Wit (film)

Wit is a 2001 HBO television movie based on the play Wit. The movie, directed by Mike Nichols, stars Emma Thompson as Vivian Bearing, a woman suffering through ovarian cancer and her attempt at keeping a calm position through all the problems she experiences.

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Synopsis

Vivian Bearing is a professor of English literature, whose classes are known for their brevity and her intense knowledge of metaphysical poetry, especially the Holy Sonnets of John Donne. Her life takes a turn when she is diagnosed with metastatic ovarian cancer. Her oncologist, Dr. Harvey Kelekian (Christopher Lloyd), prescribes various chemotherapy treatments to treat her disease. As she suffers through the various side-effects (such as fever, chills, vomiting, and abdominal pain), she attempts to put everything in perspective. The story periodically flashes back to previous moments in her life, including her childhood, her graduate school studies, and her career before her diagnosis. During the course of the film, Vivian constantly looks into the camera to narrate her feelings, breaking the fourth wall.

As she grows increasingly ill, she agrees to undergo more tests and experimental treatments, even though she knows that the doctors treating her see her less as someone to save and more as a guinea pig for their treatments. The only person who seems to have any care for Vivian is one of the nurses. The only visitors she receives are her professor (late in her sickness) and her father (in a hallucination). Although she is ultimately consumed by her affliction, towards the end of her life, Vivian realizes that kindness is something she should have exhibited to more people. In her time of greatest need, she learns that human compassion was of more profound importance than intellectual wit.

Awards

Wit was nominated two Golden Globe awards in 2002, and won three Emmy Awards in 2001 (Outstanding Single Camera Picture Editing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special, Outstanding Made for Television Movie and Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special). The play by Margaret Edson won the 1999 Pulitzer Prize.

Cast

• Emma Thompson as Vivian Bearing
• Christopher Lloyd as Dr. Harvey Kelekian
• Eileen Atkins as Evelyn 'E.M.' Ashford
• Audra McDonald as Susie Monahan
• Jonathan M. Woodward as Dr. Jason Posner
• Harold Pinter as Vivian's father