover Kenneth Halliwell (Alfred Molina). The story is told in flashback, as Orton's friend Peggy Ramsay (BAFTA and Golden Globe nominated Vanessa Redgrave), the theatrical agent who discovered his talent for both writing, she tells his story to John Lahr (Wallace Shawn), who is writing Orton's biography. Orton met Halliwell as a teenager at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, Halliwell was older and more reserved, the two begin a relationship, but it is not all just about sex. At the time, sexually activity homosexuality was illegal, Orton loves the dangers of bath-houses and liaisons in public restrooms, but Halliwell is not as charming attractive as Orton, he does not fare as well. As their relationship progresses, Orton grows increasingly confident in his talent for writing, but Halliwell's writing stagnates, and they become like a traditional married couple, with Orton being the "husband", and Halliwell being the long suffering and increasingly ignored. In the 60s, Orton achieves fame with his plays, with "Entertaining Mr. Sloane" and "Loot" becoming huge hits, and he is commissioned to write a screenplay for The Beatles, Halliwell is becoming increasingly jealous of his success. In the end, in 1967, a despondent Halliwell kills 34-year-old Orton, bludgeoning him with nine hammer blows to the head, he leaves a message in Orton's diary, and commits suicide with an overdose of 22 tablets washed down with grapefruit juice. Also starring Julie Walters as Elsie Orton, Lindsay Duncan as Anthea Lahr, James Grant as William Orton, Frances Barber as Leonie Orton, Sean Pertwee as Orton's Friend, Richard Wilson as Psychiatrist, Steven Mackintosh as Simon Ward, Roger Lloyd Pack as Actor and David Bradley as Undertaker. Oldman gives a marvellous performance as the flamboyant and promiscuous cheeky chappy, and Molina packs a surprise punch as Orton's troubled mentor. Obviously many people will know it all ends in tragedy and murder, but the majority of the film before has a fantastic script, with hilarious one-liners (the "have a w**k" sequence being a highlight), only the little bits of Orton's career are focused, it is more interesting with the perspectives of being homosexual in the 1960s, all in all it a most worthwhile biographical drama. It was nominated the BAFTA for Best Adapted Screenplay for Alan Bennett. Gary Oldman was number 40 on The 100 Greatest Movie Stars, he was number 11 on The 50 Greatest British Actors, and he was number 36 on The World's Greatest Actor. Very good!

sorry folks !

[david_r_cox · 5/10 · 17 May 2020]

Tried to watch on Utube but had to give up, having lost interest fairly soon

The Writer, The First Wife, The Widow

[Chrysanthepop · 29 May 2010]

Director Stephen Frears has often picked up interesting subjects for his films. 'Prick Up Your Ears' is based on the relationship between famous writer Joe Orton and Kenneth Halliwell. 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.

'Prick Up Your Ears' is an interesting psychological character study and true crime drama. 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...except one thing that ended his life.

Awful structure, tremendous performances.

[Rockwell_Cronenberg · 6/10 · 26 January 2012]

In 1967, Joe Orton was murdered in his flat by his lover, Kenneth Halliwell. This is how we open Prick Up Your Ears, and through the use of flashbacks we are told the story of these two men and what drew them together and then so far apart. The dynamic between Orton and Halliwell is fascinating and takes us through many important societal, psychological and social themes, but the whole thing is slightly diminished by the gimmick of telling it through a third party.

After Orton's death, Peggy Ramsay helps John Lahr to write a novel based on Orton's life (a novel that the film itself is based on) and we are told their story through her telling the story. It's a really mundane, typical movie structure used to tell a biographical story but it's absolutely unnecessary when these characters and their story is already fascinating on it's own. Any time spent away from Orton and Halliwell feels needless and dampens the impact of when we actually get to see their story on screen, even though Vanessa Redgrave is quite good as Ramsay.

Still, this is a slight detractor when the majority of the film is indeed focused on the growing lives of Orton and Halliwell, how they met and ultimately drove to violence. The progression of this relationship is truly fascinating, as we open on the end and slowly get to see what drives them to such animosity towards each other. I think the film hits on some interesting themes in regards to relationships that aren't touched on much in film; how love can eventually become more of an obligation than a passion, in some cases.

The performances in the lead roles certainly help to highlight the emotional highs and lows of these two men. Alfred Molina is giving the more theatrical, outwardly emotive role of Halliwell, a man constantly at odds with himself and the world around him, constantly trying to hide who he is and grating the nerves of everyone around him. It's a character that could have easily been grating and unbearable to sit through, but Molina's skill manages to make him tragically sympathetic.

The real star though is Gary Oldman, who knocks it out of the park as Orton. The character isn't as showy as Halliwell, but when you look back and consider the progression that he makes in this role, it's absolutely astonishing. It's a very internal performance but, in the way that the best actors are capable of doing, he absolutely transforms throughout the film, making a natural evolution without the audience even noticing. It feels so genuine when you're watching that you can't even tell, but when you get to the end and look back at the beginning, it's absolutely astonishing. He begins as this closeted young man who doesn't even understand who is and over the course of the film is opened into a freed young homosexual and eventually a conceited, arrogant playwright.

