The original screenplay by literary critic Terry Eagleton was heavily rewritten during pre-production and shooting by Jarman, radically altering the style and structure, although retaining much of Eagleton's dialogue. The story is not played out in a traditional setting, but rather against a black backdrop within which the actors and key props are placed, as if in a theatre setting.
The film was originally part of a series of 12 films on the life and ideas of philosophers, produced by Ali on behalf of Channel Four. Only four of the scripts got commissioned: Socrates by Howard Brenton, Spinoza by Ali, Locke by David Edgar and Wittgenstein by Eagleton. Spinoza was filmed and directed by Chris Spencer as Spinoza : The Apostle of Reason. Citizen Locke was filmed and directed by Agnieszka Piotrowska. These were broadcast in 1994 as 52-minute television films.[4]
Plot
The film, in a series of sketches, depicts Wittgenstein's life from boyhood, through the first World War period to his Cambridge professorship and association with Bertrand Russell and John Maynard Keynes. The emphasis is on the exposition of his ideas and depicts his characteristics as a homosexual, an intuitive, moody, proud, and perfectionistic thinker, and a genius.
Critical reception for the film has been generally positive and the movie holds a rating of 83% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 6 reviews.[7]Derek Elley of Variety described it as an "immaculately lensed, intellectual joke" with a "gay subtext".[1]
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