Providence (1977)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Alain Resnais

Writer:

David Mercer (writer)

Release Date:

9 February 1977 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Clive Langham (Sir John Gielgud) spends one tormenting night in his bed suffering from health problems and thinking up a story based on his relatives...

Plot Keywords:

Human Autopsy

Awards:

11 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Dirk Bogarde	...	Claude Langham
Ellen Burstyn	...	Sonia Langham
John Gielgud	...	Clive Langham
David Warner	...	Kevin Langham / Kevin Woodford
Elaine Stritch	...	Helen Wiener
Cyril Luckham	...	Doctor Mark Eddington
Denis Lawson	...	Dave Woodford (as Dennis Lawson)
Kathryn Leigh Scott	...	Miss Boon
Milo Sperber	...	Mr. Jenner
Anna Wing	...	Karen
Peter Arne	...	Nils
Tanya Lopert	...	Miss Lister
Joseph Pittoors	...	An Old Man
Samson Fainsilber	...	The Old Man

Runtime:

110 min | USA:104 min

Country:

France | Switzerland

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Berchem, Antwerpen, Antwerpen, Belgium

Company:

Action Films

Trivia:

First cinema film of Denis Lawson.

Quotes:

Kevin Woodford: I've got an erection.
Sonia Langham: Oh. Wanna do something about it?
Kevin Woodford: It's not mine!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Zomergasten: (#7.4)" (1994)

Playfully bizarre and thought provoking

How often do we awake from our dreams in a sweat, not knowing what is real and what is illusion? Especially if we are feverish, our dreams can turn close friends or family members into ogres and hateful creatures (or possibly werewolves) who are bent on our destruction. Such is the case with novelist Clive Langham (John Gielgud), a dying 78 year-old writer who is working on his final novel in the playfully bizarre 1977 English language film, Providence, by Alain Resnais (Hiroshima Mon Amour, Last Year at Marienbad, Muriel). The film depicts how physical and mental anguish can distort our view of reality. A poetic screenplay by playwright David Mercer and powerful performances by John Gielgud, Ellen Burstyn, Dirk Bogarde, Elaine Strich, and David Warner provide strong support.

Clive does not go gentle into that good night. During one horrific night, all the pain of his life and disturbing family relationships boil to the surface. In the novel being played out in the author's mind, his family members, sons Claude (Dirk Bogarde) and Kevin (David Warner), and Claude's wife Sonia (Ellen Burstyn), mysteriously become the main protagonists, assuming roles as prosecutors and defendants, feuding spouses, and extra-marital lovers. As Clive goes deeper into the maelstrom, images become more and more hallucinatory. The denouement is witty, baffling, irritating, and then finally transcendent. To say that the ending is a surprise is a major understatement.

Providence may exasperate you but, if you have patience, it can be a richly rewarding experience. As with all thought provoking and multi-layered films, multiple viewing may be required for full appreciation. Providence was voted the greatest film of the '70s by an international jury of critics and, at Telluride, Norman Mailer called it "the greatest film ever made on the creative process".