The performance is tremendous in it's own right, but becomes even more impressive when you compare it to his portrayal as Sid Vicious in Sid and Nancy the year before. In just one year he goes from an outwardly chaotic and theatrical extreme to such a quiet and internal one. It's absolutely mesmerizing what this man is capable of doing and if you watched these two performances one right after the other, you wouldn't be able to believe that this is the same actor portraying them.

Tragic, yet surprisingly humorous at times

[JamesHitchcock · 8/10 · 12 December 2016]

This film tells the story of the playwright Joe Orton who was murdered in August 1967 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 1933. 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 1962 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". Halliwell, as portrayed by Alfred Molina, is suffering from a massive inferiority complex when he compares himself to Orton, who started off as his protégé. 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!") while remaining happy to accept the royalties he and his wife receive as the playwright's next-of-kin. 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. 8/10

Painful Proclivities Probed- "DO YOU READ MY DIARIES?"

[psp777 · 9/10 · 13 June 2004]

A TRUE STORY SET IN SIXTIES ISLINGTON

BASED ON THE Joe Orton Diaries

This cleverly edited Comedy Drama/Bio of JOE (Loot) ORTON concentrates mainly on his plethora of talents - both lyrical and libidinal.

A very touching film that has the ability by default to amuse and excite the gay/bi-curious audience.

Perhaps, never before has a film broadened the understanding of the term "COTTAGE" and "TEA ROOM" - and when the anagram of "EARS" finally did the rounds after the film's release, and the 'man on the street' realised what was being 'pricked' - it gave a better preparation and understanding of what to expect from the film if you didn't fully relate to the lifestyle.

If you were new to Joe Orton territory or to the maverick (then illegal) gay life style of the sixties... then this film does the era justice.

Maybe the excessive casual gay sex that takes place immediately after 'a' funeral, and in a cottage after an awards night may give insight into the stereotypical gay deviant that gay men have been trying to get away from for so long; however the environs and situations in which it takes place lends more understanding to behaviour in given environments today.

Strangely, I feel that Joe DOES show commitment to Kenneth - in a deeply hidden nostalgic way, but is unprepared to compromise his ego to share a sexual encounter towards the mid-end of their relationship.

The film concentrates heavily on the slow and painful draining of Kennith Haliwell's state of mind as Joe's promiscuity becomes synonymous with his success.

This will have you laughing and giggling one minute, then suddenly draw you into the dark and macabre reality of the love-hate relationship between Joe and Kenneth . . . POSSIBLE SPOILER ...

Joe's ability to emotionally detach drives Kenneth to provide us with an utterly gruesome, bloody and violent ending.

(I particularly wanted to make a contribution, as at the time I was in such a relationship, and we even did the 'going on holiday' bit, when it all fell apart... my partner at the time was a "Joe" driven character and I was certainly Kenneth ... gladly circumstances separated us before we enacted the end part of the film!)

In memory to Jonathan ... if u ever read this - I'm Real Sorry)

Very good

[preppy-3 · 8/10 · 9 April 2006]

Movie about gay London playwright Joe Orton (Gary Oldman) who was killed by his lover Kenneth Halliwell (Alfred Molina) in 1967. It's done with Vanessa Regrave as Orton's agent and Wallace Shawn as an investigative reporter piecing together Orton's life and his relationship with Halliwell. It shows how it started out great but Halliwell's reputation went nowhere while Orton wrote some very dirty (and funny) plays. This upset Halliwell and shows how he finally cracks.

This isn't for everybody. This shows a VERY graphic and unflinching view of gay life in London in the 1960s (when it was against the law). It seems Orton was very sexually active with others (that probably didn't help his relationship with Halliwell) and we're shown a few acts (all within an R rating). Oldman is just great--he LOOKS like Orton and gives a wonderful performance. Molina is good but he doesn't look a thing like Halliwell. Halliwell was about the same size and shape as Orton--Molina is tall and hulking--all wrong for the role. Shawn is lots of fun getting into Orton's life and Redgrave is just superb as his agent--who ever knew she could do comedy so effortlessly? She casually throws out some wonderful lines with a little smile on her lips. Also Julie Walters has a very very good scenes as Orton's sister.

The only thing this lacks is some insight into HOW Orton wrote his plays and why he was thinking certain things. However it could be nobody knows. A great film--Oldman and Redgrave's show all the way. Again, not for people that have trouble with gay scenes or dialogue. I remember quite a few gasps from the audience when I saw it in a theatre in 1987 during the scene where Oldman french-kisses another guy. I give this an 8.

