Tom & Viv
by Brian Gilbert
List Price:
Our Price: $1.00
You Save: $8.99 (90%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.73 (click here)
Category: VHS Video
See more movie releases
Buy this VHS video movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
VHS Tape Cover Information
Actor: Miranda Richardson, Nickolas Grace, Rosemary Harris, Tim Dutton, Willem DafoeDirector: Brian Gilbert
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Original Language), Analog
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC
Running Time: 115 minutes
Release Date: 1996-09-11
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Publisher: Miramax
Studio: Miramax
VHS Movie Reviews of Tom & Viv
Movie Review: Excellent.
Summary: 4 Stars
Tom and Viv (Brian Gilbert, 1994)
Brian Gilbert's quietly heartbreaking drama Tom and Viv came and went with barely a blip at the box office, though it did get nominated for two Academy Awards; it should have been much more widely seen, I think. But what does the American moviegoing public, especially in the nineties, care for the life and marriage of a poet? For Tom and Viv are T. S. Eliot (Willem Dafoe, once again ignored by the Academy) and his mentally unstable wife Vivienne (Miranda Richardson, who did get a nomination for Best Actress).
The plot is simple and straightforward: American expatriate Tom, who according to the narration of Vivienne's brother Maurice (Tim Dutton) is trying to out-English the English, finds everything he's looking for in England in the person of Vivienne: she's upperclass, moneyed, a member of the British society, but with a wild, untameable streak. He falls in love and they elope, realizing only after they're married that Vivienne isn't just high-spirited, she's quite mentally unsound. Thus, Tom is brought in under the wing of Vivienne's family, made one of them by proxy, and much of the film alternates between Tom's attempts to handle Viv's erratic behavior and him commiserating with various family members. Finally, with everyone at the end of their collective rope, Tom and Maurice come up with a plan that will satisfy everyone except Vivienne herself.
This is a film that plays itself very close to the vest. It's staid, almost glacial on the surface, but simmers beneath with rage and despair. Dafoe and Richardson are both brilliant in their roles, and make an essentially plotless biopic into gripping viewing. Highly recommended. ****
Summary of Tom & Viv
Tom is T.S. Eliot (Willem Dafoe), the St. Louis-born poet who tried to turn himself into an Englishman. Viv is his wife, Vivienne Haigh-Wood (Miranda Richardson). She's got money, which allows him to give up his job and focus on poetry. She urges him on, promotes him to the Bloomsbury group (which adopts him but looks down its nose at her), and begins to go slightly crazy. Is it Eliot's chilly demeanor (in a terrific repressed performance by Dafoe) that's driving her nuts, or something else? In fact, she suffers from misdiagnosed physical ailments, and a combination of drugs and alcohol send her around the bend. It's hard to get emotionally involved in Dafoe's Eliot or to really plug into this story, though Richardson's passion nearly pulls you in. --Marshall FineDrama VHS Video
VHS Video Movies
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation VHS Video
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics VHS Video
- Comedy VHS Video
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama VHS Video
- Educational
- Fitness
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror VHS Video
- Kids & Family
- Military & War VHS Video
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports VHS Video
- Television VHS Video
- Westerns VHS Video
Movies most talked about in Movies about Writers & Writing
Whole Wide WorldSony Pictures; Release date: 1999-03-16; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $26.69
PandaemoniumPolygram USA Video; Release date: 2002-02-12; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.99
Price in other shops:
Gothic (1986)Vestron Video; Release date: 2002-02-26; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $3.95
Price in other shops:
Shakespeare in LoveWalt Disney Video; Release date: 1999-12-07; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $0.95
Price in other shops:
Tom & VivMiramax; Release date: 1996-09-11; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $1.00
Price in other shops:
The Sheltering SkyWarner Brothers; Release date: 2002-09-03; DVD
Best price: $12.83
Price in other shops:
BarflyRelease date: 2002-09-03; DVD
Best price: $123.09
NoraRelease date: 2002-05-21; DVD
Best price: $8.90
Price in other shops:
DreamchildMGM (Video & DVD); Release date: 1998-09-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $32.49
ShadowlandsRelease date: 1999-04-13; DVD
Best price: $68.49
Similar VHS Movies
Hilary & JackieRelease date: 2002-11-05; DVD
Best price: $4.55
Price in other shops:
There Will Be BloodParamount; Release date: 2008-04-08; DVD
Best price: $9.80
Price in other shops:
The CrucibleRelease date: 2004-06-01; DVD
Best price: $4.07
Price in other shops:
Camille ClaudelRelease date: 2001-01-23; DVD
Best price: $6.40
Price in other shops:
Painted Shadow: The Life of Vivienne Eliot, First Wife of T. S. Eliotby Carole Seymour-Jones
Anchor; Published: 2003-10-14; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.99
Price in other shops:
The Remains of the Day (Special Edition)Sony; Release date: 2001-11-06; DVD
Best price: $6.97
Price in other shops:
La Vie en Rose (Extended Version)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2007-11-13; DVD
Best price: $17.50
Price in other shops:
Atonement (Widescreen Edition)Universal; Release date: 2008-03-18; DVD
Best price: $10.86
Price in other shops:
CarringtonRelease date: 2001-12-26; DVD
Best price: $3.17
Price in other shops:
SylviaPALTROW,GWYNETH; Release date: 2004-02-10; DVD
Best price: $2.34
Price in other shops: