I have a friend who is just like Vivian. I'm sure that in an alternative universe their wasted talents of observational wit and caustic retorts would have made them a world class comic playwright.
"Here hair here". What a great film, also.
Here hare here. (The hunter, leaving them a rabbit.)
> I don't advise a haircut, man.
> All hairdressers are in the employment of the government.
> Hair are your aerials.
> They pick up signals from the cosmos and transmit them directly into the brain.
> This is the reason bald-headed men are uptight.I didn't "get it" the first go round.
It's seems to be a "slice of life" type movie, in that it depicts a particularly interesting and eventful time in the characters lives, as opposed to having any kind of narrative or story.
My favourite movies in that category is Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Just fucking madness bounded by opening a closing credits.
Just a bunch of stuff that happened.
Same here—I missed it the first time around and found it pretty weird when I finally watched it.
But on a recent trip to the Lake District, we ended up visiting a bunch of the filming spots, including the infamous telephone box in Bampton (still around and in good condition).
That kind of changed how I saw the movie—it started to feel more like a bunch of odd little vignettes, each with its own strange charm. My partner and her family are big fans and talk about it all the time, so it’s slowly grown on me. Definitely not a “one sitting” kind of film.
"Throw yourself into the road, darling, you haven't got a chance!"
The Zoo has been rejigged since then, I attended the Danish Summer Fair just nearby every year, and used to pop out to say Hi to the wolves ('Hi hi ulve!') but they're now deeper in the zoo.
The Tigers are along by the Gibbons and the camels, on the boundary of the East - West path. Occasionally walking across Regent's Park you'll hear a loud roar.
I guess the US Ambassador who's residence is next door hears that a fair bit.
Back on topic.
Uncle Monty with his potted vegetables was bonkers. 'Flowers are tarts!'
Monty was great - "Are you a sponge or a stone? Do you soak up new experiences?"
In fact, I would like a Potter/Withnail mashup, with Harry looking confused and distraught while Withnail shouts "Have you been at the controls!!? I demand some booze!" at him.
I think they started referring to stations as Underground stations to avoid this:
https://tfl.gov.uk/tube/stop/940GZZBPSUST/battersea-power-st...
Although, if you look at this brief and rare Viv MacKerrell snippet[0], his performance is a lot more Danny than Withnail.
It's a funny scene.
Robinson originally wanted Paul McGann, but he insisted on using his own accent, resulting in Robinson firing him and getting somebody else in. Then the somebody else dropped out, and McGann came back with a new Home Counties accent.
Source: Some interview with Paul McGann I watched. No idea who the other actor was.
I was visiting Dalston, London and thought I recognised a certain house and sure enough it was the (at least exterior) filming location for "the" house in the film. It was characteristic enough to recognise even after one viewing.
The only time I've ever stood in line for an autograph photo at a con was for Paul McGann. My best friend's birthday was the following week, and while he's not a Doctor Who person, he IS the person who introduced me to Withnail. McGann was quite happy to inscribe a photo of himself as the Doctor with a line of his from the film ("We've gone on holiday by mistake!").
I think it's the article that was published on Criterion in 2001, rather than when it was originally written.
"Balls. We want the finest wines available to humanity. We want them here, and we want them now!"
"Here Hare Here"
"I feel like a pig shat in my head."
"I don't advise a haircut, man. All hairdressers are in the employment of the government. Hair are your aerials. They pick up signals from the cosmos and transmit them directly into the brain. This is the reason bald-headed men are uptight."
the movie is the most literal romance of any character in a film ever. By any objective criteria, Withnail was a horrible person. Richard E. Grant's ability to be a living cartoon made it hilarious and charming and he let you suspend your disbelief in Withnail's grandeur and go along for the absurd ride. the important idea is that romance is seeing things as greater or more significant, (or just generally other) than they are. That's what Withnail and I was about.
He was harmless and funny because his manipulations were so low-stakes and geared to just getting alcohol for free, but you could see he drank and destroyed himself for the same reasons anyone does, because he knew all he had were the tools of a monster and just didn't know any other way to be.
The archetype is extinct today because the relationships it needed to survive are outmoded. someone being from your school or neighbourhood doesn't figure in our ideas of identity where you'd tolerate a loser with charming delusions because they were a fixture in your own story. Nobody's wives or girlfriends would tolerate them anyway, and I think we're all too mercenary now.
to me the sadness of the story is that it's a meditation on romance itself. it ends where you see Withnail as the volatile addicted animal he is, and he (or really, we as the audience) are slightly redeemed by his hamlet speech so as to be reminded that there was at least some truth to what we believed in about him, and that we ("I") weren't just decieved and manipulated. his grandeur dignified or at least rendered harmless our abuse. the original script doesn't provide that final bit of comfort, however.
maybe there's a version of that story for today, but I don't think a Withnail character could actually survive long enough socially to become interesting enough for anyone to find them romantic enough to tolerate.
bilekas•6h ago
pivic•6h ago
Just a week ago, Criterion re-released Withnail & I in 4K: https://awardswatch.com/criterion-collection-may-2025-brings...
rwmj•4h ago
Citizen_Lame•33m ago