Customer Reviews

Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Lone Scherfig is a Danish director with a keen sense of character development that allows her to create a film about suicide and cancer into a lovely comedy/drama that walks the thin line of credibility and taste with complete assurance and success. Co-written with Anders Thomas Jensen WILBUR (WANTS TO KILL HIMSELF) is a story that not only appears to be an absurd topic for a film much less a comedy (albeit a dark comedy), it is a tale about family, relationships, human needs, and love that ably touches us at every turn.

Gloomy Glasgow, Scotland is the setting (cinematographer Jørgen Johansson never lets us forget the impact of the weather on the story) and the primary stage is a Used Bookstore owned by brothers Wilbur (Jamie Sives) and Harbour (Adrian Rawlins), the only remnant of their recently departed father's estate. The store is a shambles with Harbour buying more books than he sells: he is that kind of a compassionate person. Wilbur has spent his life trying unsuccessfully to commit suicide since the brothers' mother's death when they were children. We slowly learn that the mother favored Wilbur and while Wilbur's presence hold a strange magnetic attraction for women, Wilbur is unable to partner. He tries suicide by overdose, hanging, jumping off rooftops, slitting his wrists, etc only to be constantly saved by his loving brother Harbour.

Wilbur is in therapy with a chain-smoking doctor Horst (Mads Mikkelson) assisted by a zany, man-desperate nurse Moira (Julia Davis) who even courts suicide victims such as Wilbur in her need for a man. Harbour runs the bookstore, one of his steady clients being Alice (Shirley Henderson), a nurse's aide at the hospital where she cleans floors to support her and her pre-teen daughter Mary (Lisa McKinlay), a committed book lover. Alice visits the bookstore daily to sell books she has gleaned at the hospital to the always receptively warm Harbour. When Alice looses her job at the hospital she is hired by Harbour to organize the bookstore and soon Harbour and Alice fall in love and marry in a Chinese restaurant in a hilarious scene organized by the waiter (Chun-Wah Tsang) whose brogue is thicker than anyone else's! Harbour, Alice, and Mary have found happiness and Alice insists that Wilbur move in with them.

The 'family' works (with Alice and Wilbur having an encounter which bonds them closely) until Harbour is discovered to have pancreatic cancer and reluctantly begins chemotherapy with Dr. Horst. The way this crucial development alters the lives of everyone is the climax of the story and while it is fairly predictable, the writing is so fine that to give further details would be an injustice to the viewers.

Each of the relatively unknown actors gives radiantly alive and complex performances. Wilbur would seem a difficult persona to tolerate, but in Jamie Sives' hands (and of course with the intelligent direction of Scherfig) this miscreant character has us firmly in his hand from the beginning. This is an intelligent and warmly tender film that explores the human need for love and for belonging. The only criticism is the lack of English subtitles: the pitch perfect Scottish accents manage to bury much of the bright dialogue for non-Scotsmen's ears! Very Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, May 05

Despite the quirky title, this is not a "black comedy" in the "Harold and Maude" vein (although the opening scene in "Wilbur Wants To Kill Himself" IS suspiciously similar to the opening scene in "Harold and Maude"!) The film is actually an interesting blend of tearjerker, subtle adult sex comedy and what used to be referred to as (forgive me) "heartwarming family drama" (but without the schmaltz). Think a Scottish "Terms of Endearment", with more believable characters and less mugging from the actors. The Danish director and her mostly Scottish cast does an impressive job of delivering a fairly large number of characters but still managing to make us care about what happens to all of them; the type of skilled ensemble work that puts this one in the Mike Leigh/Atom Egoyan league. Highly recommended. P.S. For the sake of those who have not seen this film yet, shame on all the reviewers trumpeting major "spoilers" in the first paragraph of thier reviews!

I thought it was a brilliant film but not a lighthearted one. I will not provide too much detail as it would ruin the surprises it has in store for the viewer.

This movie packs a seriously emoional punch and it stays with you long after you watch it. One of the main characters, Wilbur, is constantly trying to kill himself. After seeing how unhappy and selfish Wilbur acts, I was thinking that everyone would be better off if he just suceeded already. But I was horrified to later discover the possible cause of Wilbur's constant black moods. We learn that as a child, Wilbur's mother was sickly and constantly escaped her hospital bed to get home to her family only to be dragged back by her husband so she could survive that much longer. The dad told his two small sons that their mom couldn't stay home - it would kill her. In the middle of a cold winter's night, only Wilbur heard the mother knocking on their door. As she was only wearing a thin hospital gown and Wilbur was too afraid to let her in because he thought she would drop dead (his father's words were taken very literally in his child's mind), she froze to death outside their front door. This event changed them all. The father's guilt over what happened, Wilbur's guilt over killing his mother and his older brother's constant sacrifices at his own expense to hold his remaining family together.

