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Withnail and I is one of those films where everything comes together to make a pivotal point in the world’s film industry, which is so good that, had it not been invented, the world would’ve shifted off its axis. From numerous quotes including, “We’ve gone on holiday by mistake” and “I demand to have some booze!”, to the ill-advised drinking game, where students (generally – and yes, I was one, but I didn’t partake in this) will watch the film and take a drink of whatever Richard E Grant is drinking as he drinks it, which will either result in a prolonged death or a bad tummy.
Arrow have put together a 4-disc packed which contains both Withnail and I and How To Get Ahead in Advertising, director Bruce Robinson‘s follow-up feature, and both on Blu-ray and DVD, along with a huge stack of extras. I’ll be reviewing the Blu-ray versions of both.
Marwood (Paul McGann), aka the “I” in the title – and also the narrator from time to time, is a ‘resting’ actor (i.e. unemployed and unemployable), and is sick of the humdrum life around him with the tabloids full of sleazy stories, and his local cafe being full of grotesque types who shove a whole runny egg sandwich in their mouths, whilst slurping their weak tea. Marwood is on the verge of a breakdown while suffering from a drug overdose (“My heart’s beating like a fucked clock!”), while flatmate Withnail (Grant) observes they’re out of wine and his tongue is “wearing a yellow sock”.
Set in 1969, their kitchen looks like it could use a visit from Kim & Aggie, as they don’t seem to have washed up since the decade began. The only answer is… to go outside. Neither look like they’ve had any fresh air since time began. There’s one answer which is to escape to the countryside and visit Uncle Monty (the late, great Richard Griffiths, joining Grant and McGann in all being at the top of their game, here), a plan which seems like a good idea at first, but not when Monty starts coming on to Marwood…
How to Get Ahead in Advertising is a film I didn’t really get into back in the day.
Richard E Grant plays Denis Dimbleby Bagley, a successful advertising agent who knows what the woman of today wants, and what she demands of her weekly trip to the supermarket, all of which he delivers in a stirling address to all of his underlings over the opening credits to the film. Everyone he works with thinks he’s an arrogant toss-pot. He is. He knows he is. But he doesn’t care.
He’s getting anxious aplenty about trying to come up with an exciting campaign for a very dull pimple cream. Busting people’s boils is the one thing on which he cannot get a handle, but he’ll be forced to, before long, when one surfaces on his neck… then forms into a second head, which causes him all manner of problems, as well as further headaches for his wife, Julia (Rachel Ward), not least when she wakes up to find him naked and trashing the kitchen by seemingly throwing food about, which he describes as “completing a process of natural selection, going through everything in the house and isolating items of genuine worth” – basically, getting rid of all those items which have been sold to them through the power of advertising.
Rather like Withnail and I, Grant excels in delivering another manic performance for others to react to, and there’s also references back to that film with talk of pork pies and dismemberment of chickens.
There’s also a fantastic performance from Richard Wilson as his boss, John Bristol, and don’t forget the one-and-only John Shrapnel, who plays the psychiatrist. With the addition of writer/director as the uncredited voice of the boil, while it does go off the rails a bit in the third act, I’ve surprised myself at how superb How to Get Ahead in Advertising is with Richard E Grant effectively playing not one role but two. And if you don’t know why, then you have to watch this to find out.
Go to page 2 for the presentation and the extras.
Both films are in their original 1.85:1 widescreen ratio and in 1080p high defintion, and for Withnail and I, and as is stated at the start, Arrow Films arranged for the original negative to be scanned in 2K resolution on a pin-registered ArriScan. The film was graded on the Nucoda grading system, under the supervision of Director of Photography Peter Hannan. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris and scratches were removed through a combination of digital restoration tools, and image stability was also improved. The film’s original mono soundtrack was transferred from the magnetic reels. Any pops, clicks and audible buzz were repaired or removed. Hence, any slight grainy look onscreen at times will be down to the film stock used, and that trapped hair in the gate, as the camera is focused on Grant, around 12 minutes in, are there to stay. That said, such things are amusing to spot and mark a certain point in time.
The project was supervised by James White on behalf of Arrow Films, with all work carried out at Deluxe Digital, EMEA in London. And, yes, there are cheaper non-box-set Blu-ray and DVD versions of Withnail and I out there, but none will look or sound as good as this one.
How… doesn’t have the same statement before the film starts, but the transfer is very creditable.
Sound-wise, the films are presented in Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono, with all dialogue and music sounding perfectly fine, along with the aforementioned improvements to this transfer.
The extras are as follows, the majority of which are for Withnail & I, while there’s a couple for How…. Chapters are few in number and there are no subtitles:
- Withnail Weekend documentaries: Now this is the kind of thing I like as extras. Four documentaries for Channel 4’s “Withnail Weekend” in 1999, the kind of thing you’d generally see once at the time and then never again for the rest of your life. Thankfully, these are now here, and they look very good indeed.
Withnail and Us (25:01) sees the cast and crew, plus some friends, discuss the film and working together, along with clips from the film; The Perculiar Memories of Bruce Robinson (38:56) does more of the same; I Demand To Have Some Booze! (6:00) shows students trying the drinking game; and Withnail on the Pier (4:25) on location at the Stella Screen Tour in Brighton, July 1999.
