Withnail and I

BloodEagle

Fantastic film - I had always interpreted the ending soliloquy with the repeated ‘no nor woman neither’ as Withnail revealing that he was gay, and more specifically, gay for Marwood - which makes the whole thing even sadder. Am I alone in this? 

JezWynd

vale said:

it's curious that it appeared in the 1980s when there was that big 'school of UEA' creative writing contingent hitting the lit scene. martin amis, ian mckewan, kazuo ishiguro all writing in a brit way about very brit themes. 

The time could be right for a good film adaptation of Amis' The Rachel Papers. It was made into a very bad film years ago but it could be such a good take on early 70's London. It could even bring back velvet loons.

Funkfingers

My thumbs have gone weird.

The "fork it" scene, with the kitchen sink piled high with things unwashed up reminds me of a flat shared by my brother and two of his fellow students.

mudslide73

"Ponce!"

west

BloodEagle said:

Fantastic film - I had always interpreted the ending soliloquy with the repeated ‘no nor woman neither’ as Withnail revealing that he was gay, and more specifically, gay for Marwood - which makes the whole thing even sadder. Am I alone in this? 

scotched by bruce robinson i believe , it is weird that the nor woman thing isnt in the original shakespere quote ..

west

mudslide73 said:

"Ponce!"

"What fucker said that ? "

LuttiS

BloodEagle said:

Fantastic film - I had always interpreted the ending soliloquy with the repeated ‘no nor woman neither’ as Withnail revealing that he was gay, and more specifically, gay for Marwood - which makes the whole thing even sadder. Am I alone in this? 

Apparently he's not gay - Bruce answers the question at 21.10 - says if anything he's a-sexual, only person he loves is himself.

english_bob

west said:

mudslide73 said:

"Ponce!"

"What fucker said that ? "

"I called him a ponce, and now I'm calling you a ponce.

PONCE!"

p90fool

I met Bruce Robinson a couple of times when he was roughing out ideas for Withnail and I, an acquaintance of mine was a cartoonist who was married to his sister Ellie. 

We all got monged together a few times and they were nice people, but it was all a bit posh for this South Wales teenager. Although I was very fond of my party substances at that time I still felt like the straight guy in a Comic Strip episode about beatniks. 

west

pure unadulterated  childs piss ...

tone1

Beautifully bonkers.... I love it 

ICBM

It must be me, but I just didn’t get it at all. I hadn’t seen it until a year or two ago - found it on DVD in a charity shop and thought it would be great since it’s always mentioned as a ‘must see’. But I found it slightly contrived, not that funny and largely pointless.

I can see why it’s a ‘cult’ film and it’s maybe better if you saw it back in the day and re-watch it to the point you know the lines, but I honestly can’t be bothered - it went back to the charity shop. MrsICBM felt the same, and she usually likes Richard E. Grant...

Bridgehouse

ICBM said:

But I found it slightly contrived, not that funny and largely pointless.

You've been to the cinema to see other films though, right? 

p90fool

I tend to agree it probably hasn't held up that well if you didn't see it in the 80s, but it really was a beacon of light in that artistic desert of a decade, as was anything else which credited the consumer with a bit of intelligence. 

I haven't seen it since, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was a bit clunky by modern standards. 

west

ICBM said:

It must be me, but I just didn’t get it at all. I hadn’t seen it until a year or two ago - found it on DVD in a charity shop and thought it would be great since it’s always mentioned as a ‘must see’. But I found it slightly contrived, not that funny and largely pointless.

I can see why it’s a ‘cult’ film and it’s maybe better if you saw it back in the day and re-watch it to the point you know the lines, but I honestly can’t be bothered - it went back to the charity shop. MrsICBM felt the same, and she usually likes Richard E. Grant...

" arrgh ....  beastly ungrateful little swine ..."

blobb

Don't threaten me with a dead fish.

JezWynd

p90fool said:

I haven't seen it since, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was a bit clunky by modern standards. 

I think it's held up very well (good writing always will). It's definitely 'of its time' but the basic premise of young men feeling out of touch with the world and looking for somewhere to fit in is timeless.

I watched it again about a year ago and enjoyed it as much, or even more, than I did in the past.

Bridgehouse

p90fool said:

I tend to agree it probably hasn't held up that well if you didn't see it in the 80s, but it really was a beacon of light in that artistic desert of a decade, as was anything else which credited the consumer with a bit of intelligence. 

I haven't seen it since, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was a bit clunky by modern standards. 

Ah 1987 - the paragon of film virtue. Not.

There were some classics that year. Lethal Weapon.. Predator.. Full Metal Jacket..

But in the edgy comedy and biting alternative humour? Good Morning, Vietnam, Maybe.... that’s about it tho. 

HAL9000

Bring me the finest wines known to mankind.

Chin, chin.

menamestom

ICBM said:

It must be me, but I just didn’t get it at all.

Me neither.  I guess it was something completely different at the time and probably opened a lot of doors for other things that followed.   I watched it in the early 2000's and struggled to get through it.  Perhaps I'll try again one day....