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161-727: Withnail and I is a 1987 British black comedy film written and directed by Bruce Robinson . Loosely based on Robinson's life in London in the late 1960s, the plot follows two unemployed actors, Withnail and "I" (portrayed by Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann , respectively) who share a flat in Camden Town in 1969. Needing a holiday, they obtain the key to a country cottage in the Lake District belonging to Withnail's eccentric uncle Monty and drive there. The weekend holiday proves less recuperative than they expected. Withnail and I

322-499: A ghost village when the plans to expand Port of Antwerp stalled. Christiania in Copenhagen , Denmark , is an independent community of almost 900 people founded in 1971 on the site of an abandoned military zone. In Copenhagen, as in other European cities such as Berlin and Amsterdam, the squatter movement was large in the 1980s. It was a social movement , providing housing and alternative culture. A flashpoint came in 1986 with

483-515: A tank-like police vehicle , a police water cannon and helicopters were used to clear a building occupied by the group Pizzeria Anarchia in Vienna. In many West European countries, since the 1960s and 1970s, there are both squatted houses used as residences and self-managed social centres where people pursue social and cultural activities. In Belgium , the village of Doel was slowly occupied by squatters and used by street artists after becoming

644-425: A tanner and I'll give him a bell ."); characters in dismal circumstances and a plot prodded by uncinematic voice-overs. Schreiber told him that that was precisely what he wanted. On completing the script, producer Paul Heller urged Robinson to direct it and found funding for half the film. The script was then passed to HandMade Films and George Harrison agreed to fund the remainder of the film. Robinson's script

805-489: A "tour de force" and Withnail as "one of the iconic figures in modern films". Robinson won the Best Screenplay award at the 1988 Evening Standard British Film Awards . The film is routinely regarded as being among the finest British films ever made, and its influence has been cited by several filmmakers as directly inspiring their work, among them Shane Black 's The Nice Guys , James Ponsoldt 's The End of

966-608: A basement at 238 Queen Street West and offered to take on a lease for 99 cents per year. They were evicted after eight hours. Squatting in the United States occurred historically in large numbers during both the California Gold Rush and World War II. Hoovervilles were homeless camps built across the country during the Great Depression in the 1930s. They were named after Herbert Hoover , who

1127-514: A civil matter. Squatting in Scotland is a criminal offence, punishable by a fine or imprisonment, under the Trespass (Scotland) Act 1865 . The owner or lawful occupier of the property has the right to evict squatters without notice or applying to the court for an eviction order, although when evicting, they cannot do anything that would break the law, for example, use violence. Nevertheless,

1288-877: A civil rights march in Derry which was organised by the Derry Housing Action Committee and the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association . The march was repressed by the RUC. In 2012, activists from Occupy Belfast squatted a Bank of Ireland building in Belfast city centre and used it as a social space. Squatting in Northern Ireland was unaffected by the recent law change in England and Wales, and remains

1449-405: A comic manner. Comedians like Lenny Bruce , who since the late 1950s have been labeled as using " sick comedy " by mainstream journalists, have also been labeled with "black comedy". Sigmund Freud , in his 1927 essay Humour ( Der Humor ), although not mentioning 'black humour' specifically, cites a literal instance of gallows humour before going on to write: "The ego refuses to be distressed by

1610-499: A copy of the manuscript to his friend Mordecai (Mody) Schreiber in 1980. Schreiber paid Robinson £20,000 to adapt it into a screenplay, which Robinson did in the early 1980s. When meeting Schreiber in Los Angeles, Robinson expressed concern that he might not be able to continue because the writing broke basic screenplay rules and was hard to make work as a film. It used colloquial English to which few Americans would connect ("Give me

1771-493: A drinking binge. Grant has stated that he was "violently sick" after each drink and found the experience deeply unpleasant. According to Grant's book, With Nails , filming commenced on 2 August 1986 in the Lake District and shooting took seven weeks. A rough cut was screened to the actors in a Wardour Street screening room on 8 December 1986. Denis O'Brien , who oversaw the filming on behalf of HandMade Films, nearly shut

