PROVIDENCE

France/Switzerland, 1977, 107 minutes, Colour.
Dirk Bogarde, Ellen Burstyn, David Warner, John Gielgud, Elaine Stritch.
Directed by Alain Resnais.

David Mercer, playwright of penetrating verbal dexterity and director Alain Resnais, experimentalist with time-flows, interplay of fantasy-reality, combine to explore profound themes: a dying novelist imagines his family in nightmare and so his memory explores the meaning of his life. His narrative is spoken superbly by John Gielgud, acting one of his best and versatile roles. Dirk Bogarde matches him in range and diction as his son; there is solid support by Ellen Burstyn and David Warner. Dream and creative fiction justify such a richness of visuals and successive images, both harmonious and incongruous, of death, war, love, hate, bourgeois conventions and their critique. Providence shows how cinema can match literature is depth and texture.

1. The focus and significance of the title? Its relevance to the house and its reality. The providence of the people there or not? Providence as the care by God for human beings and the world? Its relevance to God and His existence and care? Clive and his playing God and his bizarre providence in his nightmares? The novelist controlling his characters in his imagination being an analogy for God's providence? Reality and fantasy in their interplay? The final questions about the existence of God or not?

2. The work of Alain Resnais and his reputation? His visual exploration of time, juggling images of time? His capacity for presenting reality, unreality, fantasy? The complexity of surfaces suggesting depths below? The quality of his imagination, the visual presentation of imagination? The relationship of the unconscious, subconscious imagery? The work of David Mercer, his insight into human nature, the quality of the structure of his screenplay in terms of imagination and reality, the importance of his use of language, poetic, earthy, crude, blasphemous? The poetic and rich texture of his words? Their being spoken so well by John Gielgud and Dirk Bogarde?

3. The use of colour photography, the lack of colour in the nightmare sequences compared with the beauty of the colour of the real world? The contrasts of the worlds of day and night, imagination and nightmare, the world of wakefulness? The importance of the frequent use of tracking and panning, angle shots, the importance of profiles and close-ups? The relationship of voice to image? Repetitions? The importance of the musical score ~ its echoes of old movies, its sense of brooding, its fitting in with the tracking and panning shots especially of the house itself etc.?

4. The visualising of nightmare - the freedom that it allows in putting images together, even if lacking in harmony, juxtaposing opposites etc.? The creativity of nightmare, its arising from the subconscious, the use of memory and yet fantasising it, fiction out of fact? A possibility of condemning and criticising oneself and one's family? The fearful tone of nightmare? The fact that the ingredients of his new novel with his family and associates was all part of the subconscious of Clive himself?

5. How well did the film communicate the reality of his illness? His drinking, pain, medication, going to the toilet, sleeplessness etc.? The punctuation of the long ill night throughout the creative effort?

6. The choice of John Gielgud to play Clive? His voice, articulation - even with crude language? His age, his malice? The irony of the game and set won by father? The attitudes exhibited - ferocity? The contrast with the end? A man of 78 with a womanising reputation, a creative career? His attitudes towards his children both legitimate and illegitimate? His daughter-in-law? His memories of Molly and the visualising of her death and the explanations of it? His conventional behaviour, attempts at unconventionality? The conventional bourgeois attitudes? His facing the prospect of his death? His facing the question of the existence of God? His novelist's capacity for understanding himself while condemning himself and excusing himself, for understanding his fellow men, the significance of life, the lessons of experience, the change of attitudes with age and in pain and decay? His continued sensuality, his boasting preoccupations with the 'good things of life', his frivolity? The importance of reputation, of literary style and the comments that he lacked feeling? A rounded portrait of an ageing novelist reviewing his life and allowing the subconscious attitudes towards his life and his family to surface?

7. The importance of the structure of the film: the focus on the name of the house, the dark night entry into the grounds and the house itself (the echoes of the introduction to the film Citizen Kane and the word 'Rosebud'?), the night, the darkness, the atmosphere of eeriness and nightmare? The introduction to the old man and the prospect of death? The interplay of his dark night and his creative memories? The possibilities in creation of changing, repeating, controlling? The importance of the structure allowing the emergence of a character like Dave Woodford jogging through in his football gear, Helen and Molly being the same, the defeat of Claude, the killing of the werewolf? Clive and his participation in his own nightmare ? his real attitudes, his dream attitudes? The contrast, even in colour and lighting, with the daylight, reality, the true appearances and characters of his children? The interweaving of these pictures of imagination and reality? What was the audience left with after working through this structure? Leaving Clive to face the rest of his birthday ? and his eventual death?

