Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa! (2006)

Michael Sheen valiantly gives life to a British icon of the 20th Century. Kenneth Williams was the personification of a walking breathing work of art. Outrageous, painful, shattering at times. I wondered how Williams himself would have reacted to this artistic invasion of privacy. I could have done without the, seemingly endless, masturbation scene. The relationship with his mother is closer to Norman Bates and his than anything I've ever seen outside of a horror movie. At times I had a feeling that Kenneth Williams was an alien thrown in our mist who adopted a persona that had nothing to do with his parents. Thoroughly out of step. It left me with an irrepressible sadness but I'm glad I've seen it.

I saw this very emotionally painful portrayal and it was fascinating. The conflict between the public and private faces of Williams and the pressure he was under is illuminated in a way that even those who knew something about him would be surprised. The cast acted superbly, but Michael Sheen was outstanding. I only realised it was him when I saw the earlier comment. He looks completely physically different in this role, from any other role I have seen him in or as himself. Williams autobiography differs markedly from his diaries,as represented in this film. The film is at times distressing to watch, because of the emotional anguish displayed. However, it is a worthwhile experience and a film that can be recommended highly.

From his early appearance on stage dressed as a girl as a child, Williams was always one for the limelight and always a rather, well, mincing character. It was a trait he put to good use across his career in comedies ranging from Round the Horne on the radio to the Carry On films on the big screen. At one time he was popular across the UK and perhaps the world, with his harshest critic being none other than himself. Being dropped from Hancock's Half Hour for just doing funny voices, he worries that he will fade without ever blooming, but then along came Carry On Sergeant.To people of my generation, Williams is famous for his voice mannerisms and work on Willo-the-Wisp and his similar characters in the Carry On series of films. I watched this film to get a bit more background to the man and, although it doesn't do much to really get to grips with the man, it is certainly very interesting in painting a convincing picture of the man. Williams is presented as a rather peculiar man who is confused by his own sexuality, has a very close relationship with his mother, is viewed as a ponce by his father and was quite adored by his fans. The film ignores the detail of the Carry On films and barely shows his famous colleagues but instead focuses on Williams himself, spending a lot of time with him alone in his room, full of self-loathing, self-abuse and self-doubt. Although it is possible after the film to sum this character up into pigeonholes (as opposed to being an unique, real person) it is still interesting to get more information on what his life offscreen was like. It isn't a wonderful character study but it does enough.Michael Sheen is a big part of the film working because he not only gets the impersonation spot on, he only has the ability to go beyond that and get close to producing a real person. The narration helps him but in his scenes he still produces a real person (or at least as close as the material was going to get). He is the main show here but he is well supported by Campbell as his mother and various impersonations from Edney, Trenaman, Charles, Clarke and a few others.Overall an interesting and engaging film even if it doesn't totally get into the heart of character. Sheen's performance could easily have just been an impression but he does well to try and bring out more of the person behind the public personae. Not totally successful but interesting nonetheless.

A lot of my childhood was spent lying in front of the wireless listening to Round the Horne or Hancock's Half Hour or watching Carry On films. Probably the most famous line in comedy "Infamy! Infamy! They've all got it infamy!" still makes me laugh.This is a rare insight into the man behind the comic figure and the whole production is a brilliant mix of tragedy and comedy right down to the final quotation from the coroner's court read in four different voices by Michael Sheen. He was brilliant in the role. Most of the other members of the Carry On team were so-so and their Kenneth Horne was very good but Michael Sheen carried the show and there should be an award of some sort for him.It left me feeling "wow". To quote Kenneth Williams, to the cynic who says 'life is a joke' the only response can be 'Yes, well let's make it a good one.'