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I rarely see this one mentioned much and I haven't seen it appear on any of those "greatest film lists." Based on a play by Margaret Edson Wit is directed by Mike Nichols who has a decently long resume and seems to be most well-known in Hollywood for his 1960s films like Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The Graduate. Vivian Bearing (Emma Thompson) plays such a fully fleshed out role that at times you'd swear you were reading an actual autobiography with someone bearing their soul in front of the camera. This is probably accentuated by consistently breaking the fourth wall. It's quite an emotional ride and if you're like me and have dealt with cancer issues with those close to you it can be an even tougher watch. If you haven't this will provide a foray. Reading through reviews definitely corroborates this. It's hard to see a strong-willed person succumb and slowly lose freedom, independence and gain only suffering. So why a tough and sad selection? It brings out a few concepts I haven't seen dealt with competently before. First, when I think about hospitals on film or TV they never seem to fully grasp the setting and the gravity. Here the hospital feels like an actual prison with no escape with the only way out being temporarily hallucination. The hallucinatory scenes play out memorably as Vivian sometimes appears in flashbacks in her present condition and characters long gone are transported to the present. Merging the past and present into some kind of distorted fever dream. Second, this film touches on the disturbing concept that doctors can be more focused on research than on the patient. Prestige, careerism at the cost of turning a patient into an anatomized guinea pig. Lines like "She's tough, full dose!" illustrate this. Some of the cast: Audra McDonald - The compassionate and understanding nurse. Christopher Lloyd - The knowledgeable and stern head doctor. Jonathan M. Woodward - The new inexperienced doctor. It's on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0PPvYlGqL8 The Complete Movie of the Month Listing: 1776 | 2001: A Space Odyssey | 24 Hour Party People | 8 1/2 | The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension | Aguirre: The Wrath of God | All That Jazz | American Movie | Baraka | The Battle of Algiers | Being There | Beyond the Valley of the Dolls | Bicycle Thief | Black Hawk Down | Blade | Branded to Kill | The Brave Little Toaster | Breaking Away | The Bridge on the River Kwai | Bullet in the Head | Charade | Chitty Chitty Bang Bang | The Conversation | The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover | Day For Night | The Court Jester | Death Race 2000 | Dead Man | Darkman | Detour | Devils on the Doorstep | Double Indemnity | Downfall | Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde | El Topo | Falling Down | A Face In The Crowd | Fanny and Alexander | Fat City | Funny Bones | Galaxy Quest | Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai | Glengarry Glen Ross | Gremlins 2: The New Batch | Horor of Dracula | La Haine | The Ice Storm | The Intruder | It's a Wonderful Life | Judgement at Nuremberg | Jumanji | The King of Comedy | Last Train From Gun Hill | The Leopard | The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp | Little Shop of Horrors | Living in Oblivion | The Long Goodbye | Love & Death | M | Masculin Féminin | Man on Fire | The Man Who Would Be King | Modern Times | Mousehunt | Mulholland Drive | My Best Friend's Wedding | My Darling Clementine | My Own Private Idaho | Naked | Outland | The Panic in Needle Park | Peeping Tom | Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Play Time | The Proposition | Punishment Park | The Pusher Trilogy | Rififi/Rashômon | The Ref | Rock 'n' Roll High School | Ronin | The Rules of the Game | Safe | Schizopolis | Son of Frankenstein | The Squid and the Whale | The Super Inframan | Sunset Boulevard | Surviving The Game | The Sweet Hereafter | The Third Man | Titicut Follies | Vampyr | The Vanishing | Videodrome | The Wild Bunch | Wit | Withnail & I | The Young Girls of Rochefort | Zardoz Zogo fucked around with this message at 07:21 on Jul 5, 2014 |
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Jul 5, 2014 07:00
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Just requested it from the library based on your write-up. Sounds like a lot of fun! Come to think of it, I don't think I've seen any of Christopher Lloyd's dramatic work outside of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest unless Judge Doom counts, so looking forward to him in it. It's probably overlooked despite the pedigree because it was a TV (HBO) movie, and those tend to fall through the cracks relatively often, even with things like Roots and Brian's Song widely remembered and highly regarded.
