Withnail and I

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Image:Withnail.jpg

Withnail and I is a cult British film made in 1987 by Handmade Films. Written and directed by Bruce Robinson, it was Richard E. Grant's first film role and launched him into a successful career. It also featured outstanding performances by Richard Griffiths as Monty, Paul McGann as Marwood/...& I and Ralph Brown as Danny. The film has spawned many popular quotations.

In 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted Withnail and I the 3rd greatest comedy film of all time. In 2004 the same magazine named it the 13th greatest British film of all time. Withnail & I was 38th in Channel 4's 100 Greatest Films poll.

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Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The film details the lives of two resting (struggling) actor friends, who, confined to a Georgian flat in Camden Town through their financial difficulties, decide to take a holiday to the country. The narrative is told in the first person by the character played by Paul McGann, named just once in passing in the film as Marwood (first name Peter) - and only credited as "& I".

Robinson's script is largely autobiographical. Marwood is Robinson; Withnail is based on a friend he shared a Camden house with - Vivian MacKerrell - who died young; and Uncle Monty is loosely based on the unwanted attentions he received from an amorous Franco Zeffirelli when he was a young actor [1]. He lived in the impoverished conditions seen in the film and wore plastic bags as wellington boots. Robinson threw four or five years' of his real life into the script, condensing them into two weeks.

In many ways, the film is melancholy and deals with endings: the end of Withnail and Marwood's friendship; the end of the 1960s (the film begins with King Curtis performing "A Whiter Shade of Pale" - King Curtis was murdered in August 1971; Danny's speech about selling hippie wigs in Woolworths); the probable 'beginning of the end' for Withnail/MacKerrell as he delivers Hamlet's soliloquy to a pack of wolves, the film is in part set amidst the demolition of parts of Camden at the beginning of the film. In Withnail and I, there is a strong sense that the characters fear change: from Withnail clinging to Marwood until the very end, to Danny mourning the passing of the decade, to Uncle Monty pining for the pleasures of his lost youth and cursing his old age. The characters fear change and the dangers of uncertainty that this new change will bring; but deep down, accepting that change is inevitable. The film marks the end/passing of a 'golden age.' At one point, towards the end of the film, Withnail says 'There's always time for a drink' to which Marwood quickly and bluntly replies ' No,I don't have the time.' Marwood is not merely telling Withnail that he doesn't have time for a drink; but rather, he no longer has time for 'him'. Whereas before, Marwood always had time for a drink (as is evident throughout the film) this is no longer the case. In refusing to drink with him, Marwood is implicitly telling Withnail that their time together is over; their friendship has come to an end.

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Trivia

The film cost £1.1 million to make. Bruce Robinson received £1 for the script and £80,000 to direct it - £30,000 that he reinvested into the film to shoot scenes (such as the journeys to and from Penrith) that HandMade Films wouldn’t fund.

A scene which never made the final cut, involved Marwood and Withnail fencing. Marwood was the eventual winner.

After eating the potatoes which Withnail digs up, Marwood can be seen reading a book ominously titled 'Journey's End.' Whilst this can be interpreted as a sign of things to come for the pair, it also shares certain elements with the film itself: one of the characters is an unreliable alcoholic who comes into conflict with a friend and one of the characters dies, leaving the other to face the rest of the war (life?) on their own.

During the filming of the scene in which the lighter fluid is consumed, Bruce Robinson changed the contents of the can, which had been filled with water, to vinegar. While the vomiting is scripted, the facial expression is purely natural.

Paul McGann was not first choice for the role of 'I'. Much like the casting of Harrison Ford in the role of Han Solo, McGann was employed to read in lines for other auditioning actors - it was only after a number of days the production team realised they had found 'I'. Image:Marwood-telegram.jpg Despite the first name (nor surname for that matter) of 'I' not being stated anywhere in the film, it is widely believed that the character's first name is 'Peter'. This rumour comes from the memorable occasion that Monty meets the two actors, Withnail asks him if he would like a drink. In his reply, Monty both accepts his offer and says "...you must tell me all the news, I haven't seen you since you finished your last film". While pouring another drink, and downing his own, Withnail replies that he has been "Rather busy uncle. TV and stuff". Then pointing at McGann he says "He's just had an audition for rep". Some fans hear this line as "Peter's just had an audition for rep" although DVD subtitles, the original shooting script and all commercially published versions of the script read "he's".

