The film improved toward the end, but the middle just got to boring for me, i had to skip about 10 minutes, did anyone find this boring? Plus it was tedious how she kept saying all these 'witty' lines.
Also this was a stageplay, if anyone is familiar with it, how is the action on stage engaging, from the film all she does it sit there and talk, can anyone answer this? How was it staged to keep the audience going?
God bless you
I saw the stage play in 2000 with Tandy Cronyn as the lead. As I recall, she did a lot of talking from her bed, but it wasn't as distracting as it was in the movie adaptation.
shareWell I can't imagine a film about terminal cancer was ever going to be a lively thrill-a-minute affair, you should really appreciate it for what it is.
Addressing the camera made the film very self-aware but the only other option really was a voiceover, and that was never going to work.
"We're making a film here, not a movie."
I did this as a play earlier this year, and most of it was cut due to the fact that we had to cut it down to under 40 minutes long, and that helped with a lot of the talking from bed. Most of Vivians monologues were cut and a lot of the less action filled medical bits were cut, as well as every scene that had to do with anyone except Vivians, Ashford and the doctors and nurses. And even most of these were cut. Vivians is talking to the audience and to keep them interested, she moved around, stood up, walked around, and had to have such emotion in her voice. It really turned out to be a wonderful play, I love it and I think its beautiful.
shareI think it's meant to kind of drag a little. At one point Vivian says something along the lines of "You think watching eight months of cancer treatment is tedious? Imagine how I feel." The film (I haven't read/seen the play, so I can't comment on it), does an excellent job of forcing you to pay attention to the value of mortality. As Vivian spends months dying, each moment, no matter how painful, is precious to her. Death is no longer an instantaneous event. She is dying all along, but in those last moments, she learns to live. If we ignore those moments, we ignore our own lives.
shareI agree with split. I seems as though we are being forced to slow down and take a look at something that ordinarily we would prefer to just stroll past whistling as we do and looking the other way. Considered from that point of view, it is to be expected that if something as rarified as the poetry of John Dunne doesn't grip you, it is hard to keep perky.
shareWell im pretty sure that's why the play is called WIT because there is alot of reference to the poems of John Donne and how Vivian thinks he uses "Wit" in his poems. Also, this is film was not boring, hate to break it to you but its a film about a woman with ovarian cancer... i really dont think its something to make a happy go lucky film on.
share[deleted]
This is the most beautiful film I've ever seen. It is boring for someone who doesn't pay attention to the real meaning of it. You have to understand her feelings, to read between the lines. Not everything's going to be given to you simplified. You have to THINK and FEEL... FEEL and THINK. This is not a movie for you and I can see clearly that you didn't understand the whole meaning of it when you said "Plus it was tedious how she kept saying these 'witty' lines". She dindn't only speak... she was marking, making obvious how pathetic, funny, cruel and unhuman LIFE was becoming for her. The beiginning is the WORST because you can see how her LIFE changes and how doctors treat her like if she was an object, an experiment. Try to see the movie AGAIN: you have to be alone and you have to expose you heart and your feelings. Do not be afraid to feel, to become sentimental and HEAR every word she says, understand what she means, hear the music and do not see this movie like if you were seeing Spider-Man or the Lord of the Rings. This is not an action movie, this is a reflection of reality of how people dies and suffers... When you UNDERSTAND this movie you are not only going to love it, but you are going to LOVE and appreciate you OWN life.
sharei first read the play and then saw it performed [thankfullly] in its entirety. he monologues were engaging and even with a relatively simple set production, it wasn't at all boring. i haven't seen the movie, but i think the stage allows the viewer to better focus on and appreciate the eloquence of the poetry.
on another note, i don't see how this play could be cut to a 40 minute, one act performance. i thought of organizing a staged reading of this play with my classmates at my medical school, but every time i've tried to think of scenes that could be cut for time constraints, i wind up convincing myself that the beauty in detail is lost.
le bel (I would wager that you are)
Your post says all I would have liked to say about this 10/10 performance and exposition by the marvelously sensitive and talented Emma Thompson. I absolutely loved it and have seen and enjoyed it at least 6 or 7 times. Brava, Emma.
Only two things are actually knowable:
It is now and you are here. All else is merely a belief.
"Plus it was tedious how she kept saying all these 'witty' lines."
"all she does it sit there and talk"
Oh my god ....If only stupidity hurt
Too true. Only someone who has not experienced pain or loss or has any kind of imagination could think this film was boring. It was so moving and I'm a pretty tough person who doesn't show much emotion but I cried bucket loads. To see such a strong and proud woman reduced to a list of side-effects and scared of death really hit home. Emma Thompson offers a beautiful portrayal of Vivian's last days on earth and for me the real tear-jerker scene was Susie rubbing lotion into her hands. It was truly a beautiful and moving film.
share[deleted]
I watched this last night with my partner.....
It was extraordinary....
I felt very alive and very lucky to be alive after it finished.
We both cried.
We both laughed, too.
There seems to be little mention of the humour in this film.
We're all gonna die, but while we have life (even as we are dying) we can laugh.... as Emma did in the film.
I felt reinforced in my conviction not to die in hospital....
She had a choice at the beginning whether or not to opt for the aggressive and "experimental" treatment..... she chose to opt in.... I choose to opt out.
Brilliant acting and brilliant direction and screenplay.