IMDb > Insignificance (1985)
Insignificance
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Insignificance (1985) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
6.6/10   1,685 votes »
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Up 4% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Nicolas Roeg
Writer:
Terry Johnson
Contact:
View company contact information for Insignificance on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
2 August 1985 (USA) See more »
Genre:
Drama | Comedy See more »
Tagline:
A comedy about life, death, sex and the universe . . . relatively speaking See more »
Plot:
Four 1950s icons meet in the same hotel room and two of them discover more in common between them than they ever anticipated. Full summary » | Add synopsis »
Plot Keywords:
See more »
Awards:
1 win & 1 nomination See more »
NewsDesk:
(38 articles)
Watch: See Viola Davis, Uma Thurman, Elizabeth Banks & More Read Marilyn Monroe's Unpublished Diaries in Exclusive Trailer for 'Love, Marilyn' (Video)
 (From Indiewire Television. 28 November 2012, 8:26 AM, PST)
Watch: See Viola Davis, Uma Thurman, Elizabeth Banks & More Read Marilyn Monroe's Unpublished Diaries in Exclusive Trailer for 'Love, Marilyn' (Video)
 (From Indiewire. 28 November 2012, 8:26 AM, PST)
Interview: Theresa Russell of Track 29
 (From Disc Dish. 17 February 2012, 3:13 PM, PST)
User Reviews:
A tantalizing convergence. See more (16 total) »

Cast

  (in credits order) (complete, awaiting verification)
Michael Emil ... The Professor

Theresa Russell ... The Actress

Tony Curtis ... The Senator

Gary Busey ... The Ballplayer

Will Sampson ... Elevator Attendant

Patrick Kilpatrick ... Driver
Ian O'Connell ... Assistant Director
George Holmes ... Actor
Richard Davidson ... Director of Photography
Mitchell Greenberg ... Technician

Raynor Scheine ... Autograph Hunter

Jude Ciccolella ... Gaffer
Lou Hirsch ... Charlie
Ray Charleson ... Bud
Joel Cutrara ... Bar Drunk

Raymond J. Barry ... Ballplayer's Father
John Stamford ... Young Ballplayer
Desirée Erasmus ... Prostitute
David Lambert ... Young Professor
Cassie Stuart ... Young Actress
Meachell Dunsmoor ... Actress as a Child

Daniel Benzali ... First Theatrical Agent
R.J. Bell ... Second Theatrical Agent
Shinobu Kanai ... Japanese Woman
David Montagu ... Young Senator
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Directed by
Nicolas Roeg 
 
Writing credits
(in alphabetical order)
Terry Johnson 

Produced by
Alexander Stuart .... executive producer
Jeremy Thomas .... producer
 
Original Music by
Stanley Myers 
Hans Zimmer 
 
Cinematography by
Peter Hannan 
 
Film Editing by
Tony Lawson 
 
Casting by
Lucy Boulting 
Margery Simkin 
 
Production Design by
David Brockhurst  (as David Brocklehurst)
 
Art Direction by
Arthur Max Shafransky 
Celia Barnett (uncredited)
 
Costume Design by
Shuna Harwood 
 
Makeup Department
Jan Archibald .... hair stylist
Christine Beveridge .... makeup designer
 
Production Management
Simon Bosanquet .... production manager
 
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Lee Cleary .... third assistant director
Ann Egbert .... key second assistant director
Zsuzsanna Mills .... second assistant director
Joseph P. Reidy .... assistant director: New York (as Joe Reidy)
Clayton Townsend .... second second assistant director
Michael Zimbrich .... first assistant director
 
Art Department
Karen Brookes .... production buyer (as Karen Brooks)
Diana Johnstone .... set dresser
Hugo Luczyc-Wyhowski .... assistant art director
Maxie McDonald .... property master
Thomas Hudson Reeve .... set property man (as Tom Reeve)
Reg Richards .... construction manager
Stephen Shapiro .... set constructor
Ernest Smith .... scenic artist
Lester Smith .... draughtsman
 
Sound Department
George Akers .... dialogue editor
Ted Ball .... sound maintenance
Alan Bell .... sound editor
Chris Gurney .... boom operator
Paul Le Mare .... sound
Jacques Leroide .... assistant dubbing editor
Brenda Ray .... boom operator: New York
Hugh Strain .... sound recordist
Martin Trevis .... boom operator
 
Special Effects by
Bob Thorne .... special effects technician
Alan Whibley .... special effects
 
Visual Effects by
Alan Church .... optical cameraman: General Screen Enterprises
Shulamit Levin .... digital restoration (2007 restored version)
Tony Willis .... effects cameraman (uncredited)
 
Stunts
Tracey Eddon .... stunts
Terry Forrestal .... stunt coordinator
 
Camera and Electrical Department
Mark Cridlin .... assistant camera
Colin Davidson .... focus puller
Anil Devani .... photosonics technician
Alfie Emmins .... best boy
James P. Gruebel .... key grip: New York (as Jim Gruebel)
Alex Henderson .... still photographer
John Krauss .... gaffer: New York
Edward Lachman .... additional camera operator: New York (as Ed Lachman)
Wayne Leach .... electrician
Reg Parsons .... gaffer
John Payne .... grip
Bob Smith .... camera operator
 