Present day finds this family down to the two brothers, Harbour and Wilbur, and we all know one of them is looking for a fast exit. This movie is layered with so many emotional subjects that hit the viewer hard. This story is only too real as we watch Alice (the love interest) struggle with poverty and take care of her daughter all on her own, Harbour not being able to help his Wilbur as he struggles with his inner demons, and Wilbur being hostile to everyone as he lashes out, the male psychiatrist's father/son issues, and every character's loneliness. The scene where Wilbur is off-handedly cruel to Alice's lonely friend from her old job is heartbreaking.

No surprise that the story ends with just one remaining family member. But, it does manage to end on a note of hope. This one family member is not alone, he is rebuilding a family of his own and he owes it all to his brother. The bond of love between family members can be healing, even the deepest of wounds.

A haunting film that stays with you and I highly recommend it but you have to be in the mood for it.

Wilbur (a wry, sad Jamie Sives) wants out of Life in a bad way and he tries several ways to accomplish his goal: pills, head in oven, slit wrists but he never quite succeeds often due to his personal angel and brother Harbour (a terrific Adrian Rawlins).
Director and screenwriter, Lone Scherfig (the ironic, witty, intelligent "Italian for Beginners") packs "Wilbur" with a number of very serious topics: suicide, terminal illness, infidelity and proceeds to deal with them in a manner that can only be described as ironic: irony with a very light, though often tragic and humane touch.
Schefig's mise en scene is thick and heavy with the detritus of her characters troubled and out-of-whack lives and even when a woman enters Wilbur and Harbour's life...the winsome Shirley Henderson as Alice things do not get much better but only more complicated.
Scherfig has crafted a very sad, troubling film about people caught up in the past who never quite grow out of that particular quagmire of guilt, shame and remorse. "Wilbur" is a difficult movie to comprehend much less love but nonetheless there is much to admire here for anyone looking for the intriguing and unusual.

With "Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself," writer/director Dogma 95 adherent Lone Scherfig follows in the footsteps of Lars von Trier's masterpiece "Breaking the Waves" by crafting a film imbued with a black Scottish/Danish inflection. But where von Trier's vision is uniformly bleak, Scherfig penetrates the grey Edinburgh sky with rays of hope. Who knew a movie about suicide could be so uplifting?

If you saw and loved Scherfig's delightful "Italian for Beginners," you know of her brilliance with actors. That talent shows here - Shirley Henderson, Adrian Rawlins and Jamie Sives are magnificent in depicting the leading triumverate.

But, even beyond the three stars, there are neat things to find. Supporting actresses Julia Davia and Susan Vidler are classically trained British actresses of repute. Davis won a best supporting actress nomination for her portrayal of quirky nurse/alternative medicine 'student' Moira. And, watching doctor 'Horst' as portrayed by one Mads Mikkelsen...you got the feeling there was something special about this guy.

There is. This is Denmark's leading leading man. As imdb.com notes, "several polls in magazines and newspapers have voted him sexiest man in Denmark." It's always neat to find nice surprises like this tucked into an already enjoyable movie.

So, don't be dissuaded by the awful title. Rent or buy 'Wilbur' as soon as you can.

I originally saw this unusual Danish-Scottish production in the fall of 2003 at the Chicago International Film Festival and was quite impressed with it. I was disappointed when it did not achieve widespread distribution in the U.S. after this, which is a shame, because it is a very nice movie that has stayed with me. Thankfully it is now available on DVD.

The movie rests on a central irony: Wilbur wants to kill himself. He lives with his brother Harbour, who has taken care of him all his life. Wilbur's multiple attempts on his life have been unsuccessful, but nonetheless he shows no signs of wanting to live until two events. First, Harbour gets married to Alice, a woman who works on the cleaning staff at a nearby hospital who meets Harbour when she comes by to sell the books that patients leave behind. This unsettles Wilbur's life, but nonetheless Alice and Wilbur become aware of a chemistry between them, eventually leading to a sexual encounter. As they are feeling guilty of betraying Harbour the second shoes falls: Harbour learns that he is terminally ill. Wilbur, who has wanted to kill himself, suddenly finds himself wanting to live by the impending loss of his brother, while Harbour, who has wanted to live, tragically learns that he will die. The complicated interplay between the four central characters (the fourth being Alice's daughter) makes this a fascinating film to watch.

