This is the soul-crushing moment when Withnail realises that he will never play the Dane. It's even more tragic because it's the moment we see that Withnail ISN'T delusional, that he's actually a fine actor. But we are the only audience he's ever going to have..
Well put. One of the best films ever made itself to celluloid. and two of best actors of our generation. And Richard Griffiths as well..brilliant.! Was there a single bad frame here. No.
Darth Bossk - Woody Allen said "80% of success is showing up." People don't simply show up, say who they are and plainly ask for what they want, as if it's possible the world shall magically come to them… shall discover their 'talent.' We have to learn to be proactive and actually find joy in the freedom of that. I guess we are the _puer aeternus_ unless we do hit rock bottom & then finally take stock and engage. It's a kind of death and rebirth we should stop being afraid of.
+deadbutdreaming Very interesting analysis, actually. Never thought about it like that. I wonder if Bruce Robinson ever considered that interpretation.
Yup, that feeling of not making the cut, and absolutely nothing is down for you, is utterly indescribable. Before the age of 30 it's not so bad, but the loss you'll experience in the circumstance played in this clip is unbelievable.
The saddest part of the scene is when Withnail turns to swig from the bottle and misses his last moment with I. The look on his face says he knew instantly that moment was lost. Life is fleeting, embrace every moment - even the last. Especially the last. It is the one that you will remember the most.
RE Grant plays it so well, that ambivalence. Even in a moment of real platonic connection, genuine and appreciative Withnail still deflects from the honesty of the the moment with what could be a really flippant 'cin cin 'gesture - and then immediately regrets it as Marwood walks away. But it stays with Withnail, that moment of his own jackassery and disconnection... it really gets to him and the Hamlet soliloquy is as much regret of himself as it is a comment on Marwood or others.
I was struck by both the first time I saw it, back when it came out. I watched it only because a friend had recommended it as "...maybe the sort of thing you might like." This was before it became recognised as a classic. Talk about bitter-sweet.
This is hands down one of the most soaring and heart-wrenching performances of anything ever. Richard E Grant's performance here basically made him one of my favourite actors. An amazing ending to one of the greatest films to ever come out of Britain.
So absolutely perfect. If you've ever had a Withnail in your life you know the frustration of seeing someone so talented battle the demons of depression and/or mental illness with booze and anything else that dulls the pain; this speech, it perfectly reflects Withnail's talent, it references old Monty...but it also captures that feeling that needs stamping down with the bottle. It gives the humor it's truth, and in doing so takes it from clowning to poignant, and gives it the real and THAT is why it is a cult classic.
Mind you, at least Withnail stands a chance of a bequest or two coming his way at some point, so Chateau Lafitte rather than lighter fuel or White Lightning will accompany his final years (he hopes).
Yes of course Hamlet is about a guy who is incredibly privileged, to be a Prince in Shakespeare's time meant you had a divine right to be one of the few rulers, yet the speech basically says "but life is shit then you die" making it clear that he is clinically depressed, as he has little to whinge about. Depression is a bastard thing. Booze & speed (withnails fave combo) is likely to make it far worse. Mushrooms, ketamine, cannabis - all likely to help or not make it worse. The problem with alcohol is the physical damage it does on the way to you might quit drinking due to ill health at 50 or 60 and discover your organs are fucked and you have sever nerve damage resulting in loss of fingers toes or even legs *If you don't eat properly and drink too much take vitamin B6, and all the other B's and they will stop this happening. My friend lost 5/10 fingers several toes and his left leg due to alcoholism.*
The real power in this scene is here you realise that Withnail is a great talent and could have been everything he thinks he is but he's thrown it away with his own arrogance and self pity
I have seen many performances of "The Dane", including the RSC and the Globe, and none of them ever did it like this, more's the pity, because this is far and away the best performance of this famous speech. Bravo Richard E Grant. You deserved an Oscar for this movie.
