Monday, October 22, 2012
Thoughts on the movie Bill W.
We went to see the movie "Bill W." yesterday. I had heard that it was good. Many of the local AA and Al-Anon groups were going to see it. So we went on a date to the movies.
I have to say that the talking and munching of popcorn stopped when the movie started. No one made a sound during the entire movie. It was enthralling for me. I had read some biographies on Bill and Lois but to hear his voice and to see so many archived photos of him was truly wonderful.
The movie started by someone saying “Bill Wilson was a stinking, rotten drunk.” And the story of how he became that drunk and went on to start AA is played out on the screen with some re-enactments but mostly through onscreen interviews with A.A. historians and authors, with current members whose faces are filmed in shadow to preserve anonymity, and through the words of Bill himself. Then there are the poignant typed excerpts from letters written by Wilson and from his wife Lois' diary.
I have to say that seeing the steps scroll past in the film and hearing about how AA was about to fall apart when Bill wrote the twelve traditions was really moving for me. I love the traditions and wish that more people understood just how important they are in keeping meetings and relationships alive. I thought that his own personal struggles with depression when he felt trapped as the "deity" of AA was another part of the film that I found particularly sad.
He isn't put on a pedestal in the film. His use of LSD and marital infidelity is discussed. And his explanation that he is just an ordinary man with character defects brought home the enormous pressure that he must have been under to get AA going, keep it going, and to not be deified by the organization. On his deathbed, he asked for liquor. He tried to make Lois feel guilty for not giving it to him. His asking for booze at the end of his life was explained by his not being in his right mind. At the same time, another says alcoholism is "cunning, baffling and powerful".
At the end of the movie, there are facts that scroll down the page: 30 million copies of the book Alcoholics Anonymous that have been sold, there are 2 million members in 170 countries, and about 60 recovery programs that use the 12-step approach. Powerful stuff.
“He piloted this course out of the very deep woods that alcoholism is,” one recovering alcoholic says in the film. So very true.
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So it sounds like this is a different movie than the one that is out on DVD with James Garner in it. How cool. When my mom was dying we watched an old movie about a woman alcoholic and it showed her going in to AA and how the people of AA took care of her until she could manage on her own... there were parts where it showed old movies, showed them reading the 12 steps, it made me cry. I loved it. That program has truly saved so many lives and has led people to a loving a God. It gives me chill bumps. Can't wait to see this movie that you are speaking of.
ReplyDeleteAnnette, this is definitely much better than the movie with James Garner and James Woods. It is a documentary with actual photos of Bill W. and his voice. Some video clips of him as well. And then there are the AA members themselves who speak. I have been lucky enough to have heard Tom I. who speaks in the movie. Definitely worth seeing this movie.
Deletewe're all human, subject to our human fallings... the fact that he DID create and leave something that HAS helped many many people is what should be remembered...
ReplyDeleteSo right, Shadow.
DeleteI enjoyed it too, especially the old films of Bill himself.
ReplyDeleteThey were good, weren't they?
DeleteI didn't know about the end of his life and deathbed request. Stunning. I hope I can see this documentary. It's no longer in the theaters in MD. Fingers crossed it comes to Redbox or Netflix. Thanks for this review.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is playing at small theaters who have independent films. Hopefully, it will be released on DVD.
DeleteIts coming back to Maryland! Its going to be playing in Baltimore at The Charles Theater November 5th - 6th at 7pm.
DeleteThe film returns to the Charles Theater in Baltimore on November 5th and 6th, after selling out in September!
Deletebillw.com
wow...that had to be a pretty powerful movie..had not heard of it...and humbling as well even realizing he was not perfect and given no pedestal...
ReplyDeleteHe certainly didn't want the pedestal. It caused him a lot of grief actually.
DeleteThanks for sharing this. I don't think this movie is playing anywhere around me, but I hope to be able to see it myself.
ReplyDeleteHard to figure out where it is playing, but I used an app on my iPhone to find it.
DeleteThe film makers have a web site which lists all of the cities that the film is playing in throughout the US and Canada.
Deletehttp://www.page124.com/in-theaters-now/
Thanks bunches; I'll check it out right away.
DeleteAnonymous #1
Hi Syd,
ReplyDeleteLike Annette, I got chills reading this blog. This ordinary man was certainly driven by some Higher Power to write the steps, and then to compose the traditions as a means of helping himself and his associates, which also include the family.
The traditions were a blessing for me, having been a member of a large family, then continuing with a large family after marriage to an alcoholic. The steps take care of my personal self, but the traditions are a miraculous method of knowing HOW to keep principles above personalities.
I hope to get the DVD or the Redbox issue when it's out. My new home in CA really needs some exposure - more than I seem to be able to give by example.
Thank you for sharing another great means of expanding knowledge -
Hugs,
Anonymous #1
I do hope that you get to see it. It may actually be at a theater near you.
DeleteThrough eternity there have been people that changed the course of humanity. It is easy when they are politicians or people blessed with great riches or power. However, often it is people that are human and through the course of their life and mind they do change humanity. Bill W. was obviously one of those people.
ReplyDeleteThese people sit at a table we all look upon with admiration and gratitude. Martin Luther King Jr., Albert Einstein, Madame Currie, Bill W. and countless others. We are lucky that people have the wisdom to share their unique knowledge. We learned from them all.
I think that his pain came from others who did put him on a pedestal. He said himself that he was just a drunk and wanted to me a member of AA, not its leader.
DeleteI did enjoy the film also. It was interesting the influence the Oxford Group had on the formation of AA. Bill W along with the early members created an incredible life changing program for us.
ReplyDeleteYes, he incorporated a lot of elements from different sources, just as any good writer does. But somehow it all came together which is the great thing.
DeleteThanks for the review. The movie was in Boulder about a month or two ago. I declined the invitation to go because I thought it would be more of the same.... adulation of Bill W., which I think could be the demise of AA.
ReplyDeleteIf I have another chance, I will go see it. I think Bill was a very interesting person, complete with many faults. Sometimes I imagine him going to an AA meeting today. We'd practically throw him out! He, with emphysema, chain smoking. He, cheating on his wife and womanizing. He, taking LSD.
It takes a pretty unbiased view of him and the historians who talk are really excellent. It is sort of done in a Ken Burn's style with lots of photos, video and voices as well as talking heads.
DeleteI didn't know this was available either, Syd. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. I would imagine that our area would not show it in the main theater but I will look for it and hope I can see it soon.
ReplyDeleteSo moving to read this and so human a founder.
ReplyDelete