The Beauty of Restraint: Willem Dafoe’s Brilliant Portrayal of T.S. Eliot in “Tom and Viv” Anonymous College

There are few well-read people today who would not recognize the name T.S. Eliot. Known for his brilliant Modernist poetry, Eliot was also a prominent 20th century critic and playwright. Though his literary accolades spreads far and wide, his personal life remains a complex, overwhelming, and emotional struggle that constantly plagued him and most certainly affected the tone of his work. In the 1994 film “Tom and Viv,” director Brian Gilbert presents us with a window into the complicated personal life of T.S. Eliot. Based on the original play by Michael Hastings, the film tells the grim story of the tragic marriage between Tom (T.S.) Eliot and Vivienne Haigh-Wood Eliot, spanning the thirty-some years from when the two first met at Oxford in 1915, to Vivienne’s death in 1947. Vivenne, played by Miranda Richardson, initially seems to be the standout actress in the film. Her dynamic, unpredictable, and emotional character simultaneously captures sympathetic yet weary attention, and her Academy Award nomination for the role was not undeserved. However, in comparison, one seems to pass over the spectacular acting by Willem Dafoe, who sharply and sympathetically portrays the difficult character of T.S. Eliot. Dafoe’s depiction of Tom...