8. The themes of death and their visual presentation? The importance of the old man turning into a werewolf in the opening, the challenge to Kevin to kill him? The importance of the autopsy and the visuals of cutting the corpse and the echoes of this throughout the film? People ready to gun down others? War and death? Molly and the explanation of her illness and suicide? Helen and her terminal illness? Kevin and his court case and the legal justification of his killing the werewolf? His motives? The continued themes of war. arrests. the prisoners massed on the sports arena? The moral judgment about death and killing? The spontaneity of death, of violence? Clive's own death?

9. The significance of the background of the army situation, the war, the roundups. the sounds of bombings? Kevin and his place in the army and connection with death? Revolution? The general European look of the settings and the overtones of European wars and revolutions? This country, wherever it was, as a microcosm?

10. Legality ? the court, Claude's prosecution of Kevin. justice, the effect of the acquittal and Claude's comments on the jury? The role of the doctor and his friendship, evidence? (And Clive's dislike of him?)

11. The emergence of Sonia in the nightmare? her initial appearance in the court scene, her clothes and her walking up and down the stairs of the courts? Her taking Kevin under her wing, friendship, sexuality, seduction, loneliness? Her conversation with Claude and the explanation of their marriage, her being seventeen. her bypassed personality? The sequence in the restaurant and confronting Kevin with Claude? Bringing him home and the domestic tensions? The significance of her many discussions with Claude? Clive's reversing their roles in the discussion at the table? The importance of sexuality? Her caring for Kevin's wounds? Her attitude towards Helen? Her attitudes towards death? Love and the absence of love? A real character, a type in a dream? And the contrast with the ordinary kind and genial reality of Sonia's character and her regard for Claude and her father-in-law, her friendship for Kevin?

12. The character of Kevin, audience response to his killing the man-werewolf? his case and his being tormented in the courtroom by Claude? His acquittal. his saying that he was content wherever he was, his scientific background and his desire to be an astronaut? His going how with Sonia but resisting her seduction? The clashes with Claude? and being like a brother to him? His moving in and out of rooms, in and out of their lives? The importance of his eventually being wounded, chased, confronting Claude, his death and his loving forgiveness? The irony of his real identity, his astronaut background in Geneva. his relationship to his father, to Claude, to Sonia? Clive's creation of a brother for him, the footballer with reputation, slovenly appearance, jogging, being in incongruous places, Clive wanting to eliminate him but his continued reappearance, an occasion for mockery? The problem of Kevin and his relationship with Claude, two aspects of the male character, how well illustrated by Claude's taking Kevin to the agency to explain his problems etc.?

13. The ordinary characters and their presence in the film - the various secretaries, agency assistants? A measure of reality and unreality?

14. The introduction of Helen by Clive? The possibility of the nightmare Claude having a mistress? His attitude towards her and his speaking of her to Sonia? Helen as a creative figment of Clive's imagination, making her look like Molly, looking like Claude's mother, having a terminal illness? Her job, newspaper reporting, moving around the world? Her arrival, presence, her being at the holiday house and confronting people with the news of death? The quality of the relationship with Claude? How did Clive use her as an instrument to explore his attitude towards Claude?

15. The impact of Claude's presence, his articulation, verbal savagery and dexterity, his skill as a lawyer? The personal persecution of Kevin? The friendship with the doctor, snubbing Kevin in the restaurant? His suspicious attitudes of Kevin's being at how and the male rivalry? His hard attitude, the continual contemptuous comments of his father? His own capacity for contempt and rudeness? The taunting of Kevin? Seeing Claude at work, dictating letters to his father and his consideration of his age, wanting him in a how? Sonia not wanting this? The love for Sonia, the lack of love? Taking Kevin to solve his problems? The significance of the discussions and arguments with Sonia? His encounters with Helen and his selfishness? The problem of Dave Woodford and his continual reappearance? Claude in court, in the city, at the holiday home by the sea (and the significance of the artificial backdrops for the change of locations, appropriate for dream backgrounds and locations)? The persecution of Kevin, the visit to the stadium with all the prisoners? The pursuit of Kevin to death and his changing into a werewolf? His shooting him? Claude as cynical? The contrast with the reality of his character and his genial and kindly presence, his dislike of his father yet his tolerance for him, love for his wife, friendly relationship with Kevin?

16. The importance of the birthday and the servants preparing the dinner? Clive by daylight in control and controlling his illness? His enjoying the sunlight, the wine, the prospect of the visit? His fondness for his children? The visit and the pleasant interplay and chatter, the serious side? The opportunity for the audience to test how reality met fantasy? The meal, the toast, the gifts? Clive asking his guests to leave and remaining to face his future?

17. The significance of language in the film, its richness, range? Its cleverness? Its power of observation? Its ironies? The importance of its delivery? In connection with the range of visuals?

18. The range of mods in audience response ? emotive response, intellectual response, insight? The changing of moods and the effect? The importance of subsequent viewings for understanding?