There is however one moment when the name of "I" as "Marwood" is revealed, although not stated. When a telegram arrives at Crow Crag, the name "Marwood" is written on the envelope and is visible, upside-down, for a fraction of a second before the envelope for "I" being opened.

Bruce Robinson has said that there are two lines in the script which had to be perfect. If the actors got them as he imagined then the film as a whole would work. One is the Policeman shouting "Get in the back of the van!"; the other is Withnail saying "Fork it!" The first time Grant did it Robinson began to roar with approval but Grant could never match the first take so the scene in the film is the first take but the rest of the scene is cut to cover the director's outburst.

Fan folklore has it that the film is an adaptation of an unpublished novel written by Robinson in the 1960's, although no-one appears to know the source of this rumour. The novel was said to end with Withnail committing suicide by pouring a bottle of wine into the barrel of Monty's gun and then pulling the trigger as he drank from it.

The period setting of this film in 1969 is successful apart from Marwood packing a visibly late 1980s Penguin Classic in the penultimate scene. A much closer viewing, perhaps using the pause function of a DVD player, reveals several other, less obvious, anachronisms: in the first driving scene cars from the 1980s can be seen in the background, blue motorway signs dating from well after the sixties are also visible, including a sign clearly showing "M25" (this motorway was not opened until 1986), while barcodes can be spotted on cans in the kitchen. However, given the film's low budget, the quality and accuracy of props and sets is generally very good.

Early in the film, Withnail reads from an article headlined "Boy Lands Plum Role For Top Italian Director" and then goes on to imply that the director is sexually abusing the boy. This is a possible reference to the sexual abuse that Robinson alleges he suffered at the hands of Italian director Franco Zeffirelli when, as a young man, he won the role of Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet.

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Drinking Game

There is a drinking game associated with Withnail & I, popular amongst fans. The game consists of keeping up, drink for drink, with each and every alcoholic (and other) substance consumed by Withnail and Marwood over the course of the film.

Most players may simply drink their beverage of choice regardless of what the characters consume, though this is viewed by the more "hardcore" Withnail & I fans as an "easy way out." All told, Withnail is shown drinking roughly 9½ glasses of red wine, half a pint of cider, 1 shot of lighter fluid (vinegar or overproof rum are recommended substitutes), 2½ shots of gin, 6 glasses of sherry, 13 glasses of whisky and half a pint of ale. Since the whisky alone would be more than enough to necessitate a trip to hospital for most people, few, if any, keep pace for the entire film.

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Soundtrack

The soundtrack for Withnail & I, while out of print now, was available on Silva Screen Records, Silva House, 261 Royal College Street, London NW1 9LU, England.

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Danny and Del

Ralph Brown appears in Wayne's World 2, playing a veteran roadie called Del Preston - and turns in a performance that's strikingly similar to his portrayal of Danny in Withnail & I.

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Locations

  • The "King Henry pub" and the "Penrith Tea Rooms" are not actually in Penrith, but in Stony Stratford, Milton Keynes (the "Crown Inn" and "Cox and Robinsons Chemists" on Market Square).
  • The real Penrith is shown very briefly, but most of the filming locations were actually in and around nearby Shap and Bampton.
  • Crow Crag, as it was called in the film, is actually Sleddale Hall, located near the Wet Sleddale Reservoir in Cumbria. Recent photos of the location can be found at the BBC Cumbria pages. The bridge where Withnail shoots for fish with a shotgun is located at the bottom of the hill below sleddale hall just a quarter mile away.
  • "The Mother Black Cap" 41 Tavistock Crescent, London W11 1AD (previously the original "Frog & Firkin" and "Babushka")
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Cast

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See also

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External links

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