Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Religious Music and Entertainment
What is This Quintessence of Dust?

What is This Quintessence of Dust?

Last updated on: January 10, 2024 at 3:32 pm by Chase Padusniak

0 Comments

What is This Quintessence of Dust? 2024-01-10T15:32:47-04:00 Chase Padusniak

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Sleddale Hall, used as the location of Uncle Monty’s country house in Withnail and I (1987)
Source: Wikimedia user Mike Hall
License

Ten years ago, two friends and I holed up in a cabin in Woolwine, VA, a town whose claims-to-fame are three covered bridges (one of which was destroyed by a flood in 2015). We hailed from suburban New Jersey. At least two of us called red sauce “gravy.”

Poorly planned, as a trip composed of late-teen and 20-year-olds would be, we arrived during a frigid, barren winter. Aside from getting found out the first time we stopped for a hot dog (turns out flannel shirts and blue jeans do not country boys make) and getting caught in a speed trap down road from a Burger King in West Virginia, my memories of the trip are pleasant, touched by a decade-long remove from youthful naivete. I slept on a couch in three pairs of socks because there weren’t enough space heaters, and we could hardly keep the wood stove going through the long, icy nights. We shared literary dreck with each other and walked up and down dead-tree hills, gawked at cows on ridgelines, and ordered “kaw-fee” in a county named for Patrick Henry. I could not stop remembering my cold feet and the cabin-accurate décor while watching Withnail and I (1987).

This might seem an odd association. Bruce Robinson’s classic comedy is cringe inducing and deeply, existentially sad. Much of the laughter comes from Withnail’s (Richard E. Grant) posh, alcoholic rage at a society that won’t give him TV parts. His fury can’t even be met halfway. His agent hasn’t even landed him an audition for TV! The audacity! Withnail “& I” (Paul McGann), take off from their crumbling, rat infested, dishwater-soaked, booze-dripping 60s London flat for the open pastures and good, clean air of Withnail’s uncle’s country house. They turn out to be about as adept at navigating country living as three Jersey boys stopping for hot dogs in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Uncle Monty (Richard Griffiths) himself shows up, bringing aristocratic comfort and a comedy of errors so painful it evokes the geometric grandeur of Shakespeare and the slapstick campiness of Benny Hill. It doesn’t make matters any better that “I” is getting auditions. He drinks and carouses like Withnail but with none of the socially adroit savagery and zeal for pain. He is not stuck.

There remains, however, a certain joy in watching the movie. Any would-be artist coming out of their teenage years has to recognize the characters’ jolly experimentation, pomposity, and (above all) fear. The world is your oyster. Trouble is the oyster can bite down hard and fast. Things emerge and slip away quickly. The whole deal is amorphous, exciting in its indeterminacy. With every perceived slight or failure, you become more and more of a Kierkegaard, damning the world in its phoniness and injustice. Then you grow up and settle into a job in insurance, or, you know, cut your hair for a role in a thoroughly bourgeois Scandinavian stage play.

Withnail is 29. I am 30. I am not an upper-crust drunk. Withnail’s nose is rosy, his skin pallid. We’re both romantic cynics (how else explain the finale’s recitation of Shakespeare?). I’ve made my accommodations with life. I’m a bit embarrassed of the spiritual turtleneck I once was. But embarrassment doesn’t mean repudiation; it brings a kind of intimate fuzziness, an appreciation for youthful vivacity.

The lesson, if there is one, is not to be consumed by that disappointment, to remember the foibles of the cabin well, to smile at lapses in judgment that didn’t kill you. Withnail never lets go, never stops taking himself so seriously. That’s how you end up in the cabin at 30 not 20. That’s how ill-informed Uncle Monty comes creeping in the night.

Previous Post

January 2, 2024

Wrestling with Fate

Next Post

January 16, 2024 Yakuza Talk Business like Everybody Else

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"Do The Right Thing was a terrible movie, with a terrible message, a man owns ..."

Frank Holzhauser

Do the Right Thing: What Can ..."

"NOT the experience of those who actually lived through those years. Let's not forget that.Too ..."

captcrisis

54: Let the Good Times Roll

"Your accurate assessment of where the Blockbuster and the studios have ended up reminded me ..."

Dave G.

Jaws: Ad Fontes

"Another Dementia experience: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkbxNibXiLx_ak8IuhZiutd2Fxe7_KAon&si=VhOYNUIBV3CTlyDf"

Ame

Dementia: Silent Nightmare

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Academia Culture Politics Reviews Theology Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 July 2021 December 2020 November 2020 July 2020 May 2020 April 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 August 2019 July 2019 April 2019 March 2019 December 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What biblical principle advises careful speech?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Shout over others Be slow to speak and quick to listen Never listen Speak always