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1932-591: A far ridere su un argomento talmente drammatico di cui si ride perché non c'è altra soluzione possibile, si ha quella che nei cabaret di Berlino degli Anni '20 veniva chiamata la "risata verde". È opportuno distinguere una satira ironica, che lavora per sottrazione, da una satira grottesca, che lavora per addizione. Questo secondo tipo di satira genera più spesso la risata verde. Ne erano maestri Kraus e Valentin. Squatting In developing countries and least developed countries , shanty towns often begin as squatted settlements. In African cities such as Lagos much of

2093-556: A fifth of the country's population. The figure was estimated to be 15 million in 2004. In Cape Town and Durban , there have been sustained conflict between the city council and a shack dwellers' movement known as Abahlali baseMjondolo . The organisation has represented the squatters in land occupations such as the Macassar Village in 2009 and the Cape Town and Durban Marikana land occupations in 2013 (both named after

2254-617: A former shelter in Glasgow in 2021, during COP26 . In 2010, a representative of the UK Bailiff Company claimed that the number of people squatting in Wales was at its highest for 40 years. The high number of businesses failing in urban Wales has led to squatting becoming a growing issue in large cities like Swansea and Cardiff. Experts said "the majority [of squatters] are forced into the lifestyle by financial pressures." Based on

2415-630: A freeshop and had plans for a social centre, but the occupation was quickly evicted by the police and 22 people were arrested. Vatnsstigur 4 was briefly resquatted on May 7, 2009, in solidarity with the Rozbrat squat in Poland , which was threatened with eviction. Also in 2009, a group of graffiti artists called the Pretty Boys occupied Hverfisgata 34. Their intention was to make a clandestine gallery and then when they were not evicted, they legalised

2576-424: A genre in which dark humor is a core component. Cartoonist Charles Addams was famous for such humor, e.g. depicting a boy decorating his bedroom with stolen warning signs including "NO DIVING – POOL EMPTY", "STOP – BRIDGE OUT" and "SPRING CONDEMNED." Black comedy differs from both blue comedy —which focuses more on crude topics such as nudity , sex , and body fluids —and from straightforward obscenity . Whereas

2737-519: A gold mine at Tacacoma in 2015 which they said was on their ancestral land. When 200 police officers attempted to evict them, four were taken hostage and one died. In Brazil, informal settlements are called favelas ; a famous example is Rocinha in Rio de Janeiro , home to up to 180,000 people. The squats are mostly inhabited by the poorest strata of society, and usually lack much infrastructure and public services, but in some cases, already have reached

2898-489: A house put up quickly without proper permissions, a squatter's house, and by extension, a shanty or shack. From the 1960s onwards, these settlements have provided a means of housing for poor workers and new migrants arriving in cities such as Ankara and Istanbul . From the 1980s onwards, property developers have upgraded many gecekondu areas. Shortly after the 2013 Gezi Park protests in Istanbul, Don Kişot (Don Quixote)

3059-404: A judge. The Dutch government assessed the effectiveness of the new law in 2015, releasing a report giving statistics on arrests and convictions between October 2010 and December 2014. During this time period, 529 people have been arrested for the act of occupying derelict buildings in 213 separate incidents. Of the 529 arrests, 210 were found guilty. Of those convicted, 39 people were imprisoned for

3220-663: A large police operation. At least 24 squatters were killed. After World War II many people were left homeless in the Philippines and they built makeshift houses called "barong-barong" on abandoned private land. The first mass eviction on record in Manila was 1951 and the largest was in late 1963 and early 1964 when 90,000 people were displaced. By 1978, there were estimated to be two million squatters in Manila, occupying 415 different locations. The number of squatters grew during

3381-468: A lithograph of Harrow School seen earlier in the flat suggests that both Monty and Withnail were educated there. Withnail persuades his uncle to lend them the cottage key and they leave. Withnail and Marwood drive to the cottage the next day but find the weather cold and wet, the cottage without provisions and the locals unwelcoming—in particular a poacher, Jake, whom Withnail offends in the pub. Marwood becomes anxious when he later sees Jake prowling around