Casting Department
Pat Golden .... casting: New York
 
Costume and Wardrobe Department
Brandon Everett .... wardrobe assistant
Susie Money .... wardrobe assistant: New York
Sonja Roth .... wardrobe supervisor
Ray Usher-Cooper .... wardrobe master (as Raymond Usher Cooper)
Allison Wyldeck .... wardrobe assistant (as Alison Wyldeck)
 
Editorial Department
Chris Cook .... assistant editor
Christopher Thompson .... assistant editor (as Chris Thompson)
 
Music Department
Gerry Butler .... orchestrator
Gil Evans .... music arranger: Mozart
Paul Hirsh .... musician: shakuhachi
Graham Walker .... music supervisor
Ray Williams .... music coordinator
Hans Zimmer .... composer: additional music
 
Other crew
Tamara Bally .... production coordinator: New York
Sevilla Delofski .... assistant to producer
Brian Gibbs .... production accountant
Lisa Granditer .... secretary to producer
Mary Holdsworth .... script supervisor
Tom Hugh-Jones .... unit runner
Pauline Hume .... graphic artist: titles
Sara Keene .... publicist
Roxy Konrad .... production coordinator (as Roxy Glassford)
Rachel Neale .... location manager (as Rachael Neale)
Gary Nixon .... assistant accountant
Betty Swinburne .... accounts secretary
Ron Swinburne .... supervising production accountant
 

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Additional Details

Also Known As:
See more »
Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parents
Runtime:
110 min
Country:
UK
Language:
English
Color:
Color
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 See more »
Sound Mix:
Mono
Certification:
New Zealand:R13 | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:16 | Iceland:L | Australia:M | Spain:13 | Portugal:M/12 | Argentina:13
Filming Locations:
New York City, New York, USA
Company:
Recorded Picture Company (RPC)See more »

Did You Know?

Trivia:
The four icons are, respectively: Marilyn Monroe, her husband Joe DiMaggio, Albert Einstein and senator Joseph McCarthy.See more »
Goofs:
Factual errors: The movie takes place in 1954. In one scene, a man is in a bar watching the World Series. The TV announcer for the game starts talking about "Campanella, Hodges, and Berra" being involved in a play. In 1954 those 3 players played for Brooklyn Dodgers and NY Yankees, however the 1954 World Series was between the Cleveland Indians and NY Giants, therefore none of those 3 even played.See more »
Quotes:
The Actress:I only said I knew, because you said you knew.
The Professor:I lied. Knowledge isn't truth. It's just mindless agreement. You agree with me, I agree with someone else - we all have knowledge. We haven't come any closer to the truth. You can never understand anything by agreeing, by making definitions. Only by turning over the possibilities. That's called thinking. If I say I know, I stop thinking. As long as I keep thinking, I come to understand. That way, I might approach some truth.
See more »
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Watching the Alien (2003) (V)See more »
Soundtrack:
Jupitar VariationsSee more »

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User Reviews

   (Review this title)
21 out of 23 people found the following review useful.
A tantalizing convergence., 31 December 2000
Author: budmassey (cyberbarrister@gmail.com) from Indianapolis, IN

What if Marylin Monroe, Albert Einstein, Joe Dimaggio and Senator McCarthy were to come together in a mind-bending evening of relativity?

This delightful roman à clef never uses the actual names of the characters it so thinly veils and scathingly exposes not only for the individuals they must have been, but also for what they came to represent over time. If you are confused by allegory, or if you like your movies served up predigested and mushy, you won't like this film. It is a demanding opus that rewards on many levels the viewer with the intelligence to appreciate it.

Dropping, for the time being, the rigorous avoidance of using the real names of the characters, we see Einstein, about to deliver a pacifist speech to a United Nations hell-bent for nukes, being visited by Marylin Monroe, after filming the notorious Seven Year Itch scene that some say led to the end of her marriage with Joe Dimaggio. They have a lovely interplay in which Einstein stumbles with suitable professorial clumsiness around the innocence of perhaps the greatest sex symbol of modern times.

Enter Senator McCarthy who thinks Einstein is a Red. He is determined to extract Einstein's assurance that he will support the activities of the House Unamerican Activities Committee while delivering the ultimate weapon in the name of peace. Add Joe, a surprisingly fragile and vulnerable person perhaps not perfectly cast as Gary Busey, who hates Marylin's exhibitionism and believes Einstein has become her lover, even though Marylin only wants to show Einstein that she understands the Special Theory of Relativity.

But there's more.

Just like each of us, these characters have their deepest fears, which they reveal one by one in haunting flashbacks. It is these weaknesses, ultimately, that lend humanity to figures we cannot help but see almost exclusively in the abstract today. Finally, we see the shocking terror of Einstein's vision, and the statement of the movie becomes clear. It is a powerful and memorable moment.

Insignificance is one of my top five movies of all time. It is utterly amazing.

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