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Based
on the novel by Anne Edwards Cast: Alice Krige (Mary Godwin), Philip Anglim (Lord Byron), Eric Stoltz (Percey Shelley), Laura Dern (Claire Clairmont), Alex Winter (Dr John Polidori) |
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PLOT In 1815 poet Percy Shelley is touring the European Continent with his lover Mary Godwin and her half sister Claire Clairmont. They meet the poet and notorious seducer Lord Byron who invites them to join him at the villa he has rented for the summer on Lake Geneva. During lengthy debates between Byron and Shelley regarding the nature of evil, Byron introduces them to opium to show them the truth that lies beneath their masks. |
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| In this film Alex plays the role of Dr John Polidori, Lord Byron's personal assistant. Poor Polidori suffers under the reign of his sarcastic manipulative employer and struggles with his, well... sexual identity, which results in several failed suicide attempts. As the provider of the opium he witnesses the five's experiments and hallucinations. Eventually he betrays Byron by stealing his poems. Caught in the act he is sent away and a few years later, in 1821, he ultimately commits suicide in London by taking prussic acid. |
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Mary Shelley's meeting with Byron and her acquaintance with opium was less tragic and inspired her to write the classic Frankenstein a few years later. I regret the fact that I haven't discovered the book sooner, while I was working my way through my list of books for English literature back in school. It certainly would have made my exam more interesting. |
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Eric Stolz as Poet Percey Shelley |
Alice Krige as Shelley's wife Mary |
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