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Poster for Providence

Providence

1977 · 110 min

A demanding, dreamlike puzzle that blurs memory and fiction, rewarding patience with a quietly devastating emotional payoff.

Directed by
Alain Resnais
Genres
Drama, Comedy
Starring
Dirk Bogarde, David Warner, Ellen Burstyn
Tagline
A Movie of Rare Intelligence
Overview
On the eve of his 78th birthday, ailing, alcoholic writer Clive Langham spends a painful and sleepless night mentally composing and recomposing scenes for a novel in which characters based on his own family are shaped by his fantasies and memories, alongside his caustic commentary on their behaviour.

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In the UKNo streaming, rental or purchase options known.
Directed by
Alain Resnais
Genres
Drama, Comedy
Starring
Dirk Bogarde, David Warner, Ellen Burstyn
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How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • darkstrength 2 of 3
  • melancholicstrength 2 of 3
  • satiricalstrength 2 of 3
  • absurdstrength 1 of 3
Pacing
slow-burn, 1 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
demanding, 4 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • memory
  • family
  • aging
  • identity
  • death
Places
  • single country house
Era
contemporary
Audience
adult
Form
  • nonlinear
  • unreliable narrator
Content intensity
  • Gore mild
  • Language mild
  • Violence mild
  • Sex mild
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action2
Horror3
Humour5
Realism6
Romance2
Tension5
Darkness7
Complexity9
Emotional weight8

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Where to watch in the UK

No UK streaming, rental or purchase options are known.

Streaming data from JustWatch.TMDB

Details

Genres
drama, comedy
Directed by
Alain Resnais
Written by
David Mercer
Starring
Dirk Bogarde, David Warner, Ellen Burstyn, Cyril Luckham, John Gielgud, Tanya Lopert, Elaine Stritch, Denis Lawson
Music
Miklós Rózsa
Cinematography
Ricardo Aronovich
Runtime
110 min
Country
France, Switzerland
Languages
English

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