Trivia for
The Libertine (2004) More at IMDbPro »

• Based on the play by Stephen Jeffreys, which had been produced by the Steppenwolf Theatre Company and starred John Malkovich and Martha Plimpton.
  
  
• £6,890 were spent on vegetable oil-based smoke and fog, and £3,672 went into making elegantly carved 17th-century dildos.
  
  
• Filming took only 45 days.
  
  
• John Malkovich, Lianne Halfon and Russell Smith originally approached Johnny Depp in 1996 about making the film, but various financial complications delayed the production for several years.
  
  
• John Malkovich had previously worked with Laurence Dunmore on a commercial, and loved working with him so much he recommended him to the producers.
  
  
• Laurence Dunmore operated the camera for almost every shot in the film.
  
  
• Most of the film was lit using candles rather than conventional movie lights. In order to keep the effect of candles but still get enough light, cinematographer Alexander Melman designed a special piece of equipment, a stand than held a bank of candles and a reflective backing. These were known on the set as Birthday Cakes.
  
  
• Unlike most period films, this one was shot almost entirely with a hand-held camera. The two most notable shots with a fixed camera (not a hand held one) are the two panoramas of the interior of the theater, which was intentional.
  
  
• The poem which Wilmot has been banished from court at the beginning of the film is "A Satyr on Charles II". The historical Wilmot really did submit that poem to the monarch accidentally, but he subsequently left court of his own accord, rather than at Charles' command.
  
  
• A scene was deleted that included a kiss between Johnny Depp and Rupert Friend.
  
  

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