Insignificance (1985)

Director:

Nicolas Roeg

Writer:

Terry Johnson (screenplay)

Release Date:

2 August 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Comedy

Tagline:

A comedy about life, death, sex and the universe . . . relatively speaking

Plot:

Four 1950s icons meet in the same hotel room and two of them discover more in common between them than they ever anticipated.

Plot Keywords:

1950s | Albert Einstein | Joe Dimaggio | Baseball | Legs

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Michael Emil	...	Professor
Theresa Russell	...	Actress
Tony Curtis	...	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

Directed by
Nicolas Roeg

Writing credits
Terry Johnson		(screenplay)

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

Production Companies

• Recorded Picture Company (RPC)
• Zenith Entertainment

Distributors

• Artisan Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Cameo Media (2005) (Spain) (DVD)
• Cineplex-Odeon Home Video (1986) (Canada) (VHS)
• Criterion Collection, The (2011) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2011) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-Ray)
• Emerald (2011) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Future Film (2006) (Finland) (DVD)
• Island Alive
• Karl-Lorimar Home Video (KLV-TV) (1986) (USA) (VHS)
• MCA (1986) (Canada) (VHS)
• Palace Video (1985) (UK) (VHS)
• Palace Video (1985) (UK) (video) (Betamax)
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (1986) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2008) (Australia) (all media)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2008) (Australia) (video) (VOD)

Other Companies

• Abbey Road Studios  music recorded at
• De Lane Lea Sound Centre  sound re-recorded at
• General Screen Enterprises  titles and opticals
• Joe Dunton & Company  camera equipment provided by
• Lee Lighting  grip and lighting equipment

Also Known As:

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

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)

Trivia:

The four icons are, respectively: Marilyn Monroe, her husband Joe DiMaggio, Albert Einstein and senator Joseph McCarthy.

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.

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.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Watching the Alien (2003) (V)

Soundtrack:

Jupitar Variations

Fair "chamber piece"

"Insignificance" is a far from great film, from a stage play, directed by Nic Roeg. In the scheme of Roeg's films, this is above the level of most of his post-"Don't Look Now" work, which is characterised by judicious use of Theresa Russell as lead actress. She's actually very good here, and far from the problem in other Roeg films like "Bad Timing" and "Cold Heaven". As the "Actress", who is Marilyn Monroe, Russell is very effective, portraying her as a thoroughly depressive, but likeable siren. She plays well alongside Michael Emil as Einstein, who is excellent to say the least. He looks the part admirably, and while Theresa Russell doesn't look exactly like Monroe, she certainly is attractive enough to make the part ring true. Other players are adequate if not quite as arresting as Emil and Russell are. A pretty workable, intelligent script is directed well by Roeg, but certainly not brilliantly, like "Walkabout" or "Performance". As in other later Roeg films, he tends to rely too much on vague, insubstantial flashbacks, that add very little to the film. In many ways the film would have worked better as a shorter (say, 60 minutes), more modest piece. Still, a quite acceptable, passable film. At times quite excellent, but somewhat lacking overall. Rating:- *** 1/2/*****