Wilde Salome, film review: Al Pacino mounts his own production of Oscar Wilde's tragedy

(15) Al Pacino, 95 mins

Wilde Salomé is in a similar vein to Pacino's documentary Looking for Richard. That's to say, it is part essay, part stage reading, part documentary, part travelogue and part feature film.

Pacino became obsessed with Oscar Wilde's Salomé after seeing it performed by Steven Berkoff and sets out to mount his own production while discovering as much as he can about Wilde.

His interviewees include everybody from Bono of U2 to Tom Stoppard and Wilde's grandson Merlin Holland.

Pacino is fantastically hammy as Herod, hissing and purring like a villainous cat in a Disney cartoon, while Jessica Chastain is a bravura Salomé. Actually made in 2011, this is an eccentric, Quixotic but highly enjoyable affair.