The only thing that keeps this from being a five star film is the unrelenting dismalness of the film. It isn't merely the downer nature of the plot, which is actually somewhat alleviated by a countervailing affirmation of life that is the ultimate theme of the film; the entire city of Glasgow has never looked more drab and unpleasant than in this film. Everything is dingy, dark, worn, dilapidated, and bleak. The bookstore is a precise reflection of the rest of the city, and the apartment a reflection of the bookstore. The hospital has the same worn, tired look.

The cast does a great job in the film. I am unfamiliar with Jamie Sieves, who plays Wilbur, but Adrian Rawlins and Shirley Henderson, who play Harbour and Alice respectively, are familiar faces to anyone who sees many movies, even if their names are not familiar. Both of them appear in the Harry Potter films, Rawlins as Harry's father (always in photos or mirrors) and Henderson as Moaning Myrtle. She has been extremely busy as a supporting actress, appearing in a wide range of films, including the Bridget Jones movies (as one of Bridget's friends), 24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE, the Mike Leigh film TOPSY TURVY (as a performer with a drug problem), WONDERLAND, and TRAINSPOTTING. But in all of these roles both of them were at best supporting performers and it is great to see them in a film where they have the central roles.

All in all, this is a very fine film. It is a great tonic to those who might find themselves feeling ground down by the unending string of big budget films that seem to squeeze quiet, reflective films like this one out of the market.

Wilber Wants to Kill Himself opens with the troubled and disturbed title character Wilber (the hunky Jamie Sives), trying to gas himself in his kitchen. It's a grim premonition for what is to come, as Wilber tries to commit suicide several more times - once by hanging, and once from slashing his wrists in the bath.

He's full of pent-up attitude and anger; and he's so obnoxious that the local hospital's suicidal support group doesn't even want him attending their regular meetings any more. Even his older brother Harbour (Adrian Rawlins) isn't quite sure what to do with him. He'd like to employ Wilbur in his used bookstore, which the two siblings inherited from their late father.

Harbour would also like to be able to go a week without Wilbur having one of his suicidal "episodes." The older brother has reached the age where he wants to meet a nice girl, settle down, and have a life of his own. On the advice of Moira (Julia Davis), the support group leader and hospital nurse, Wilbur moves in with Harbour, upstairs of the bookshop.

Meanwhile, Alice (Shirley Henderson), a single mum and janitor at the hospital becomes a regular visitor at the bookstore. She keeps any discarded books she can find around the hospital and sells them at the brothers' store occasionally, hence becoming familiar with Harbour and Wilbur, more so when she interrupts one of Wilbur's suicide attempts. She and Harbour get married, only to discover Harbour has health problems too, more physical than mental.

The perpetually grumpy and snarky Wilber is gradually drawn to the sensitive Alice. He doesn't much like other girls, but there's something terribly attractive about Alice. He also finds a kindred soul in Alice's young daughter, Mary (Lisa McKinlay), whose positive attitude works wonders on him. As Wilbur becomes more involved with Alice and Mary his suicidal tendencies start diminish and he begins a new lease on life. He even encounters a suicidal stranger whom he prevents from drowning at the last moment.

Set in Glasgow, the film has a gritty and pervasive realism, which lends itself well to this type of subject matter. And it's all a lot less dour and more watchable than one might expect. Danish filmmaker Lone Scherfig instills her characters with a type of lovable, comical irony that effectively works as a counterpoint to the seriously grim subject matter.

The problem is that script is often too slow and it has a kind of a grayish, slow, and dull over all feel to it. The story takes too long to get off the ground, and Wilber's reasons for wanting to suicide in the first place are never really adequately explained. Most viewers will probably be annoyed that he's wasting money by needlessly chalking up the bill on the taxpayer funded National Health Service.

However, the movie is certainly worth watching for the appealing cast. One can almost believe that Sives and Rawlins are brothers, while the oft-used Henderson is solid, as usual. But the film isn't quite sure what it wants to be - It has the elements of either a weeping tragedy or a dark comedy, yet somehow finds a middle route that makes it neither.

Wilber Wants to Kill Himself offers an interesting approach to this controversial subject matter, and at times it is fairly didactic and edifying, but it's also strangely non-committal about most of the issues. The story is involving enough, but it doesn't really go anywhere until the last half-hour when Wilbur is forced to confront the realities of the world.

With his brother now dying and a woman with whom he has unaccountably fallen on love with, Wilber realizes that he must finally take on real responsibility, which actually comes as a bit of a shock. Thus, before our eyes we see him grow from a selfish, troubled, and petulant boy, into a conscientious, reliable, and dependable man. Mike Leonard May 05.

