WITHNAIL AND I

UK, 1987,COLOR, DCP, 107’, ENGLISH

Two unemployed and impoverished actors straddle the fine line between the wildly comic and the heartbreakingly tragic. Those fallen dandys live shakily in a cold London apartment-dump, finding no solace either in their desperate alcoholic escapades or in the redemptive boredom of the countryside to which they retreat adventurously. Drawing from his own life, Robinson has concocted perhaps the best dialogues (and a unique finale) in the history of British cinema for these two fascinating characters who find themselves on the brink of nothingness, perpetually stoned. Richard Grant’s sardonic lines are one of the main reasons why this unforgettable film is the ultimate cult movie of the modern British screen.

DIRECTOR: Bruce Robinson
SCREENWRITER: Bruce Robinson
DoP: Peter Hannan
MUSIC: David Dundas, Rick Wentworth
EDITOR: Alan Strachan
PRINCIPAL CAST: Richard E. Grant, Paul McGann, Richard Griffiths

BRUCE ROBINSON
English film director, screenwriter and actor, born 1946. After a brief career in acting, when he worked with Zeffirelli and Truffaut, he changed course and, among others, wrote and directed the autobiographical “Withnail and I” emerging as a one hit wonder who will be eternally adulated.
 
FILMOGRAPHY
2011 The Rum Diary 
1992 Jennifer 8 
1989 How to Get Ahead in Advertising 
1987 Withnail and I 
1984 The Killing Fields