Details

Release year: 2001

Storyline

The land is filled with people in urns chattering at top speed, but only to themselves, not to one another. The focus goes to three people: a man, his mistress and his wife.

Top credits

Directors

Anthony Minghella

Writers

Samuel Beckett

Cast

Alan Rickman — Man
Kristin Scott Thomas — First Woman
Juliet Stevenson — Second Woman
Ray Donn — Man

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Did you know

• One of the films that formed the "Beckett on Film" project, with all 19 of these films being shown at the Irish Film Institute (then the Irish Film Centre) in Dublin, Ireland over seven days between February 2 and 8, 2001. Later they were all shown at the Barbican Centre in London, UK over eight days between September 13 and 20, 2001 with live appearances from its leading actors and directors.

• Released in the UK & Ireland by Clarence Pictures as part of a 4-disc DVD boxset "Beckett on Film", catalog# CLA 540, featuring "19 Films X 19 Directors" with filmed versions of all the stage plays written by Irish playwright Samuel Beckett, along with documentary Check the Gate: Putting Beckett on Film (2002) about the making of the project. Originally ten of these filmed versions were screened as part of the 2000 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in Canada. These were: Act Without Words I (2002) dir. by Karel Reisz, Catastrophe (2001) dir. by David Mamet, Endgame (2000) dir. by Conor McPherson, Happy Days (2000) dir. by Patricia Rozema, Krapp's Last Tape (2000) dir. by Atom Egoyan, Not I (2000) dir. by Neil Jordan, Play (2001) dir. by Anthony Minghella, Rockaby (2001) dir. by Sir Richard Eyre, Rough for Theatre I (2000) dir. by Kieron J. Walsh, What Where (2000) dir. by Damien O'Donnell. Some were later also broadcast on television, originally from June 2001 into 2002, by Channel 4 in the UK and RTÉ in Ireland; the two broadcasters that formed the five companies on the project. The main production companies were Blue Angel Films and Tyrone Productions in association with Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland (then known as Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board).

• One of the 19 films made as part of project "Beckett on Film" (2000), featuring all of the stage plays written by Irish writer Samuel Beckett. Eight were shown in the US on PBS program Stage On Screen: Beckett On Film (2002), premiering on September 15, 2002 and January 1, 2003: Catastrophe (2001) dir. by David Mamet, Ohio Impromptu (2002) dir. by Charles Sturridge, Come and Go (2000) dir. by John Crowley, Breath (2001) dir. by Damien Hirst, Play (2001) dir. by Anthony Minghella, Act Without Words II (2001) dir. by Enda Hughes, What Where (2000) dir. by Damien O'Donnell, Waiting for Godot (2001) dir. by Michael Lindsay-Hogg. The two production companies, Blue Angel Films Ltd. and Tyrone Productions, who made the films shown in this New York, NY's PBS affiliate station WNET/Thirteen's program, won a 2002 Peabody Award at the 62nd ceremony. The award was accepted on behalf of producers Alan Moloney and Michael Colgan by Jac Venza (WNET's Dir. of Culture & Arts Programming) and Steven Tabakin (Beckett on Film, Executive Producer).