Wittgenstein

Derek Jarman, UK, 1993, 75 minutes

Jarman's latest feature is as visual as his previous films and at the same time remains as anti-realist as Caravaggio or Edward II. Its enthusiastic reception at the Berlin Film Festival points to the fact that Jarman comes up with a much more hopeful resolution quite antithetical to the labyrinthine pessimism of Edward II's ending.

We observe Wittgenstein as child who introduces us to his historical background. Then we follow the philosopher into his apprenticeship at Cambridge under Bertrand Russell, his attempt to join the army during WWI, and his return to Cambridge this time as a professor. Having problems with teaching he finds consolation in cinema and beings a relationship with Johnny, a philosophy student who's also J.M. Keynes' lover. After spending some time in Russia, and having come back to Cambridge, he discovers he is suffering from cancer...

The evocation of crucial instances in Wittgenstein's life is given imaginatively by Jarman in a purely theatrical manner and in one which yields startling moments: the discussion between him and Russell about empirical facts or the recurring appearance of the Martian who debates with him in philosophy. Terry Eagleton's script provides ample pleasures despite the fact that we get a clichéd glimpse of Wittgenstein's though through the inclusion of some of his maxims. Not the best Jarman film - it wasn't meant to be anyway - but one which proves that his aesthetic vision is still capable of conjuring unique imagery.

Review by Spiros Gangas
Taken from EUFS Programme 1993-94