I remember slight disappointment when I first came to study hamlet at school and see it on stage at this part for the same reason - it wasn’t like this version or anywhere near as powerful. I do accept these days that’s because it’s not a soliloquy but part of the dialogue with two others on the stage. It’s conversation, tho also a reflective moment for hamlet of course Just seems hard to believe words so beautiful could be part of the dialogue and not given all the attention possible set on the page in verse you know ? But it kind of makes sense withnail is reapproriating a bit. He also misses a few lines - always wondered if that’s intentional or just cut for time ? Surely the former
The speech in Hamlet has an entirely different context to what it does here. It's an "Oh, woe is me!" moment with all the over excessive adjectives to boot. The adaptation here repurposes that to reflect what the audience has seen of Grant's character throughout the film. That gives it a level of tension: we're essentially seeing a confession - at minimum an understanding of the road that led here - but we are not given the catharsis of an answer. Of course, life doesn't always work out. I think that is what gives this scene so much power.
I had the great pleasure of watching this movie in a small cinema several years ago as part of a film festival. Richard E Grant sat at the front and just off to the side of the screen. His reactions were priceless and he said afterwards in a lengthy Q & A that it was his first time sitting through the entire film since its premiere. What a delight.
All of us who fell into that world of squalor, of drink, drugs and joyful chaos... all of us who escaped had to leave a Withnail behind along the way. Someone we loved but who couldn't be saved from themselves.
It's like watching a nihilistic genius waste his potential away because he can't get past his meaningless outlook on life and summon up the courage and strength to put his talents to work. Crushed by loneliness, insecurity and cynicism... With an addiction to all manner of stimulating substances to boot. Great performance, very sad indeed.
AlexLordAlcyone - stop stealing lamps, don’t make Genies derelict. Look, if you know a Genie that needs a home, just fit them in a lightbulb or something. If you rub them the right way they might give you wishes. I don’t know what your long career in the arts has taught you, but patronize magical Middle Eastern spirits.
He knows the true pain of existing in this utter cesspool of a world. Beautifully acted. I am on my way out from all the obscene things that have happened to me. Those of you with a relatively mundane lives should cherish it. I will say no more than that. 👍
0:32 that teary-eyed, barely-there nod might be the only fully heartfelt sentiment Withnail expresses in the entire film. It's a second of artless, childlike, vulnerable and total authenticity, from someone who is otherwise more or less a shabby patchworked construction of performances, "a piece of work..."
I think you realise at this moment, that Withnail is by far the greater talent, but as he also realises, he's destined to piss it up the wall. The pathos and futility of this scene makes my hair stand on end, each and every time.
@@oddunb6190 No, it isn't. Who is the friend Hamlet lost, a lesser talent, who left by his own choice, who left to go on to better things, in stark contrast to Hamlet? No one. Literally.
Such a sad ending. Withnail is pretending to be on stage at the London Palladium, putting on the performance of a lifetime. But, in reality he's in the miserable pouring rain, his only audience a pack of wolves and he's destined to drink himself to death.
Thank you A.R. and perhaps therein lies another truth and observation; that those most gifted with the integrity of insight, are also, the most sure to be amongst the outcasts in this game we call life, the so-called failures and mis-fits. "Thomas: Blessed are the poor ..."
"This most excellent canopy, the air..." as the rain pounds harder. That look to the heavens gets me in the gut every time. The grand ego ultimately unimpressed with the infinite splendor that is life.
Love how layered this becomes - not just my fave speech from Hamlet and in context of that character, but also in how it relates to Withnail's dying ambitions and complete despair in that moment toward everything. Very much a Goodbye Cruel World, but filled with so many emotions. Love, hate, passion, despair, piteousness, loneliness, anger, arrogance, longing, sadness, tiredness. If you've ever been there at the end of your rope and left behind with nothing, you'll know this whole scene sums it up so well.
I don't think there's a single scene in Withnail & I that isn't excellent; the acting and the writing are superb. Paul McGann and Richard E Grant both give performances that I don't think they've ever bettered. The mood and the look of the film are so far removed from the typical idea that people have of late 60s "swinging" London, but the film is a reflection of the life Bruce Robinson was living, so it has that gritty, dirt under the fingernails kind of reality and this final scene is so brilliant and heartbreakingly sad as Withnail delivers a brilliant performance that no-one will see.