Wilbur (Wants to Kill Himself) is an emotionally complex film that is, I suspect, subject to a wide range of reactions. I am somewhat bothered by several aspects of the story as it played out in dramatic fashion, yet I still loved the movie. There is just something magical and ethereal about the film's atmosphere and characters that make it endearing -even during its most emotionally troubling moments. It's hard to even classify this film in terms of genre, for it is both everything and nothing. For me personally, it's a drama with just a few touches of dark comedy, but some will regard it as more of the latter. Wilbur did not make me feel good or necessarily glad to be alive; its poignancy left me rather subdued, actually. But - and this is the important part - it certainly made me feel something that stayed with me after the end credits rolled.

One thing this film doesn't do is to take you inside the mind of a suicidal individual. Wilbur's several attempts at suicide are sort of just there - they aren't funny, yet they are hard to take seriously (with one exception), and his behavior in general suggests very little about the seriousness of his intentions. More importantly, we never learn why he is suicidal - although one possible clue emerges midway through the film. I never grew to like or dislike Wilbur (Jamie Sives) to any strong degree. I found his brother Harbour (Adrian Rawlins) much more fascinating and a much stronger character. Harbour is one of the few true good guys in the world, the nucleus of his family. Having cared for their father until his recent death, he now struggles to keep open the family book store and take care of his suicidal brother. Enter the waiflike Alice (Shirley Henderson), a single mother who comes to the book shop to sell the books that patients' families leave behind in the hospital (where she works as a cleaning lady), and her sweet daughter Mary (Lisa McKinlay). Harbour and Alice soon marry, and even with the emotional wildcard that is Wilbur, it looks like a truly happy ending is in the works.

This is no fairy tale, however, and the cruel hand of Fate steps in to change these characters' futures dramatically. As this is happening, the emotional interconnections between all of the main characters grow and evolve in really complex ways. I have some personal objections to the story as it evolves after this point, but I find myself quite unable to stand in judgment of these truly human characters, especially with the ending playing out as it does.

Wilbur (Wants to Kill Himself), honored with numerous film festival awards, is a beautiful film - and Lone Scherfig's directorial prowess is made manifest by the fact that few artists could have pulled such a film off. If Wilbur (Wants to Kill Himself) were truly a dark comedy (at least in terms of my definition of the genre), the film would not have worked at all - nor would an exaggerated sense of melodrama have done anything but skewer the film's effectiveness. Scherfig guides this emotionally complex story with the most subtle of directorial hands, helped along immeasurably by standout performances all around - especially by Adrian Rawlins and Shirley Henderson. This is definitely a movie worth seeing.

***1/2

In "Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself," a young man - who basically lives from one unsuccessful suicide attempt to another - is looked after and cared for by his brother who is suffering from terminal pancreatic cancer. Moreover, it turns out that the mentally ill brother has designs on the physically ill brother's wife.

It may be hard to believe from that synopsis, but "Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself" is actually a comedy.

Indeed, "Wilbur," filled as it is with quirky characters and offbeat humor, is reminiscent of other well known Scottish comedies such as "Local Hero" and "Gregory's Girl," albeit this new film is darker and grimmer in its subject matter and theme. For in addition to death and illness, "Wilbur" also deals with the less tragic topics of adultery and unrequited love. Like the best Scottish comedies, this film provides us with a slice-of-life tale filled with ordinary, likable people who may have their weaknesses and eccentricities but who also strike chords of familiarity deep within the viewer.

There are beautiful performances by Jamie Sives as Wilbur; Adrian Rawlins as his brother, Harbour; Shirley Henderson as Harbour's's wife, Alice (who is also in love with Wilbur); Lisa McKinlay as Mary, Alice's young daughter, and an assortment of other fine actors and actresses who populate the scene.

Although the script threatens to veer off into melodrama and soap opera from time to time, the truthfulness of the writing and the honesty of the acting keep the film real and believable for most of the duration. The quiet conversations amongst the various characters, in which feelings are often hinted at and implied rather than explicitly stated, help to elevate the film above its sometimes contrived and maudlin plot. The movie ends with an ironic twist that shows that one person's death can often lead to a renewal of life for someone else. It's a fitting finale to a film in which one of the themes is the inextricable nature of human relationships, for what happens to one person happens to them all. It's a film that not everyone will surely like, but it is a treat for those in search of something a little bit offbeat and a little bit different.

I have seen this listed under comedy, but the material is so dark and downbeat that even when comedy is intended, it is difficult to see the humor in the situation. Not only is it downbeat material wise, but even the cinematography follows suit. Much of the film is in surroundings such as an old dusty bookshop which is not well lit. I think it takes a special viewer to find the humor in this film, or even to be entertained by it.