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Jul 5, 2014 22:15
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Discount Viscount posted:Come to think of it, I don't think I've seen any of Christopher Lloyd's dramatic work outside of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest unless Judge Doom counts, so looking forward to him in it. Some of his acting resume: My Favorite Martian, Camp Nowhere, Angels in the Outfield, The Addams Family, Addams Family Values, Dennis the Menace, Suburban Commando, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Back to the Future, Back to the Future Part II, Back to the Future Part III. These examples should do a 180° on the somberness of Wit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=As1-dEejTUU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gowl-HApos You'd start to wonder if he ever had a sane role before. The two most subdued I know of are Clue and Eight Men Out. Discount Viscount posted:It's probably overlooked despite the pedigree because it was a TV (HBO) movie, and those tend to fall through the cracks relatively often, even with things like Roots and Brian's Song widely remembered and highly regarded. Yea, I've thought the same thing.
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Jul 6, 2014 01:00
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This film is literally required viewing in an area medical school. I watched it two years ago in a graduate class that centered on suffering and the human condition. Obviously, the theme of going into suffering with one's eyes wide open is not new (i.e. A Grief Observed) but Wit's modern take was/is fresh for those unaccustomed. You'll never be able to hear "Death be not proud" in the same way, again. Since I work in a hospital, I see the various coping strategies of those sick and dying and Vivian's approach is one of the hardest to "break through" to. She's brilliant, she knows what's happening, she's emotionally distant, and ultimately alone. She is someone we would say has "few supportive communities" but would epitomize society's view of "how" someone should suffer (i.e. privately, stoically, and without putting up a fuss). She eventually realizes that intellectualism can't defeat suffering, which is a very sobering and painful process. It's hard for me to watch because it would have been my approach, too, if I hadn't gone into my profession. It's not until she shares a popsicle with a nurse that she realizes that genuine human connection has the power to mitigate suffering. Health care professionals (and clergy) that have been doing it for awhile know this but it's hard to learn second-hand. The doctor's various approaches, both Lloyd's character and the younger Dr., I've found to be typical of new residents more so than experienced attending docs. The younger Dr, especially, loves studying disease and sees the beauty in it. Of course, he also completely misses the point because his zeal for research makes him miss the role of caregiver to the dying person in front of him. The scene toward the end (1:13) when it's apparent she won't survive and needs pain control is priceless because I've seen docs that are honest-to-god that removed from reality. However, it's because doctors are as uncomfortable with suffering/death as the patient. The film is excellent for its tightness and method, the acting is brilliant (Emma Thompson is wonderful), the script is top-notch and it's authentic enough it could be a case study. It opens a window into actual suffering, rather than the sanitized version of it we often see in film/TV.
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Jul 6, 2014 03:57
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I saw this years ago, and remember being floored by Thompson in it. It's really kind of a shame that TV movies are often ignored by major film critics and their reputations flounder as a result. There have been some incredible ones, especially by HBO in recent years, and when you have people like Mike Nichols directing them, the distinction seems meaningless.
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Jul 9, 2014 15:16
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I just watched this and there are so many wonderful cinematic touches that make this distinct from a stageplay version. The two examples that immediately jumped out at me on a first viewing were the scene where she discusses the definition of the word "sopphorific" with her father and the editing cuts between a child actor and Thompson, and another shortly before the Popsicle scene where she glances into the corner of her room and the camera shows a black television hanging from the ceiling. She then looks away disgusted. It's a perfect quick visual metaphor for both the looming spectre of death as well as a symbol of the sort of base simplicity and vulgarity she's been avoiding during her treatment and is about to indulge in. I read a copy of the play given to me by a high school Shakespeare teacher over a decade ago, and I am so glad this thread finally forced me to watch the film version. It was an intense and profound experience, especially since I'm about to go into healthcare in a hospital myself, and am trying to become prepared with all aspects of what I'm likely to encounter. So thanks Zogo, for your choice.