The original ending was even darker, poor Withnail goes home, fills the shotgun with wine and blows his head off. However Bruce Robinson thought it was too dark, and actually Withnail being left behind to live in failure in the squalid flat, was a sadder fate.
That's a horribly cheap idea for an ending. It certainly appears that that path is the one that Withnail will inevitably choose, but it doesn't need to explicitly shown.
I think Bruce Robinson said somewhere that about 70% of the film is inspired by things that really happened. However, there was something that happened very like the end of the Film in real life that he may not know about, because, as far as I know, he wasn't there when it happened. He has made it clear several times that his friend and former flatmate, Vivian MacKerrel was the main inspiration for Withnail (though the trip up to the Lake District re-created in the film was with future "Game of Thrones" actor, Michael Feast.) In Vivians biography (which to be honest, is not really worth the money overall!), one of the bits that is more interesting, is that actor, Gregory Floy says that he was a couple of years below Bruce and Vivian at drama school and used to hang out at their flat in Camden regularly. He said that years later, when he sat down to watch the film, he expected to hate it, but loved it right from the start and remembered so many things happening in real life, including Vivian drinking lighter fluid! He said that, despite this, he initially didn't like Viv that much, but became friendly with him a few years later, when they were both in an open air production of "Romeo and Juliet" in Regents Park. He said that after that, they would regularly hang out together around London for a couple of years, but finally a time came, when they were about to go their separate ways. He was due to go out to the US for 6 months, to appear in a play and Vivian's place in Camden was getting sold and he was moving back up to Nottingham. He said that just before they did go their separate ways, there was an occasion when they both walked round Regents Park and it was raining and winter. Also Viv was dressed in a long coat and a scarf. He said that Viv didn't recite Hamlet, or anything, but that it really did feel like the end of an era and very like the ending of the Film, though that wouldn't be made for years yet! 6 months later, when he returned from the US, Viv was gone. He said he came down to visit for the day, but it wasn't the same. It looks like that may possibly have just happened like the Film by chance though!
Well this is me. Best at art in all my schools, PHD in English and history, homeless, liver gone as is everyone I ever loved, including my partner who just passed suddenly.. She was a beautiful soul that deserved far, far better. All you who have nice lives try not to judge others. We all end up dead anyway. Phil.
@user-fz6xn3sj7t Thank you so much. It was a beautiful ceremony. ❤️ As there is no one left, at least I won't have to go to another one apart from my own. 😢
You really get the feeling Withnail could be a creative genius and a great actor if he could only get out of his own way. Instead, he wallows in his cynicism and self pity and pushes everyone away from him and that’s the real tragedy. An all too relatable one.
It's his talent that makes him feel so deeply that he has to constantly drink to numb the world around him - One of the most funny and truly tragic movies ever made.
Goddamn, one of the saddest scenes ever. Withnail is a goner, especially after losing "I," who seemed like maybe his one string of a hope, his one chance for anything other than madness and self-destruction. I completely identify with Withnail. I too burn my candle at both ends, and often wonder when I'll finally do myself in.
watched 3 other performances of this monologue n richard e grant brings something so different to it n im obsessed with it ALSO he repeats "nor woman neither" make of that what u will
Very powerful and moving scene. Withnails' loneliness in this scene is palpable and yet even in his inebriated state, manages to deliver a powerful Shakespeare soliloquy that embodies all of his trials and frustrations and what it is to be human with all its frailties.
"Such a courteous display in the face of such crushing emotions and nihilistic petulance, to seize a grip, on what one perceived to be a dull world run by fiendish snarks, who prey on the dispositioned and dispossessed. In such a world, one can only wonder as to how any comfort can be seized, outside of a wide array of substances and fleeting pleasures, and to then smile and repeat the same cycle consistently, knowing that you will never change.
This movie always hit home for me because I always felt like our emotion never leapt far enough. Artists scream and the rest of us imitate those screams. It hurts to imitate, but the actual pain can never be replicated, and its only when we create a genuine piece of art all of our own that we can truly reach into that space between objects, that sight offset of focus, that fear that is terrifying enough to overcome itself. You have to lose everything before anything starts to really matter.
