A
movie review: Wit (or W;t)
I saw a movie called "Wit"
or (W;t) the other day.
It's a Mike Nichols film
but was done for HBO, not
theater release. Starring
Emma Thompson. Wow. Didn't
know what to expect when
I saw it, but it was stunning.
Literally. Stopped me in
my tracks, made me think,
feel, scream, and feel like
there is hope for people
to understand. This is a
film about a woman dying
of cancer -- not exactly
the grief
topic I usually write/read
about, but it was very "right
on it" for me. Anyway,
if you get the chance to
rent it -- or get it from
your library (that's how
I got it) -- I highly recommend
it. The main character quotes
John Donne a lot in the
film. There was one quote
in particular that stuck
with me:
And glutonous Death
will instantly
unjoint
my body
from my soul
-John Donne, 1609
This is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo how i felt about the Goddess after my Dakota died. SHE WAS GLUTONOUS and greedy and she instantly unjointed kota's body -- and my body because I was still carrying him -- from his soul. AHHHHHHHH!!! That awful feeling had never quite found words before this. But Donne was right on the money for this one.
Anyway, the film as a whole is most interesting. Unique balance between the emotional and cerebral. Hit the mark for me a lot as I have not yet been able to write about the dychotomies of my academic upbringing, what I thought was a solid belief in the university, and the ways that all crumbled the second my son died. This film approaches all of that in the most insightful and honest way.
And being a poet, I have a great admiration for anyone who can use Donne so profoundly. His words have emotional content -- something I'm sure he intented -- but in ways that academia usually pounds to pieces and leaves at the doorstep.
Well done. Not autobiographical. But written by a woman who was working in cancer and AIDS hospice wards at the time. Very insightful.
