Wit (2001) (TV)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Mike Nichols

Writers (WGA):

Margaret Edson (play)
Emma Thompson (teleplay) ...

Release Date:

24 March 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

It appears to be a matter of life and death.

Plot:

A renowned professor is forced to reassess her life when she is diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer.

Plot Keywords:

Cancer | Doctor | Professor | Nurse | Hospital

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 9 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

Emma Thompson	...	Vivian Bearing
Christopher Lloyd	...	Dr. Harvey Kelekian
Eileen Atkins	...	Evelyn 'E.M.' Ashford
Audra McDonald	...	Susie Monahan
Jonathan M. Woodward	...	Dr. Jason Posner
Harold Pinter	...	Mr. Bearing (Vivian's Father)
Rebecca Laurie	...	Vivian aged 5
Su Lin Looi	...	Nurse (as Su-Lin Looi)
Raffaello Degruttola	...	Technician 1
Miquel Brown	...	Technician 2
Hari Dhillon	...	Fellow 1 (as Harry Dillon)
Benedict Wong	...	Fellow 2
Alex Gregor	...	Fellow 3
Lachele Carl	...	Fellow 4
David Menkin	...	Student 1

Also Known As:

W;t (USA) (alternative spelling)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some thematic material.

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:PG (TV rating) | Iceland:12 | Finland:K-3 | USA:PG-13 | Australia:M | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

Avenue Pictures Productions

Trivia:

The film is often shown at medical colleges as an example of how doctors and researchers should not behave.

Goofs:

Continuity: During her exam with the young internist, her arms alternate repeatedly from being completely under the sheet, to being folded together on top of the sheet.

Quotes:

Vivian Bearing: This is my play's last scene Here... Heavens appoint my pilgrimage's last mile And my race Idly, yet quickly run Hath this last pace My span's last inch My minute's last point And gluttonous death Will instantly unjoint my body and soul" John Donne... I've always particularly liked that poem. In the abstract. Now I find the image of my minute's last point, a little too, shall we say...

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 59th Annual Golden Globe Awards (2002) (TV)

Soundtrack:

The Unanswered Question

Non-abstract Meditation

"Non-abstract Meditation" may sound like a contradiction, but then this film is full of contradictions -- like life itself.

We are given a look into life and death from the point of view of a poetry scholar who has, in turn, viewed life and death in the abstract through John Donne's poetry. She, in turn, is viewed in the abstract by a renowned doctor who views life and death as a case in a bed and by the scholar's former student who doesn't know how to communicate with patients beyond superficial catch phrases.

This is a touching, powerfully filmed play guided by the witty, amusing, profound, and painful asides and soliloquies of the main character. Her only human contact seems to be through the compassionate nurse, the scholar's old teacher, and the audience -- the point being that we too often live our lives inside walled prisons of our own construction and then come to the end realizing that we had never lived at all.

The movie could easily have descended into melodrama but instead is gritty, prim, and gripping in its own odd way. See this one if you can.