Wittgenstein

Starring: Karl Johnson Director: Derek Jarman

DVD Features:

Audio:

• Subtitles - English (SDH) - Optional

Additional Release Material:

• Behind The Scenes - Extensive Behind-the-scenes footage.
• Bonus Shorts - "The Clearing" 1994 - Alex Bistikas, Derek Jarman
• Introduction - Ian Christie - Historian
• Interview - 1. Tariq Ali - Producer
                  2. Tilda Swinton - Actress
                  3. Karl Johnson - Actor

Additional Products:

• Linear Notes - Colin MacCabe - Film Critic/Producer

Product Description:

A highly stylized comic biography of eccentric German philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein (Karl Johnson), this film features the thinker struggling with the absurdities of his life, including a bright green martian and an out-of-place rhinoceros, while also tackling serious subjects such as society's feared reaction to his own homosexuality. Derek Jarman directs this spare, understated look at the life and work of the brilliant yet tortured man. Utilizing only a sparse collection of props to evoke each era and locale, the film follows Wittgenstein from his childhood home in Vienna (symbolized simply by a grand piano) to his enlistment in World War I and, finally, to Cambridge University in England, where he befriended scholars Maynard Keynes (John Quentin) and Bertrand Russell (Michael Gough) and engaged in homosexual affairs with his students. Although he left Cambridge several times, briefly living in Norway and once trying to move to Soviet Russia to assist the revolution there, Wittgenstein always returned to the university--and it was there he finally died. Throughout his life, the philosopher, whose writings explored issues of language and communication, struggled futilely to make others understand his own complex words and ideas--a sentiment expertly captured by Jarman's unique film.

Plot Synopsis:

Derek Jarman's WITTENSTEIN is a spare, understated look at the life and work of the brilliant, tortured philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein.

Plot Keywords:

Biography | Comedy | Gay / Lesbian | Theatrical Release

Exerpts:

"If people did not sometimes do silly things, nothing intelligent would ever get done." -- Young Ludwig Wittgenstein (Clancy Chassay)

"Philosophy is just a byproduct of misunderstanding language." -- Ludwig Wittgenstein (Karl Johnson)

"I'd like to have composed a philosophical work that consisted only of jokes." -- Ludwig Wittgenstein (Karl Johnson) to John Maynard Keynes (John Quentin) "Why didn't you do it?" -- Wittgenstein to Keynes "Sadly, I had no sense of humor." -- Keynes to Wittgenstein

Cast and Crew: