Providence (1977)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Alain Resnais

Writer:

David Mercer (writer)

Release Date:

9 February 1977 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Clive Langham (Sir John Gielgud) spends one tormenting night in his bed suffering from health problems and thinking up a story based on his relatives...

Plot Keywords:

Human Autopsy

Awards:

11 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Dirk Bogarde	...	Claude Langham
Ellen Burstyn	...	Sonia Langham
John Gielgud	...	Clive Langham
David Warner	...	Kevin Langham / Kevin Woodford
Elaine Stritch	...	Helen Wiener
Cyril Luckham	...	Doctor Mark Eddington
Denis Lawson	...	Dave Woodford (as Dennis Lawson)
Kathryn Leigh Scott	...	Miss Boon
Milo Sperber	...	Mr. Jenner
Anna Wing	...	Karen
Peter Arne	...	Nils
Tanya Lopert	...	Miss Lister
Joseph Pittoors	...	An Old Man
Samson Fainsilber	...	The Old Man

Also Known As:

Ödets hand (Sweden) [sv]
Opatrznosc (Poland) [pl]
Viimeinen kirja (Finland) (TV title) [fi]

Runtime:

110 min | USA:104 min

Country:

France | Switzerland

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Berchem, Antwerpen, Antwerpen, Belgium

Company:

Action Films

Trivia:

First cinema film of Denis Lawson.

Quotes:

Kevin Woodford: Are you the lady who's dying?
Helen Wiener: [drily] Yes, I'm the lady who's dying.
Claude Langham: Refreshingly direct, isn't he? I understand that his mind is in outer space most of the time, so that when it returns it has a cosmic scale of values.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Zomergasten: (#7.4)" (1994)

Providence - a film that improves with re-watching

Clive Langham spends one of many tormented nights in bed suffering the terminal stages of bowel cancer. He is a successful writer, or so we are led to believe by him. Whether this proves to be delusion or truth, like so many of the other scenes within this film, we will later discover. In the terminal throes of his condition, with his pain controlled by morphine, he tries to recall scenes from his life, his family and loves. A combination of arrogance of personality, the side effects of the morphine, and the constant sleeplessness caused by agonising twinges of pain, creates a confused picture encompassing episodes of his life filled with distortion, with family members seemingly out of place, much like a bad dream remembered. His bitterness of personality, backstabbing nature, and flashbacks heavily laced with his morphine medication, as well as his preference for one of his sons, creates for the viewer a finely woven mesh of his life and fears. In one scene he is terrified of that time after death that he may face a post mortem examination. We witness a brief glimpse of his fears with a true but grotesque scene of a real post mortem. He feels the victim of his conniving family; however it is likely that they are the victim of his lifelong controlling personality. When dawn breaks, the normal world is discovered and the day is set up for the imminent appearance of his family at lunch. The final scene is beautifully set, with a fine picnic lunch set outside, enjoyed by all participants. The viewer discovers the reality of family relationships with the caring nature of his supposedly errant son shown in stark contrast to his own recollections and distortions. Will he continue to wilfully misinterpret the situation? How much of his viewpoint is composed of his own personality, the condition from which he suffers, or the side effects of medication? We are left wondering. The day gradually draws to a close and Langham basks in safe oasis of his family, their love and support, before facing again, the demons of the night.