

Drama · History
Wittgenstein
If people never did silly things nothing intelligent would ever get done.
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.
Trailer
Top Cast

Clancy Chassay
Young Wittgenstein

Karl Johnson
Ludwig Wittgenstein

Michael Gough
Betrand Russell

Tilda Swinton
Lady Ottoline Morrell
Kevin Collins
Johnny

Nabil Shaban
Martian

Sally Dexter
Hermine Wittgenstein

Lynn Seymour
Lydia Lopokova
Directed by
Derek Jarman
Production
Reviews
CinemaSerf
7/101/5/2026
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 it all substantial or just emperor’s new clothes? On the personal front, he is gay and has what appears to be a shared relationship with “Johnny” (Kevin Collins) - a man always dressed in what appear to be p
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BFI
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