- An Appreciation by Sam Bain (8:04): The co-creator of Peep Show and Fresh Meat talks about the reasons by he loves this film, including how it has more quoteable lines than almost every other film out there, as well as blending in the comedy, drama, friendship and the overall feel of the film, and how drug dealer Danny (portrayed brilliantly by Ralph Brown) inspired their Super Hans character from Peep Show.
- Interview with Michael Pickwoad (21:14): The film’s production designer talks about his time working in the film, in an interview recorded in August 2014. He recalls elements such as how they came across the location for the cottage and all the surrounding scenes, except for the view Marswood sees as he wakes up, steps out and rubs his eyes, which is Haweswater Reservoir in the Lake District. You can find a full list of the locations here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094336/locationsAlso, the ‘matter’ in the sink, early on, was sweet and sour pork, and it had been ‘marinating’ in there for two whole days and none of the crew wanted to go in there 🙂
- Trailer (1:26): In 16:9. The quality is very ’80s, but that makes it all the more endearing because, and I love the tongue-in-cheek style of this trailer.
- How To Get Ahead In Advertising: Interview with Michael Pickwoad (10:11): Also the production designer on this film, he recalls times such as how they built Bagley’s office on the third floor of an empty building, as it gave the best views over London. Plus, how the toothbrush & toothpaste picture looked in the office, because the style is exactly what you’d expect in a place like that.
- How To Get Ahead In Advertising trailer (1:53): In 4:3. Again, very soft, but it’s all part of the charm.
- Book: Normally, there’s a booklet in most Arrow releases around 24 pages. However, this time it runs to 200 pages, so it’s more than a booklet 🙂 Fans can be treated to new writings on both Withnail and I and How…, as well as production stills and reviews, from the time, for both films – just so much to get into.
- Audio commentaries: from one from writer/director Bruce Robinson, and one from critic and writer Kevin Jackson, who is also the author of the BFI Modern Classic on Withnail and I.
As you put each disc in, the menus burst into life with clips from the films and the main theme for Withnail, while How… has Jupiter from Holst’s The Planets. There are subtitles in English, but when it comes to the chaptering, I feel one should come every five minutes on average. Arrow, like many other distributors, go for a low 12 apiece however long the film. I would like them to increase that number. Subtitles are in English.
Withnail and I is released on November 10th on 4-disc Blu-ray/DVD Dual Format Special Edition, and check out the full-size cover by clicking on the packshot.
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Withnail and I How To Get Ahead… PICTURE QUALITY SOUND QUALITY EXTRAS |
10 7.5 10 7 10 |
| OVERALL | 9 |
Withnail and I
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 108 / 94 minutes
Year: 1987 / 1989
Distributor: Arrow Films
Released: October 20th 2014
Chapters: 12 / 12
Cat.no: FCD1007
Picture: 1080p High Definition
Sound: DTS 1.0 HD Master Audio (Mono), DTS 1.0, Dolby Digital 1.0
Languages: English
Subtitles: English
Widescreen: 1.85:1
Disc Format: 2*BD50, 2*DVD9
Director: Bruce Robinson
Producer: Paul M Heller
Screenplay: Bruce Robinson
Music: David Dundas and Rick Wentworth
Cast:
Withnail: Richard E Grant
& I / Marwood: Paul McGann
Monty: Richard Griffiths
Danny: Ralph Brown
Jake: Michael Elphick
Irishman: Daragh O’Malley
Isaac Parkin: Michael Wardle
Mrs. Parkin: Una Brandon-Jones
General: Noel Johnson
Waitress: Irene Sutcliffe
Tea Shop Proprietor: Llewellyn Rees
Policeman One: Robert Oates
Policeman Two: Anthony Wise
Presuming Ed: Eddie Tagoe
Double for various actors in distant shots: Bruce Robinson (uncredited)
Man In Cafe: Fred Wood (uncredited)
How To Get Ahead in Advertising
Director: Bruce Robinson
Producer: David Wimbury
Screenplay: Bruce Robinson
Music: David Dundas and Rick Wentworth
Cast:
Denis Dimbleby Bagley: Richard E Grant
Julia Bagley: Rachel Ward
John Bristol: Richard Wilson
Penny Wheelstock: Jacqueline Tong
Psychiatrist: John Shrapnel
Monica: Susan Wooldridge
Harry Wax: Hugh Armstrong
Richard: Mick Ford
Maud: Jacqueline Pearce
Waiter: Christopher Simon
Waiter: Gino Melvazzi
Tweedy Man: Victor Lucas
Tweedy Woman: Dawn Keeler
Girl in Elevator: Kerryann White
Sullivan Bristol Receptionist: Vivienne McKone
Businessman on Train: Donald Hoath
Businessman on Train: John Levitt
Priest: Gordon Gostelow
Jonathan: Pip Torrens
Basil: Tony Slattery
Jennifer: Rachel Fielding
Mrs. Wallace: Pauline Melville
Dr. Gatty: Roddy Maude-Roxby
Nurse: Francesca Longrigg
Hospital Doctor: Tanveer Ghani
Phillis Blokey: Joanna Mays
Larry Frisk: Sean Bean
Male Love Bird (voice): Eric Idle (uncredited)
The Boil (voice): Bruce Robinson (uncredited)
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.
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