Providence

Providence (1977)

  • 88% of critics liked it
    (8 reviews)

  • 85% of users liked it
    (678 ratings)

The first English-language film from Alain Resnais, this drama about a spiteful, alcoholic novelist contains the French director's typically playful surrealist touches and recurring use of characters shackled by memory. John Gielgud stars as Clive Langham, a drunken author in failing health who… More

R, 1 hr. 50 min.
Directed By
Alain Resnais
Genres
Drama
In Theaters
Jan 1, 1977 Wide

Critic Reviews

  • Vincent Canby, New York Times

    Providence is a lot of fuss and fake feathers about nothing.

  • Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

    The superb performances and Miklos Rozsa's sumptuous Hollywood-style score give the film's conceit a moving monumentality and depth, and Resnais' insights into the fiction-making process are mesmerizing and beautiful.

  • Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

    Misunderstood and underrated when it came out, Resnais first English-speaking film is a provocative meditation on time and memory, fiction and reality (his dominant themes) in the life of a dying novelist, astoundly played by John Gielgud.

  • Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

    It's one of the best films from the 1970s.

  • , TV Guide's Movie Guide

    A superb instance of inventive filmmaking with a comic touch and an intellectual theme.

Read all 6 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

  • Stephen M


    Struggling to finish his last novel before cancer finishes him, Clive Langham (John Gielgud), a celebrated writer, concocts an elaborate and spiteful fantasy featuring the members of his immediate family. Where to begin... Both in form and content, this has to be one of the most… More

Cast

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