How Proust Can Change Your Life

Mar 19, 2000

0h 58m

★ 4.7

Overview

A docu-drama portrait of the early-20th-century French author Marcel Proust, based on Alain de Botton's updated analysis of his work as a modern-day self-help guide. Ralph Fiennes plays Proust, with Phyllida Law and Donald Sinden as his contemporaries, while commentators including de Botton, Louis de Bernières and Doris Lessing explain their enthusiasm for his work.

Genres

Documentary

Production Companies

Shaftesbury Productions

BBC

How Proust Can Change Your Life Trailers

No Trailers found.

Cast

The Narrator

Felicity Kendal

Marcel Proust

Ralph Fiennes

Virginia Woolf

Phyllida Law

Duc d'Albufera

Donald Sinden

James Joyce

Phelim Drew

Gabriel de La Rochefoucauld

Richard Blackford

Celeste Albaret

Lily Bevan

Anna de Noailles

Katherine Porter

Self

Alain de Botton

Self

Louis de Bernières

Self

Doris Lessing

Self

Pierre Rosenberg

On January 31, 1857, the French writer Gustave Flaubert (1821-80) took his place in the dock for contempt of public morality and religion. The accused, the real one, is, through him, Emma Bovary, heroine with a thousand faces and a thousand desires, guilty without doubt of an unforgivable desire to live.

7.6

King Leopold's Ghost

May 28, 2006

The modern history of the Congo, the heart of Africa, is a terrifying tale of appalling brutality: how the greedy and incredibly ruthless King Leopold II of Belgium (1935-1909) turned a vast country into his private estate (1885-1908) and how he plundered the land and raped the bodies and souls of its defenceless inhabitants, causing countless victims; and what exactly is the true impact of this often forgotten story of crime and horror today.

7.8

STILL: A Michael J. Fox Movie

Jan 20, 2023

A short kid from a Canadian army base becomes the international pop culture darling of the 1980s—only to find the course of his life altered by a stunning diagnosis. What happens when an incurable optimist confronts an incurable disease?

5.9

The Castle

Oct 6, 2023

Having worked as a housekeeper all her life, Justina inherits from her former employer a mansion in the middle of the Argentinian pampas. Under one condition: she must never leave. In this modern fairy tale, Justina and her daughter Alexia will face the challenges of keeping that promise alive.

5.1

Baroque

Oct 10, 1989

A series of images, music and sounds which transport through Mexico's history, without any narrative sequence. The film spins constantly round the question 'Where are the singers from?'

7.0

Missing: The Lucie Blackman Case

Jul 26, 2023

July 1, 2000. British 21-year-old Lucie Blackman goes missing in Tokyo, sparking an international investigation — and an unyielding quest for justice.

0.0

The Last Book

Oct 10, 2019

The film focuses on the exciting life journey of Swiss writer Katharina Zimmermann. She follows her husband on a mission to the jungle in Indonesia where she raises their four children and five foster children and lives through the military coup. Back in Switzerland Katharina discovers her voice and finds her path. Now, at eighty, she is writing her life story. Yet suddenly she faces another battle because her publisher is threatening to let her go.

0.0

Terpsichore

Nov 14, 2024

Terpsichore is a captivating exploration of dance as an art form, illuminating the passion, discipline, and vulnerability that transform movement into poetry. The documentary follows three distinct yet interconnected artists: Cece Trapani, an Irish dancer; Aurora Maur, a burlesque performer; and the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company (DCDC), a renowned contemporary dance ensemble. Through their stories, Terpsichore reveals the universal language of dance—one that transcends genre and speaks to the depths of human emotion. Intimate interviews and behind-the-scenes rehearsal footage offer a raw, unfiltered look at the artistry behind each performance, capturing the essence of dance as both personal expression and a bridge between artist and audience. More than a showcase of technique, Terpsichore delves into the soul of movement, celebrating its power to connect, inspire, and reveal the unspoken truths of the human spirit.

8.5

The Blob: A Genius without a Brain

Oct 26, 2019

This documentary outlines the unique properties and latest studies of "Physarum Polycephalum", also known as Blob.

7.2

A Brief History of Time

Oct 1, 1991

This shows physicist Stephen Hawking's life as he deals with the ALS that renders him immobile and unable to speak without the use of a computer. Hawking's friends, family, classmates, and peers are interviewed not only about his theories but the man himself.

7.0

Irvine Welsh: Reality Is Not Enough

Sep 26, 2025

One of the most controversial writers of our times, join Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh as he undergoes a remarkable trip to find new meaning in his work, life and legacy.

7.5

Touching the Void

Sep 5, 2003

The true story of Joe Simpson and Simon Yates' disastrous and nearly-fatal mountain climb of 6,344m Siula Grande in the Cordillera Huayhuash in the Peruvian Andes in 1985.

7.1

The Hidden Life of Trees

Jan 23, 2020

When Peter Wohlleben published his book "The Hidden Life of Trees" in 2015, he quickly entered bestseller lists. The forester wrote vividly about his experience that trees are able to communicate with each other, a thesis explored here.

0.0

Prairie Women

Jan 1, 1987

This film illustrates the struggles of Canadian prairies women to achieve a more just and humane society within the farm movement and at large. During the early 1900s, women on the prairies looked for ways to overcome their isolation. Out of the resulting farm women's organizations grew a group of women possessing remarkable intellectual abilities, social and cultural awareness, and advanced worldviews.

0.0

Binary

Aug 10, 2015

Binary is a documentary composed of two stages: the nature and the city. It is a journey that represents the paradox of communication.

0.0

A Deeper Love: The Story of Miss Peppermint

Jun 26, 2025

Drag Race star Peppermint takes center stage in this up close and personal documentary about her journey with fame, identity, and the art of drag. Sharing her story alongside a close network of trans individuals, one of the world’s favorite drag performers takes you inside her rise from humble beginnings to her current reign as outspoken trailblazer for the trans community.

5.6

Wisconsin Death Trip

Sep 5, 1999

Inspired by the book of the same name, film-maker James Marsh relays a tale of tragedy, murder and mayhem that erupted behind the respectable facade of Black River Falls, Wisconsin in the 19th century.

7.5

Carceller, the Man Who Died Twice

Oct 24, 2021

The life story of Vicente Miguel Carceller (1890-1940), a Spanish editor committed to freedom who, through his weekly magazine La Traca, connected with the common people while maintaining a dangerous pulse with the powerful.

7.0

Monkey Kingdom

Apr 16, 2015

A newborn monkey and its mother struggle to survive within the competitive social hierarchy of the Temple Troop, a dynamic group of monkeys who live in ancient ruins found deep in the storied jungles of South Asia.

7.3

Surviving Progress

Nov 4, 2011

Humanity’s ascent is often measured by the speed of progress. But what if progress is actually spiraling us downwards, towards collapse? Ronald Wright, whose best-seller, “A Short History Of Progress” inspired “Surviving Progress”, shows how past civilizations were destroyed by “progress traps”—alluring technologies and belief systems that serve immediate needs, but ransom the future. As pressure on the world’s resources accelerates and financial elites bankrupt nations, can our globally-entwined civilization escape a final, catastrophic progress trap? With potent images and illuminating insights from thinkers who have probed our genes, our brains, and our social behaviour, this requiem to progress-as-usual also poses a challenge: to prove that making apes smarter isn’t an evolutionary dead-end.