Wit (2001)

i must have seen a different film!!

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

I am a registered nurse. I teach nursing and I use this movie in my Nursing courses especially when it comes to dealing with they dying patient. Emma Thompson is so convincing that you actually forget that she is acting and this is only a movie. My students get a lot out of this and it helps them to become more compassionate when doing patient care. I think this is what is missing in health care today- kindness and compassion. Everyone of my students recognizes and wants to identify with the character Susie. I think this should be shown as part of nursing & medical courses. The students need to learn more on "bedside manner" This movie shows many of the mistakes commonly made by health care personnel today.I only wish it was out when I was a student nurse. (waaay back in 1972) R, Dabrow, RN

Based on the Pulitzer Prize winning play "Wit" (aka "W,t"), it was adapted and rewritten for HBO film by Mike Nichols and Emma Thompson.Prof. Vivian Bearing (Thompson) specializes in John Donne's 17th century metaphysical poetry. (Donne wrote the famous "No man is an island unto himself, Everyman is a part of the continent, a piece of the main..." which I've long loved and understand; but Donne's "Holy Sonnets" are unfamiliar and considerably beyond me;--no matter, this film remains great!.) She's a renowned scholar and popular teacher but yet quite demanding (& without compassion for her students). After Prof. Bearing is diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer, she agrees to participate in a research trial of a medicinal course. During the movie, she frequently breaks the "fourth wall," often speaking directly to the camera (we, the audience) as she wrestles with the meaning of her life (& death) and her growing awareness of her mortality and the importance of compassion in life. A compelling movie to watch, it's sad (tissues mandatory) but also very uplifting at the end. The background music is excellent and appropriate in both mood and title (it includes Arvo Part's "Spiegle im Spiegle" ("Mirror in Mirror") & Charles Ives "Unanswered Question.") IMDb says this movie is now shown in many medical schools teaching future MDs the importance of compassion. Roger Ebert said Thompson's performance was her best on film. My rating of this Emma Thompson performance: >15+/10.

This film is, quite simply, a masterpiece. Emma Thompson is brilliant in conveying the pain of Vivian's journey, with a beautiful eloquence that takes the musings of literary greats out of abstraction and into the realm of harsh experience. The words of John Donne feature prominently throughout this, and it's extremely moving to see Vivian come to terms with the profundities of the human condition. The loneliness of the character's situation is not consoled by her intellectual status.Emma Thompson is wonderfully comfortable in her performance, and there is a brief but memorable appearance by Harold Pinter. This is an exquisitely written film that is utterly engaging from beginning to end.

There's not much I can write about it. It speaks for itself so eloquently. The script is just brilliant. It settles the score on science, emotionless doctors and people who set the wrong goals for themselves in life. It's a movie that makes you think. With lots of wit and even more heart. Like the main character does in the end, "Wit" finds the right balance between intellect and pure, brutal human emotion. Emma Thompson is astounding. The rest of the cast is, too. Well, as I've said, there's really not much to add to "Wit". Just go and see it. It may change your perception of life for a few days. At least that's what it did to me.