Is That All There Is? *** (1992, director Lindsay Anderson) – Classic Movie Review 9807

‘Perfection is not an aim.’

Lindsay Anderson’s entertaining and informative 1992 75-minute autobiographical film for BBC Scotland, Is That All There Is?, is ironically his last film, first shown in 1992 and finally released in the US on 10 May 1995, nearly one year after his death.

First seen on TV waking up in bed in his London flat, Anderson presents a detailed humorous account of his daily routine, meeting artists, actors and writers, discussing what’s going on in the world in a Valentine to life, film and the stage.

Anderson includes a touching boat trip down the River Thames (several of their professional colleagues and friends aboard) to scatter the ashes of actresses Jill Bennett and Rachel Roberts on the Thames while Alan Price sings ‘Is That All There Is?’

Jill Bennett died on October 4, 1990, age 58. She committed suicide from an overdose of pills after suffering from acute depression. She appeared in Anderson’s TV film The Old Crowd, screenplay by Alan Bennett (London Weekend Television, 1979).

Rachel Roberts committed suicide on November 26, 1980, age 53, of a drugs overdose. Her greatest success was in Anderson’s film This Sporting Life (1963), which earned her an Academy Award nomination as Best Actress. She also appeared in Anderson’s film The Old Crowd.

Lindsay Anderson died unexpectedly of a heart attack, aged 71, on 30 August 1994 on holiday in France.

Films directed by Lindsay Anderson: O Dreamland (1953), Thursday’s Children (1954), Every Day Except Christmas (1957), This Sporting Life (1963), The White Bus (1967), If…. (1968), O Lucky Man! (1973), In Celebration (1975), The Old Crowd (1979), Look Back in Anger (1980), Britannia Hospital (1982), The Whales of August (1987), Glory! Glory! (1989) and Is That All There Is? (1992).

In 1985, he made Foreign Skies: Wham! In China, despite confessing no interest in Wham! or China, and simply ‘doing this for the money’.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9807

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com