13 years of heavy drinking I'm surprised I'm still here but physically and mentally it's taken it's toll on me my memory is shot to shit and right now I'm having another beer
I drank more than oliver reed n ozzy Osbourne put together from champagne to paint thinners with a twist of cider!!! This film really saved my life by watching it over and over been thru those mad scenes i even remember doin that coffee shop multi millionaires in 79 80 in penrith was bruce there?? I waz extremely drunk , still dry bt living a reality built for withnail.......hell
I’ll never forget this beautiful film for this short, powerful soliloquy. I’ve never failed to repeat it at least once a month or so since! And the immortal line: ‘We’ve come on holiday by mistake!’ ❤️
Now imagine he breaks out the good glassware so it can breathe, and then puts on some mood lighting and makes canapés for a snack. He presses play on a CD, and we hear James Brown "I feel good" and just before we cut to credits, Withnail looks directly into the camera and smiles from somewhere deep like it's the first time he was truly happy.
@@michaelunderhill8847 For me, I figured he’d end up like Monty. Lamenting the olden days about his time with “I” just as Monty mentioned how he and a friend would drive out to the country side and fall asleep in a barn somewhere together. I always figured that the entire plot of them taking a trip to Monty’s cottage was similar in a way to Monty’s short story, but not completely. In a way, Monty lamenting those moments were romantic. As it was made clear he was homosexual. But Withnail won’t remember it that way. Since he cannot love man nor woman. Nor “I”. He is jealous that “I” put himself out there, even for the smallest of roles and eventually made something of himself. While Withnail thought those roles too beneath him, he never put himself out there really, he never took a risk. He wanted the main role immediately while “I” was willing to put in the work. And now he’s stuck in the dust, after giving this last performance. He’d swagger off back to his apartment before being kicked out. Ending up like Monty, alone, and reminiscent of the “good” times with his old chum. He’d probably not be well off as Monty, or maybe he would be, settling for something else than theatre just like Monty. Giving up that dream and being alone forever, just like Monty. As much as Withnail liked to say he didn’t care for his relatives, and even though he would use Monty for his money (and the vacation), he seemed to get along rather well with him and even enjoyed his same love for the theater even if Monty came to believe he wasn’t good enough for it. I assume Withnail would do the same, eventually, his world crashing as he believed he wasn’t good enough. But In reality he just never had the work ethic for it, or was too prideful, never having the passion to pursue it as much as “I”, just as Monty did. Even though acting was Withnail’s desire. While Monty found his “salvation” from this “hopeless” endeavor in homosexuality, Withnail would probably do the similar except with booze and drugs. Maybe he would die in a gutter sometime after this, or just end up a drunken lonely shell. Alone either way. Following in the footsteps of his Uncle.
The original ending was Withnail went back home, drank a shotgun full of Margeaux and then shot himself in the face. They had to rewrite the ending though because it was considered “too dark”. This rewritten ending however, is such a genius (I don’t use that word lightly) performance and a perfectly written replacement.
The original ending doesn't ring true. Withnail wouldn't do that. He's too boozed up to ever have that period of despair or...clarity. And the real Withnail did indeed drink himself to an early grave. It was cancer that killed him, but Mackerrell's decades of heavy boozing and drugs would've finished him if it wasn't the cancer (which Robinson attributed to Mackerrell having drunk lighter fluid).
This is beyond bitter sweet. There's not really a way to put into words and describe the way this scene makes me feel. A certain happiness with a fundamental deep lying sadness both equally as prominent and impactful as the other.
This is such a well considered and informative thread ! Chin Chin everyone and thanks for the insights ! I'm never to old to learn ! Neither are any and all of us ! Drink it up ! With ice in your cider !
Is sadness the correct attitude? Perhaps the art they produced changed them in many subtle ways as they created it, and this influence made manifest through their art, in turn may have become manifest in their interactions with the world and with others; no matter how addicted and/or marginalised they may have been. Take heart, and perhaps some joy also, in that deeper reality.
Similar comments below, but this is really the first time you see Withnail actually have to face a challenge or a problem (i.e. tackling the bull by the horns, ironically he dodges that task earlier in the film). He's clearly got talent, he's clearly capable, but you can see the whole time he's just never going to get there... Gets me every time this scene.
