Feature Friday: “Wittgenstein” (1993)

Most of this site’s readers are no doubt busy with AWP, but I’ll still throw up a film to watch. And it’ll be something literary:

Wittgenstein, by Derek Jarman

I’ve loved this movie ever since I first saw it in the late 90s. I’m a huge fan of Jarman’s work, in general. This + Blue + Caravaggio are my three favorites of his films.

It would take a whole book for me to sort out how I feel about his cinema. Is it too sentimental? Is it too reductive? Did Jarman really get Wittgenstein?

I don’t know. But Jarman’s cinema is so loving, and so beautiful, and so sincere—this film makes me cry buckets every time I see it. And it’s no longer possible for me to read Wittgenstein’s work without thinking about it.

So, for me at least, it’s a truly great film. As for you, if you have any thoughts on it, let me know!

A. D. Jameson is the author of five books, most recently I FIND YOUR LACK OF FAITH DISTURBING: STAR WARS AND THE TRIUMPH OF GEEK CULTURE and CINEMAPS: AN ATLAS OF 35 GREAT MOVIES (with artist Andrew DeGraff). Last May, he received his Ph.D. in Creative Writing from the Program for Writers at UIC.

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