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26/03/1993 Drama, History, Comedy 1h 9m
64
User score

If people never did silly things nothing intelligent would ever get done.

Overview

A dramatization, in modern theatrical style, of the life and thought of the Viennese-born, Cambridge-educated philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, whose principal interest was the nature and limits of language. A series of sketches depict the unfolding of his life from boyhood, through the era of the first World War, to his eventual Cambridge professorship and association with Bertrand Russell and John Maynard Keynes. The emphasis in these sketches is on the exposition of the ideas of Wittgenstein, a homosexual, and an intuitive, moody, proud, and perfectionistic thinker generally regarded as a genius.

  1. Derek Jarman

    Director, Writer

  2. Terry Eagleton

    Writer

  3. Ken Butler

    Writer

Top billed cast

  1. Clancy Chassay

    Young Wittgenstein

  2. Karl Johnson

    Ludwig Wittgenstein

  3. Michael Gough

    Betrand Russell

  4. Tilda Swinton

    Lady Ottoline Morrell

  5. Kevin Collins

    Johnny

  6. Nabil Shaban

    Martian

  7. Sally Dexter

    Hermine Wittgenstein

  8. Lynn Seymour

    Lydia Lopokova

  9. Jill Balcon

    Leopoldine Wittgenstein

  10. View more

Full Cast & Crew

Reviews

A review by CinemaSerf
Written by CinemaSerf on 2026-01-05
Told by way of some theatrical style sketches, this quite engagingly depicts not only the life of the acclaimed philosopher but it also shines an entertaining light on just what “philosophy” actually might be. I say might be because what is clear between himself (latterly Karl Johnson), Bertrand Russell (Michael Gough) and John Maynard Keynes (John Quentin) is that nothing is definite. His thrust centres around the limitation of language as a means of expression, and though I’ll admit to most of the theories going six feet over my head, it’s presented in quite an intriguing fashion. Is...read the rest
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Status
Released

Original Language
English

Budget
$0.00

Revenue
$0.00

Keywords