WIT- HBO Movie-- not the play, but as riveting.
Written: Mar 26 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Profound, thought provoking, riveting, wrenching, will stay inside your mind a long while after.
Cons: Caution to those feeling sad or depressed should think twice about watching this movie.
The Bottom Line: A definite must see, except it will leave you with a mind chatter that only sleep can stop. Life will appear more precious than before.
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| MARIEROY's Full Review: Wit |
From the TV previews I watched during the past month I looked forward to viewing this movie, especially being that it stars one of my favorite actors, Emma Thompson (Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility.)
I think if I came away with one word after seeing this movie that would probably be the word “profound.” Another word to follow closely is “insidious.”
In fact ‘insidious” is used several times in the beginning of this movie. First by the “senior” doctor who refers to cancer as “insidious.” Then by the main character, Vivian Bearings, a scholarly professor who calls the chemotherapy used to try to destroy the cancer “insidious.” She is given at “full” dose eight sessions of chemotherapy, which eventually appears to do more harm to her than I think the cancer at this stage, and probably hastens her death.
Vivian has always gotten by on her wit.
WIT--the movie, directed by Mike Nichols is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Margaret Edson. After seeing the movie version I’m not sure if I would be brave enough now to go see it in play format as I don’t particularly care for anyone seeing me wail through a box of tissues, which is basically what I did with this movie.
I of course thought the dialogue throughout brilliant. From the start it literally took hold and held me fast, even through those scenes where I felt it too painful to watch. We see a woman who starts out looking strong and relatively healthy, but as we live through each succeeding scene, she changes into a woman who we come to realize is not going to survive this illness. Fourth stage ovarian (we are reminded there is no fifth) cancer seldom has a cure rate and the patient comes to realize that the end of her life is quite near.
Vivian comes to realize wit is not enough.
All emotions are touched, prodded, and at times painfully yanked out of us in this story. The viewer is not only drawn into the story, but more disturbingly the story is drawn into the viewer. (And this in fact is what a well-written screenplay should do or at least strive for.)
Each one of us is made to realize how fragile life is, and in the end for the most part as we leave it, the path can be a lonely one. The story demonstrates quite adequately the kind of isolation a patient must feel at the end stage of an illness. And how doctors although skilled in administering treatment, fall far short in administering kindness and compassion in the process of treating these patients, who more or less become "research" guinea pigs.
We are reminded of how all of life is narrowed down to what is inside our minds. That in the starkness of an isolation ward, the world literally fades away. All that we know is no more. We become fragile forms who delight in the simple cold taste of a frozen popsicle that in this case soothes epithelial cells that have been destroyed in the esophagus by not the cancer but by the chemotherapy. And all that is left at this stage or all that is required is kindness and compassion by healthcare providers.
Despite some gut wrenching scenes, humor is experienced at the most unlikely moments between the Primary Nurse and the patient. It is the humor that will have one both laughing and crying, reminding us that humor can help one survive, or in this case endure.
Flashbacks of Vivian are shown as a little girl learning new words as she reads through one of her fairy tale books; bright, eager to learn, with a long life ahead of her. And then we are flashed forward and made to realize that life at times although it does moves slowly, especially inside an isolation unit at the same time we realize time is very scarce for any of us.
Vivian comes to realize also being the smartest is not enough, that all that is really required is "kindness."
The movie ended at 10:30 pm. Usually I would then watch the news. Except this time, I didn’t want to think about the movie, didn’t want to deal with all the emotions it stirred within me, and instead I went to bed, praying for sleep to come fast, in order that I wouldn’t think about any of these things.
I fully recommend this movie, but with caution, especially for anyone who might be feeling sad, or worse depressed. Because after seeing this movie, you will need many many hugs.
Recommended:
Yes
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MARIEROY
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Member: Marie Roy
Location: Connecticut
Reviews written: 406
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