Withnail & I: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know but Were Too

FREE WITHNAIL & I: EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW BUT WERE TOO DRUNK TO ASK PDF Thomas Hewitt-McManus | 124 pages | 20 Apr 2012 | Lulu.com | 9781411658219 | English | Morrisville, United States Withnail and I - Wikipedia Withnail and I is a British black comedy film written and directed by Bruce Robinson. Based on Robinson's life in London in the late s, the plot follows two unemployed young actors, Withnail and "I" portrayed by Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann who live in a squalid flat in Camden Town in while squandering their finances on alcohol. Needing a holiday, they obtain the key to a country cottage in the Lake District belonging to Withnail's lecherous gay uncle Monty and drive there. The weekend holiday proves less recuperative than they expected. Withnail and I was Grant's first film and launched him into a successful career. The film has tragic and comic elements particularly farce and is notable for its period music and many quotable lines. It has been described as "one of Britain's biggest cult films". The film depicts the lives and misadventures of two unemployed young actors in late London. They are the flamboyant alcoholic Withnail and "I" named "Marwood" in the published screenplay but not in the credits as his relatively more level- headed friend and the film's narrator. Withnail comes from a privileged background and sets the tone for the friendship. They live in a filthy Georgian flat in Camden Town. Their only company at the flat is the local drug dealer, Danny. The roommates squabble about housekeeping and leave to take a walk. In Regent's Parkthey discuss the state of their acting careers and a possible country vacation, settling on a visit to Withnail's uncle Monty, who has a cottage near Penrith. After a near fight with a large and belligerent Irishman, they return home to prepare for their trip. They visit Monty that evening at his luxurious Chelsea house. Monty is a melodramatic aesthete and Marwood realises he is homosexual. The three briefly drink together as Withnail casually lies to Monty about his acting career and lies that Marwood went to Eton. Before leaving, Withnail arranges to borrow the cottage. The countryside is beautiful, but the weather is cold and often inclement, the cottage is without running water or light, they have no food and the locals are unwelcoming — in particular a poacher, Jake, whom Withnail offends. They see Jake prowling around their cottage. Marwood suggests they leave for London the next day. Withnail in turn demands that they share a bed in the interest of safety, but Marwood refuses. During the night, Withnail becomes paranoid that the poacher is going to come after them and climbs under the covers with Marwood, who angrily leaves for a different bed. Hearing the sounds of an intruder breaking into the cottage, Withnail again joins Marwood in bed. The intruder turns out to be Monty, who has been stranded with a punctured tyre. Monty has brought supplies and persistently comes on to Marwood. He offers to take them into town to get fitted into rubber boots, but they end up spending the money he gave them on drinks. Monty is hurt, though he puts it out of his mind quickly during Withnail & I: Everything You Ever Wanted To Know But Were Too Drunk To Ask boozy round of poker. Marwood is terrified of what else Monty might try on him and wants to leave immediately. After much argument, Withnail insists on staying. Late in the night, Marwood keeps trying to evade Monty but he eventually corners him in the guest bedroom. Monty reveals that Withnail, when arranging to borrow the cottage, had told Monty that Marwood was a closeted homosexual and that he himself had rejected Marwood's advances. Marwood claims that Withnail is the closeted one and that the two of them have been in a committed relationship for years. He claims that Withnail is only rejecting him because Monty is around, and that this is the first night that they haven't slept together in years. Monty, a romantic, accepts this explanation and apologises for coming between them. In private, Marwood furiously confronts Withnail and insists that he will pay. The next morning, Marwood finds that Monty has left for London, leaving a note of apology wishing them happiness together. They continue to argue about their behaviour and Monty. When Marwood receives a telegram about a callback from an earlier audition, he insists they return to London. As Marwood sleeps, Withnail drunkenly speeds and swerves until pulled over by the police. Withnail is arrested for driving under the influenceand tries to falsify his urine Withnail & I: Everything You Ever Wanted To Know But Were Too Drunk To Ask. The pair return to the flat to find Danny and a stranger named Presuming Ed squatting there. Marwood calls his agent and discovers that he is wanted for the lead part in a play. The three, and Presuming Ed, get high smoking a huge cannabis joint. The celebration ends when Marwood learns they have received an eviction notice for unpaid rent, while Withnail is too high to care. Marwood prepares to leave for the station, turning down Withnail's request for one last drink. In Regent's Park in the rain, Marwood confesses that he will miss Withnail, but does not allow him to accompany him further to the station. Bottle of wine in hand, Withnail declaims " What a piece of work is a man! The camera watches as he turns and walks away into the gloomy distance, swinging the bottle, as the credits start to roll. The film is an adaptation of an unpublished novel written by Robinson in late Actor friend Don Hawkins passed a copy of the manuscript to his friend, the wealthy oil heir Moderick Schreiber in Schreiber, looking to break into the film industry, paid Robinson a few thousand pounds sterling to adapt it into a screenplay, which Robinson did in the early s. On completing Withnail & I: Everything You Ever Wanted To Know But Were Too Drunk To Ask script, producer Paul Heller urged Robinson to direct it and found funding for half the film. The script was then passed to HandMade Films. After he read it, George Harrison agreed to fund Withnail & I: Everything You Ever Wanted To Know But Were Too Drunk To Ask remainder of the film. Robinson's script is largely autobiographical. For the script, Robinson condensed four or five years of his life into two weeks. The narrative is told in the first person by the character played by Withnail & I: Everything You Ever Wanted To Know But Were Too Drunk To Ask McGannnamed just once in passing in the film see below as Marwood, and only credited as "I". Early in the film, Withnail reads from an article headlined "Boy Lands Plum Role For Top Italian Director" and then goes on to imply that the director is sexually abusing the boy. This is a reference to the sexual harassment that Robinson alleges he suffered at the hands of Italian director Franco Zeffirelli when, as a young man, he won the role of Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet. The end of the novel saw Withnail committing suicide by pouring a bottle of wine into the barrel of Monty's gun and then pulling the trigger as he drank from it. Robinson changed the ending, as he believed it was "too dark. According to Danny's speech at the end of the film, 'we are 91 days from the end of the greatest decade in the history of the world It is not known if Robinson intended any significance by including such a specific date. Denis O'Brienwho oversaw the filming on behalf of HandMade Films, nearly shut the film down three days into the shoot. He thought that the film had no "discernible jokes" and was badly lit. He was never reimbursed his money after the film's success. Paul McGann was Robinson's first choice for "I", but he was fired during rehearsals because Robinson decided McGann's Liverpool accent was wrong for the character. Several other actors read for the role, but McGann eventually persuaded Robinson to re-audition him, promising to affect a Home Counties accent. He quickly won back the part. Grant that "half of you has got to go", and put him on a diet to play the part [8] [11] although Grant denies this in the documentary "Withnail and Us". The role of Withnail was Grant's first in film and launched him into a successful career. Though playing a raging alcoholic, Grant himself is a teetotaller with a health condition preventing him from properly processing alcohol. He had therefore never been drunk prior to making the film. Robinson decided that it would be impossible for Grant to play the character without having ever experienced inebriation and a hangover, and thus "forced" the actor on a drinking binge. Grant has stated that he was "violently sick" after each drink, and found the experience as a whole deeply unpleasant. During the filming of the scene in which the lighter fluid is consumed, Robinson changed the contents of the can, which had been filled with water, to vinegar. While the vomiting is scripted, the facial expression is totally natural. Sleddale Hallthe location used as Monty's cottage. This photo dates from The hall was restored in The film was not shot entirely on location. There was no filming in the real Penriththe locations used were in and around nearby Shap and Bampton.

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