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3542-616: A man who grasped things by reason and never by feeling, and who enclosed himself in skepticism; [...] Swift can rightfully be considered the inventor of "savage" or "gallows" humor. Des termes parents du Galgenhumor sont: : comédie noire, plaisanterie macabre, rire jaune. (J'en offre un autre: gibêtises). humour macabre, humeur de désespéré, (action de) rire jaune Galgenhumor propos guilleret etwas freie, gewagte Äußerung Walter Redfern, discussing puns about death, remarks: 'Related terms to gallows humour are: black comedy, sick humour, rire jaune. In all, pain and pleasure are mixed, perhaps

3703-446: A note wishing them happiness together. They continue to argue. A telegram arrives from Marwood's agent with a possible offer of work and he insists they return. As Marwood sleeps in the car, Withnail drunkenly speeds most of the way back until pulled over by the police who arrest him for driving under the influence. The pair return to the flat to find Danny and a friend named Presuming Ed squatting . Marwood calls his agent and discovers he

3864-891: A place to live but also a part of larger campaign to shine a light on inequity in housing and advocate change in housing and land issues. In 2002, the New York City administration agreed to work with eleven squatted buildings on the Lower East Side in a deal brokered by the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board with the condition the apartments would eventually be turned over to the tenants as low-income housing cooperatives . In Latin American and Caribbean countries, informal settlements result from internal migration to urban areas, lack of affordable housing and ineffective governance. During

4025-457: A pub instead, and then to a small cafe where they cause a disturbance. Monty is hurt, though he forgets the offence as the three drink and play poker. Marwood is terrified by the thought of Monty's further sexual overtures and wants to leave immediately, but Withnail insists on staying. Late in the night, Marwood tries to avoid Monty's company but is eventually cornered in the guest bedroom as Monty demands sex. Monty also reveals that Withnail, during

4186-481: A resettlement area for slum dwellers residing in Manila. Philippine law distinguishes between squatters who squat because of poverty and those who squat in hopes of getting a payment to leave the property. In 1982, Imelda Marcos referred to the latter group as "professional squatters [...] plain land-grabbers taking advantage of the compassionate society". Philippines-based media and journalists refer to squatters as "informal settlers". The Community Mortgage Program

4347-1308: A spese di chi è più ricco e potente di te. Io sono specialista nella risata verde, quella dei cabaret di Berlino degli anni Venti e Trenta. Nasce dalla disperazione. Esempio: l'Italia è un paese dove la commissione di vigilanza parlamentare Rai si comporta come la commissione stragi e viceversa. Oppure: il mistero di Ustica è irrisolto? Sono contento: il sistema funziona. racconto di satira grottesca [...] L'obiettivo del grottesco è far percepire l'orrore di una vicenda. Non è la satira cui siamo abituati in Italia: la si ritrova nel cabaret degli anni '20 e '30, poi è stata cancellata dal carico di sofferenze della guerra. Aggiungo che io avevo spiegato in apertura di serata che ci sarebbero stati momenti di satira molto diversi. Satira ironica, che fa ridere, e satira grottesca, che può far male. Perché porta alla risata della disperazione, dell'impotenza. La risata verde. Era forte, perché coinvolgeva in un colpo solo tutti i cardini satirici: politica, religione, sesso e morte. Quello che ho fatto è stato accentuare l'interazione tra gli elementi. Non era di buon gusto? Rabelais e Swift, che hanno esplorato questi lati oscuri della nostra personalità, non si sono mai posti il problema del buon gusto. Quando la satira poi riesce

4508-413: A trip to a rural cottage near Penrith owned by Withnail's wealthy uncle Monty. They visit Monty that evening at his luxurious Chelsea house. Monty is a melodramatic aesthete , who Marwood infers is homosexual. The three briefly drink together as Withnail casually lies to Monty about his acting career. He further deceives Monty by implying that Marwood attended Eton College (" the other place "), whilst

4669-610: A variety of ways. Some possess two- or three-story homes built out of brick and concrete which they have inhabited for years. Geeta Nagar is a squatter village based beside the Indian Navy compound at Colaba . Squatter Colony in Malad East has existed since 1962, and now, people living there pay a rent to the city council of 100 rupees a month. Dharavi is a community of one million squatters. The stores and factories situated there are mainly illegal and so are unregulated, but it

