Withnail & I

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Movie
German title Withnail & I
Original title Withnail and I
Country of production Great Britain
original language English
Publishing year 1987
length 107 minutes
Rod
Director Bruce Robinson
script Bruce Robinson
production Paul M. Heller
music David Dundas
Rick Wentworth
camera Peter Hannan
cut Alan Strachan
occupation

Withnail & I is a comedy film by British director Bruce Robinson from the year 1987 .

action

This cabin served as a filming location for Withnail & I .

Camden Town in 1969: Unsuccessful actors Withnail and Marwood live together in a shabby apartment and pass their time with alcohol and other drugs . To escape their everyday lives, they decide to move in with Withnail's uncle Monty, who owns a hut in the country, for a while. The homosexual Monty is initially not very enthusiastic about this idea and only agrees when Withnail wrongly tells him that Marwood is also gay.

The vacation turns out to be a failure after a short time. Monty's home is dilapidated, it is pouring rain, food is scarce and the villagers treat the newcomers with suspicion and hostility. In addition, Monty is constantly trying to seduce the unsuspecting Marwood.

Eventually Marwood receives news that he has been hired to star in a movie. He returns to Camden Town and leaves his old life behind.

background

The film was based on an unpublished novel from 1969 in which Bruce Robinson processed his experiences as a young actor. For the character of Withnail, he took his then friend Vivian MacKerrell as a model, who died of cancer in 1990 . The name came from a man named Jonathan Withnall, whom the director knew from his youth. Uncle Monty is loosely based on director Franco Zeffirelli , who is said to have made advances to Robinson on the set of Romeo and Juliet .

Robinson's first choice for the role of Marwood, his cinematic alter ego , was actor Paul McGann. However, this was dismissed during rehearsals because of his strong Liverpool accent. After no other actor could be found and McGann had learned a London accent in the meantime, he got the role back.

Kenneth Branagh , Daniel Day-Lewis , Edward Tudor-Pole and Robinson's friend Bill Nighy , among others, were considered for the role of Withnail . Ultimately, it was decided to go with Richard E. Grant , who had only previously made a film.

Withnail & I was funded by George Harrison's production company HandMade Films . Harrison's song While My Guitar Gently Weeps can be heard in one scene of the film. Robinson received the symbolic amount of one pound for the script and 80,000 pound for directing, of which he invested 30,000 pounds in additional filming that the studio refused to pay for.

In some places the film differs significantly from Robinson's novel, which ends with Withnail's suicide. The name Marwood is never pronounced in the film, but can only be read briefly once on a telegram. Paul McGann's role name in the credits is " ... & I ". Ralph Steadman , best known for his illustrations of the Hunter S. Thompson books, designed one of the Withnail & I movie posters .

The film grossed around £ 565,000 when it premiered in the UK. Through the publication on VHS and broadcasts on television, it developed over the years into a British cult film , which also serves as the basis for a drinking game due to the high alcohol consumption of the main characters .

criticism

  • Lexicon of International Films : A hilarious "black" comedy about two outsider existences in a time of social rebellion. Behind his eccentric characters and their quick wits, the idiosyncratic first-time director is also able to bring out touching moments.
  • Moviepilot : Bitter and funny swan song for the 60s, the hippie and beatnik and drug dreams and the harsh realities of the acting business.

Awards

Evening Standard British Film Awards 1989

  • Award for Best Screenplay for Bruce Robinson

The British Film Institute voted Whitnail & I # 29 for the best British films of all time in 1999 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Withnail-and-I.com ( Memento from September 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ^ A b Owen, Alistair: "Smoking in Bed. Conversations with Bruce Robinson". Bloomsbury 2000, p. 108 f.
  3. ^ Withnail & I. In: Lexicon of the international film . Film service , accessed March 11, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  4. ^ Film review by Withnail & I on moviepilot.de . Retrieved February 11, 2010.