Withnail & I (1987)

Director:

Bruce Robinson

Writer:

Bruce Robinson (writer)

Release Date:

19 June 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

You are invited to spend an hilarious weekend in the English countryside.

Plot:

London 1969 - two 'resting' (unemployed and unemployable) actors, Withnail and Marwood, fed up with damp...

Plot Keywords:

Cottage | Actor | Countryside | Voice Over | Construction Site

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Richard E. Grant	...	Withnail
Paul McGann	...	Marwood
Richard Griffiths	...	Monty
Ralph Brown	...	Danny
Michael Elphick	...	Jake
Daragh O'Malley	...	Irishman
Michael Wardle	...	Isaac Parkin
Una Brandon-Jones	...	Mrs. Parkin
Noel Johnson	...	General
Irene Sutcliffe	...	Waitress
Llewellyn Rees	...	Tea Shop Proprietor
Robert Oates	...	Policeman One
Anthony Wise	...	Policeman Two
Eddie Tagoe	...	Presuming Ed

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Canada:R (Ontario) | USA:R (certificate #28355) | Australia:MA | Canada:G (Quebec) | New Zealand:R13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | Spain:13 | Singapore:PG | Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

Ansleigh Place, Notting Hill, London, England, UK

Company:

Cannon Group, The

Trivia:

Originally written by Bruce Robinson as a novel. Its conclusion is quite different from the film's: after his soliloquy in the rain at the park, Withnail returns to the flat he shared with Marwood, loads the rifle he took from Monty's country home, pours some wine (also taken from Monty) down its barrel, then puts the muzzle to his lips and drinks. He then pulls the trigger on the gun, killing himself.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Monty drives Withnail and "I" into Penrith the radish is on his left lapel. When they arrive in Penrith a few minutes later, the radish has mysteriously moved to his right lapel.

Quotes:

Monty: As a youth I used to weep in butcher's shops.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Screenwipe: (#3.1)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Walk Hand in Hand

A Journey back to the 60s with George Harrison

Withnail and I is set in an old, run down student flat in London's Camden Town at the end of the 1960's. Withnail and I are a couple of unemployed actors from different ends of the social spectrum.

Withnail is a Harrow educated dilettante, and rather upper crust; his flatmate Marwood is a grammar school boy with a slightly more realistic outlook on life. To escape from the squalor of their grim, unemployed, existence in Camden Town, soaked in a near lethal cocktail of alcohol and drugs, the desperate pair call upon the generosity of Withnail's uncle Montague and secure the use of his cottage in the country for a weekend.

Uncle Monty is an eccentric middle-aged homosexual, who prefers vegetables to flowers. He considers that 'flowers are essentially tarts - prostitutes for the bees', and wears a radish in his buttonhole in preference to a flower. He grows vegetables in pots in his Chelsea house, and makes suggestive references to 'firm young carrots'.

Withnail (excellently played by Richard E. Grant), persuades Uncle Monty (a superb Richard Griffiths) to lend Marwood (a convincing Paul McGann) and him his cottage in the country for the weekend.

Their exploits at the cottage, and in Penrith where they spend their Wellington boot money on booze and try to sober up in a gentile tearoom are memorable, witty and entertaining. The incongruous uncle Monty reciting Baudelaire in the Cumbrian hills, seeking carnal knowledge of Marwood (apparently coerced by the cowardly and treacherous Withnail), are testament to the writing skills and humour of author and director, Bruce Robinson.

The film's soundtrack brings us 'A Whiter Shade of Pale', played by King Curtis on the Saxophone, 'My Friend' and 'Walk hand in Hand', performed by Charlie Kunz, 'Schubert's Piano Sonata in B Flat Major' performed by Leslie Pearson, 'All Along the Watchtower' and 'Voodoo Chile', by Jimi Hendrix, 'Hang Out the Stars in Indiana', performed by Al Bowlly, and 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps', by the late lamented George Harrison, who provided much of the financial backing for this memorable film.

This is a thoroughly entertaining 108 minutes of humorous entertainment, a few too many drinks, a convincing 60's atmosphere, superb performances from the excellent cast, and music to make your heart, and your guitar, gently weep. Thank you, George Harrison.