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Wittgenstein

Drama · History

Wittgenstein

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

6.4(88) 3/26/1993 1h 9m
DramaHistoryComedy

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.

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Trailer

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Top Cast

Clancy Chassay

Clancy Chassay

Young Wittgenstein

Karl Johnson

Karl Johnson

Ludwig Wittgenstein

Michael Gough

Michael Gough

Betrand Russell

Tilda Swinton

Tilda Swinton

Lady Ottoline Morrell

KC

Kevin Collins

Johnny

Nabil Shaban

Nabil Shaban

Martian

Sally Dexter

Sally Dexter

Hermine Wittgenstein

Lynn Seymour

Lynn Seymour

Lydia Lopokova

Directed by

Derek Jarman

Production

Reviews

CinemaSerf

7/10

1/5/2026

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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