My Dinner with Andre

My Dinner with Andre is a great film made in 1981. It is simply a dinner converation. It has no action, plot, romance, or anything Hollywood often considers essential. The two actors, Wallace Shawn and Andre Gregory, wrote the screenplay. The conversation mostly revovles around the theater and follows much of their own life.

Andre Gregory had spent time in Poland doing a theater workshop for Jerzy Grotowski, considered a father of contemporary experimental theatre. He is most well-known for what was called a "beehive," a theater event consisting of communal rites and simple interactive exchanges. The concept was to breakdown the traditional distinction between the actors and the audience.

As Andre descibes this and other various experiences to Wally, Andre urges Wally to undergo some similar experience himself. Wally is unsure, and the conversation revolves around the meaning and purpose of life, whether people are essentially asleep, and whether there is any hope that traditional theater can say anything to anyone.

The film is a great exploration of existentialism. An existentialist believes the universe in reality has no meaning and purpose. However, an existialist believes in moving beyond this bleak reality by finding a subjective meaning and purpose. This is usually found by having a life transforming experience whereby the person finds this subjective meaning and purpose, and thus awakens from a dream like state of being.

Andre believes he has undergone such an experience, and is urging Wally to undergo something similar. While Wally agrees with many of the problems Andre observes, he does not feel such an experience is necessary to enjoy the simple pleasures of life. In any event, he enjoys the dinner and the conversation - so that at the end, he tells us he will go home and tell Debby all about his conversation with Andre.