Krapp's Last Tape

A quiet, haunting immersion into an old man's reckoning with his past, demanding patience but rewarding with raw emotional depth.

Directed by

Atom Egoyan

Genres

Drama, Tv movie

Starring

John Hurt

Overview

In Krapp's Last Tape, which was written in English in 1958, an old man reviews his life and assesses his predicament. We learn about him not from the 69-year-old man on stage, but from his 39-year-old self on the tape he chooses to listen to. On the 'awful occasion' of his birthday, Krapp was then and is now in the habit of reviewing the past year and 'separating the grain from the husks'. He isolates memories of value, fertility and nourishment to set against creeping death 'when all my dust has settled'. One part of 19 parts for series "Beckett on Film" featuring filmed versions of Beckett plays, some screened at the 2000 Toronto International Film Festival and some on Channel 4 television in the UK in June 2001.

How it feels

Melancholic, bleak, earnest and tense. Slow-burning and demanding.

About

Memory, aging, isolation, grief

Content

Mild sexual content and language. No violence or gore.

Note

Written by AI, so it can be wrong. Full breakdown

Your rating is saved. See your suggestions, or find titles like this one below.

Rate it, and Mesmero finds titles that feel like it. You do not need an account.

Search YouTube for a trailer (opens in a new tab)