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Jul 14, 2014 09:50
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Got around to watching it this morning after picking it up from the library last week. I was surprised at how funny it was (however darkly,) and for how long, which was of course part of the point in getting into Vivian's mindset. The audience is her co-conspirator for much of the runtime, and Emma Thompson (among many other brilliant acting moments) is great at subtle Bugs Bunny-esque "can you believe this poo poo?" glances. Up until "These are my last coherent lines," where the fourth wall goes up for good, anyway, and the action then charges forward to the ultimate indignity. mind the walrus posted:I just watched this and there are so many wonderful cinematic touches that make this distinct from a stageplay version. The two examples that immediately jumped out at me on a first viewing were the scene where ... she glances into the corner of her room and the camera shows a black television hanging from the ceiling. She then looks away disgusted. It's a perfect quick visual metaphor for both the looming spectre of death as well as a symbol of the sort of base simplicity and vulgarity she's been avoiding during her treatment and is about to indulge in. Yeah, that was a great moment. The use of closeups at the very beginning is another cinematic exclusive. In addition to being an attention grabber it establishes the two doctors (M.D. and Ph.D) as intellectual equals, with a matching bit of dialog. However, there's a subtle difference with their eyelines, and in fact their eyes, with Dr. Kelekian's being narrow, dark, and aimed downward at Vivian, with accompanying head tilt. Vivian stares straighter into the camera, slightly up, on the reverse, with wide and light eyes. She signs the consent form and soon informs us she wished she'd done differently. Intellectual match though she may be, it has no influence on her position in the patient-doctor relationship. quote:I read a copy of the play given to me by a high school Shakespeare teacher quote:"This guy Donne makes Shakespeare look like a Hallmark card writer." That goes nicely with your example. Really the whole scene with her former professor signifies most of the themes. Discount Viscount fucked around with this message at 01:30 on Jul 15, 2014 |
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Jul 15, 2014 00:47
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An interesting article which makes a nice companion to this film is Barbara Ehrenreich's "Welcome to Cancerland," from Harper's in 2001 and which I had to read for my basic college writing class a year or so later. It's a critique of the culture surrounding breast cancer and "awareness" and the infantilization of female patients, based on her own experiences, and in some respects could be a refutation of some of what's presented in Wit. I say "could be" because the scene I singled out in my last post really triggered that article in my mind, even though I've not read it since that class. The whole thing where reading a children's book seems to be the comforting/right thing to do, and connecting it with her own childhood rather flirts with falling afoul of that idea. But the two may not totally run at cross purposes. I'm not certain. It does make me wonder whether the play/movie would be at all similar with the main role being male, and where it might differ.
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Jul 17, 2014 07:50
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Ah, jesus, this movie wrecked me. Somewhere in the middle of the Peter Rabbit scene I started to cry, and it took me a moment to figure out why I was reacting so strongly, which is that my dad used to read to me as a kid from his old Beatrix Potter collection. The moment where she looks up at the empty chair, I was ruined. There's something about language as a force of connection, I guess. Vivian spends most of the film using language to push people away and isolate herself, building a wall of ironical commentary that gradually falls apart. She's spent her life teaching one of the most difficult poets, who spent his career puzzling over the great mystical paradox, and then gets gently talked into her death by the simplistic but comforting The Runaway Bunny, which her professor states is "a little allegory of the soul, wherever it hides, God will find it." It's a reading that can be broadened to comfort in general. Vivian states at one point that "hard things are what I like best", and everything is a challenge, but you can't win like that in the end. You have to let the angels in. edit: also, Vivian and her professor both reminded me a lot of my own English professor, which was a little startling at first. I liked her so much I took all of her classes because she was so open about the things we read. I suddenly really hope she's doing okay. edit 2: I was at the store and I suddenly thought of the last few moments and got choked up, gently caress this movie. Magic Hate Ball fucked around with this message at 08:10 on Jul 19, 2014 |
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Jul 18, 2014 05:12
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I recall this movie did especially timid business at the box office partly due to its release date: September 11, 2001.