Orton in Bennettland; or, Character Actors' Heaven

[margot · 10/10 · 10 June 2006]

This is NOT a serious depiction of the life and death of Joe Orton, even though the script is based on John Lahr's painstakingly researched biography. It's a good-looking film, with the ring of authenticity (e.g., set locations in the Underground and in public toilets). The script has a good "feel" for 1950s and 60s sensibility. And of course Gary Oldman LOOKS exactly like Joe Orton.

Nevertheless...it's all very tongue-in-cheek. It's Joe Orton's career as reimagined by Alan Bennett, author of 'A Private Function' (aka The Pig Movie), 'The Madness of George III,' 'History Boys,' 'Talking Heads,' et cet, et cet.

Bennett's specialty is drawing comic-grotesque miniatures--self-important little drudges and provincial dreamers. Here he gives himself free rein, turning the dutiful biographer John Lahr into a chatterboxy little elf played by Wallace Shawn. Kenneth Halliwell, Orton's longtime companion, muse, and eventual murder, was in real life a handsome, slightly built depressive; in this movie he becomes an enormous overbearing whinger (one of the best roles Alfred Molina has ever done).

Some of the most memorable characters are on only for a flash: Madame So-and-so, the acting and elocution teacher in Leicester; the local council representative who grandly calls on Orton's mother and declares that the boy must follow an acting career; the terrified book editor at Faber & Faber who turns down Orton and Halliwell's campy novel; Lahr's English mother-in-law, trying to put her feeble shorthand knowledge to good use as she deciphers Orton's youthful diary entries about 'having a good w*nk.'

Not everyone will appreciate the humor, to state the obvious. But if you like it at all, you'll like a lot and and want to keep it around for repeated viewings.

The Slimy Limey

[strong-122-478885 · 2/10 · 4 April 2015]

Released in 1987, but set in the Swinging 60's, this bio-flick, Prick Up Your Ears (PUYE, for short), focuses in like a microscope on the high-flying lifestyle of the hugely successful, British, playwright - Joe Orton.

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 1962, was an immediate success. "Loot" ran, to rave reviews, for a 2 year, extended engagement on the London Stage.

If I am to take what is shown to me in PUYE as a pretty accurate look at Joe Orton's demeanour/lifestyle, then I, for the life of me, cannot see how he ever, ever managed to write any plays, at all. 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 1967, 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 Great Combination Between Alfred Molina and Gary Oldman

[roland-27 · 17 August 1999]

Its films like these that make you wonder why stars like Gary Oldman(Immortal Beloved) and Alfred Molina(Boogie Nights) aren't noticed as much as the awful actors that plague our screens(see Mark Wahlberg or Ray Liotta).

Prick Up Your Ears is a wonderful film about the writer Joe Orton(Oldman) and his lover Kenneth(Molina). The dialogue is smart and the acting is incredible. Rating=4/5

In addition, I would just like to say that teenagers can enjoy decent films. I was twelve when I watched this, and I found it amazing. Its the film that sparked off my fascination with Gary Oldman films.

Truly great acting

[bthomasreinitz · 10/10 · 14 August 2020]

Vanessa Redgrave, ALfred Molina, Julie Walters are all at the top of their game but Gary Oldman is a revelation. His awakening to his homosxuality is a beautiful thing to watch. His giddiness when following a potential sexual partner illiustrates the glorious discovery of adult sexuality. Truly a remarkable performance. The tenderness he shows Ken throughout their long relationship is on Oldmans face. The script is like an Orton play as much about the silence as the words

Real and Truthful and Profound

[jzappa · 8/10 · 7 October 2008]

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." This could be a state of affairs made worse by Orton's incapability or reluctance, in 1960s England, to accept having a male life partner. 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 gives to the deficit of his mother in the natural way he lives his life, seldom enforcing his will save for his impressively rare breaking points, but operating by going with the flow of his innate emotions. 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.

"Prick Up Your Ears" was to be the title of one of Orton's plays. 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.

Prick Up Your Ears

[a_baron · 9/10 · 18 January 2015]

Joe Orton was just 34 when he was battered to death in August 1967; 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.

Orton's diaries were published by John Lahr in 1986, and depraved they are. This TV dramatisation revolves largely around the diaries and their publication, covering Orton's early life briefly, how he met Halliwell at RADA - for which Orton had won a scholarship - their failed collaboration on literary works, and their bizarre crimes for which they were each sentenced to six months imprisonment, and which paradoxically was the making of Orton. (Neither the first nor the last time that has happened).

"Prick Up Your Ears" - an obvious anagram just in case it was not obvious to you - strives for authenticity, and succeeds. Fortunately the play/film does not dwell on Orton's cottaging misadventures, though it does show him and Halliwell in Morocco doing unspeakable things with young men, at least some of whom were underage. Although the Beatles do not appear herein, we do see Brian Epstein, who while himself homosexual had nothing but contempt for Orton, and would not allow him to sully the image of his charges. Sadly, he would die a mere 18 days after Orton, in dissimilar but equally controversial circumstances.

"Prick Up Your Ears" is a worthy biographical document, but don't watch it unless you have a strong stomach.