My Dinner with Andre (1981)

February 5, 2025

The monologue at the beginning is a nice narrative device that should be used more often. The movie is about two men with wildly different worldviews talking with each other for nearly two hours about their different outlooks on life. Both agree that there is a problem of meaning in the world—one is a man of faith who tries to find meaning in mystical and fantastical experiences, while the other is a man of science who seeks meaning in the little things. I really need to rewatch it after reading more about Western philosophy, particularly Heidegger and Mystics such as Meister Eckhart. 8/10.

I just don’t think I accept the idea that there should be moments in which you’re not trying to do anything. I think, uh, it’s our nature, uh, to do things, I think we should do things, I think that, uh, purposefulness is part of our ineradicable basic human structure, and…and to say that we ought to be able to live without it is like saying that, uh, a tree ought to be able to live without branches or roots, but…but actually, without branches or roots, it wouldn’t be a tree, I mean, it would just be a log.