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Jul 20, 2014 22:31
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Discount Viscount posted:An interesting article which makes a nice companion to this film is Barbara Ehrenreich's "Welcome to Cancerland," from Harper's in 2001 and which I had to read for my basic college writing class a year or so later. It's a critique of the culture surrounding breast cancer and "awareness" and the infantilization of female patients, based on her own experiences, and in some respects could be a refutation of some of what's presented in Wit. I had a long post typed out and somehow I must've done a ctrl+w to it on accident.  I read through that article and agreed with some of it. Barbara has many complaints (a lot on corporations co-opting cancer for profit, turning cancer into a marketing scheme, femininity vs. feminism). It kind of concerns US cancer anthropology circa 2001. I didn't think her feelings were really incongruent with the main character of Wit (when they focused on the same topics). One of the issues that many cancer patients would have with that article is the concept of Cancerland itself. She notes how people respond differently to a diagnosis and how those who are overly pessimistic are met with derision. I'd say that's generally true if one was going to a support group. The article is primarily based on breast cancer and she frequently laments the perils and pitfalls of having it but there's a lot of cancer patients with less enviable incarnations of the disease. People get diagnosed with a cancer with a 95% long-term survival rate while others get ovarian/pancreatic. These people are sometimes treated like they're in the same boat. I don't think awareness and openness are bad things. It's still taboo to talk about certain cancers out in the open in certain circumstances. In the US I'd say a lot are particularly uncomfortable talking about gynecological/prostate cancers. Years ago gynecological cancers would be called "stomach cancer" just because people didn't want to talk about explicit female body parts. I've been told that pre-Betty Ford public mastectomy even talking about a lot of cancers in public was not very common. Nowadays things are a lot more open and most well-knowns will discuss things even if it's embarrassing (Michael Douglas contraction of HPV). Certain cancers are still as lethal as ever if developed but our knowledge of genetics seems to be growing. I believe preventative mastectomies are becoming more common (Angelina Jolie being a prominent recent example) and also more are having radical hysterectomies/salpingo-oophorectomies when their family history says they have a good shot of contraction if those organs aren't completely removed. This seems to be the short-term solution. Finally, I didn't understand Barbara's fixation with an anti-teddy bear ideology/cancer trinkets. It's fine if she doesn't like them but it seems like she's trying to make a tenuous link between cancer goodie bags/accessories and women being victims of patriarchal doctors while men are somehow not in the same boat being beholden to the same fallible doctors. The doctor/patient relationship is one of subservience and trust. A patient has rights but can't exactly order a doctor to do whatever he/she wants. Discount Viscount posted:I say "could be" because the scene I singled out in my last post really triggered that article in my mind, even though I've not read it since that class. The whole thing where reading a children's book seems to be the comforting/right thing to do, and connecting it with her own childhood rather flirts with falling afoul of that idea. But the two may not totally run at cross purposes. I'm not certain. It does make me wonder whether the play/movie would be at all similar with the main role being male, and where it might differ. Well, if it's a male story it's different because it'd be a different kind of cancer primarily. Having a couple of guys read The Runaway Bunny would seem like an unconventional choice although I am a big fan of The Velveteen Rabbit myself. Magic Hate Ball posted:Ah, jesus, this movie wrecked me. This movie excels in this area. Zogo fucked around with this message at 06:38 on Jul 21, 2014 |
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Jul 21, 2014 06:32
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It's also interesting to consider it from a point of view of women in academia, all the preconceived notions people have about "smart women" as being cold, tough, or hard to get one up on, not to mention the sexism they still face. There's also a lot that ties in very neatly to her having ovarian cancer. I almost think of Autumn Sonata, of Bergman's original idea that the daughter would "birth" the mother - having ignored them, or at least not used them, all her life, Vivian loses the parts of her that give life, and not only that, but dies as a result (and in the arms of the only mother figure we see - both parental figures are tied directly to language).
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Jul 21, 2014 06:44
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Magic Hate Ball posted:I almost think of Autumn Sonata, of Bergman's original idea that the daughter would "birth" the mother - having ignored them, or at least not used them, all her life, Vivian loses the parts of her that give life, and not only that, but dies as a result (and in the arms of the only mother figure we see - both parental figures are tied directly to language). I haven't seen that one yet. Seeing all the noteworthy Bergman films is like playing Whac-A-Mole. I suppose Vivian has a similar dilemma with Agnes in Cries and Whispers. The lack of pain management becomes apparent. Another that's on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1a8Jh-rtSQg
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Jul 23, 2014 00:22
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I noticed that http://www.listsofbests.com/ where there was a MOTM checklist seems to be permanently down. I made a checklist using that TSPDT 1,000 checklist as a template for all 108 films: CD MOTM PS all info came from IMDb as some of these have multiple titles and runtimes.
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Jul 30, 2014 02:59
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