Ive watched this film over 100 times..im a mega fan bt the end always leaves me sad knowing that sometimes you have to leave people behind to become something but bruce has brought withnail up to where he belongs...A STAAAAAAAAARRRR
This is a lovely and long clip of this great final scene, including the credit roll and outro music, and I thank you for putting it here on RU-vid. And I’ve always wanted to give a shout-out to the wolves behind the bars of the cage, who were the quintessentially indifferent audience to Withnail’s genius drunken Hamlet and who, it seems to me, hit their marks perfectly.
Talent is useless if you dont have the dedication and drive to put it to use. You have to have both talent and dedication to succeed. I've known really talented people who just didn't have the drive or dedication it takes to use their talent. And they become depressed once they realize too much time has passed and its become too late in their lives to knuckle down and hone their talent.
Yeah that is a real conceit - that talent is so special - what does it is hard work and "Eighty percent of success is showing up." - Woody Allen would know.
It portrays the bittersweet twists and turns of life itself,.....the ups and downs,....the laughter, the sadness , the yearning to feel wanted and accepted.......their struggles , and the bleakness and emptiness of their seemingly aimless lives,...the magnitude of the film is expressed by humor and quote....and it as a real warmth and charm at its very soul,.. that makes it such a great film on many levels......
It's one of, if not thee, saddest endings to a film I've ever seen..two inseparable friends going their separate ways, leaving one to drink himself to death while the other goes onto hopeful success..
Well, in the book he blows his head off. It would be nice to think he gets it together. Gives up drinking entirely and manages to get a good gig and build it from there.
Withnail is based on this guy. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivian_MacKerrell#:~:text=Vivian%20Alan%20James%20MacKerrell%20(23,the%20film%20Withnail%20and%20I. "Mackerell's career was curtailed by heavy drinking. He died from throat cancer, which he contracted in his 40s. After a short remission in the mid-1980s, the illness returned and eventually a laryngectomy was performed. Unable to eat or drink, MacKerrell resorted to injecting alcohol directly into his stomach.[4] In his last days MacKerrell contracted pneumonia after a drunk incident and died in Gloucester Royal Infirmary." So... not a happy ending. :-(
@@Rapscallion2009 Since that's not how the real Withnail died, I think this is the nuch more realistic and fitting ending. Mackerrell continued to drink, even after getting surgery for cancer - he even injected sherry into his stomach! Obviously the drink pushed him along more quickly, but Mackerrell died of cancer. I nevee heard that he'd ever attempted suicide. Constantly being on the booze allowed Mackerrell to avoid the kind of depressing introspection and self judgment that might lead a person to commit suicide.
Joanna Albright haha oh dear 😬 I’m 18 years old, so wasn’t around for when it came out. I saw it for the first time when I was 16, I think I’ve seen it about 10 or 11 times now. I love Richard E. Grant.
In the play Hamlet recites this monologue to convince others that he is suicidal even though he isn't. Withnail recites it sincerely here. Thanks, Mr. Grant.
Actors recite; characters do not recite. This is part of Hamlet's conversation with people with whom he studied, his friends. He's expressing his grief to his friends who were sent to coax him out of it, not trying to convince people he's suicidal. In fact, immediately afterward, he asks why one of them smiled when he said 'man delights not me'. Withnail is also expressing grief.
Absolutely heart wrenching. Unfortunately, i’m Usually the Withnail in this scenario through I’ill health, not taking opportunities or just not trying hard enough, alas.
I'm 52 and re-oriented my journey not so long ago. It's worth the gamble when you find out the gamble wasn't much of a wager at all. The House always wins when you're playing their game at their table and the cards are all marked against your favor. And all it requires is the decision to steer away from the rocks. And the sirens. And the turbulence. Inner-peace is within you. God -- however you wish to imagine such a thing -- is within you. Don't leave the world behind having led a half-lived life. "Life is not tragic. Lives are tragic." -- WB Yeats (Godspeed, Withnail. You taught me what I needed to learn.)
The withnails of the world are everywhere but rarely get noticed. Throughout history, ppl with big dreams and desires who just couldn’t surpass their inner demons. And die in obscurity.