4830-479: A £5000 fine, or both. The same year saw the first successful prosecution for squatting, resulting in a 12-week jail sentence. Section 61 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 provides police with additional power to remove trespassers when there is damage to land or property, trespassers are abusive, insulting or threatening or there are over six vehicles on premises related to squatters. In

4991-411: Is Heliópolis , with over 200,000 inhabitants as of 2018. It has been officially recognized as a regular neighborhood of the city. There are also a number of squatter buildings in the inner city, the most famous of which was a 22-storey building called Prestes Maia , whose inhabitants were ordered to leave in 2006. Various occupations in buildings and unoccupied areas in big cities, led by groups such as

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5152-702: Is Sleddale Hall , near the Wet Sleddale Reservoir just outside Shap, although the lake that Crow Crag apparently overlooks is Haweswater Reservoir . The bridge where Withnail and Marwood go fishing with a shotgun is over the River Lowther . The telephone box in which Withnail calls his agent is beside Wideworth Farm Road in Bampton. Sleddale Hall was offered for sale in January 2009 with a starting price of £145,000. Sebastian Hindley, who owns

5313-641: Is a drinking game associated with the film. The game consists of keeping up, drink for drink, with each alcoholic substance consumed by Withnail over the course of the film. All told, Withnail is shown drinking roughly 9 + 1 ⁄ 2 glasses of red wine, one-half imperial pint (280 ml) of cider, one shot of lighter fluid (vinegar or overproof rum are common substitutes), 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 measures of gin, six glasses of sherry, thirteen drams of Scotch whisky and 1 ⁄ 2 pint of ale. In 1992, filmmaker David Fincher attempted to create an unofficial reunion of sorts, when he attempted casting all three of

5474-617: Is a method of acquiring title to property through possession for a statutory period under certain conditions. Countries where this principle exists include England and the United States, based on common law. Anarchist author Colin Ward asserts: "Squatting is the oldest mode of tenure in the world, and we are all descended from squatters. This is as true of the Queen [of the United Kingdom ] with her 176,000 acres (710 km ) as it

5635-401: Is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo , particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discuss. Writers and comedians often use it as a tool for exploring vulgar issues by provoking discomfort, serious thought, and amusement for their audience. Thus, in fiction , for example, the term black comedy can also refer to

5796-666: Is a universal human right. In 2010, Colombia was the country with the second most internally displaced people in the world, at an estimated 4 million. This was the result of an extended civil conflict between rebels, paramilitaries, cocaine traders and the state, which left 40% of rural land without legal title. In the capital Bogotá , squatting has traditionally not been the main technique for land acquisition; people tend to purchase land legally and then subdivide or develop it illegally, creating "pirate neighbourhoods". In 1970, 45.9% of Bogotá's population lived in these pirate neighbourhoods, as compared to 1.1% who were squatting. Following

5957-553: Is also a far-right social centre, Casa Pound . This situation has so far received the approval of Italian courts, which have been reluctant to defend the owners' rights. In contrast with the dominant jurisprudence, new case-law (from the Rome Tribunal and the Supreme Court of Cassation ) instructs the government to pay damages in case of squatting if the institutions have failed to prevent it. Regarding squatting in

6118-620: Is an acknowledged coping mechanism. It has been encouraged within these professions to make note of the context in which these jokes are told, as outsiders may not react the way that those with mutual knowledge do. A 2017 study published in the journal Cognitive Processing concludes that people who appreciate dark humor "may have higher IQs, show lower aggression, and resist negative feelings more effectively than people who turn up their noses at it." Examples of black comedy in film include: Examples of black comedy in television include: Examples of gallows speeches include: Military life

6279-478: Is covered in greater detail at Squatting (Australian history) . During the late 1940s the squatting of hundreds of empty houses and military camps, forced federal and state governments to provide emergency shelter during a period when Australians faced a shortage of more than 300 000 homes. In more recent times, there have been Australian squats in Canberra , Melbourne and Sydney . The Aboriginal Tent Embassy

6440-429: Is full of gallows humor, as those in the services continuously live in the danger of being killed, especially in wartime. For example: Workers in the emergency services are also known for using black comedy: There are several titles such as It Only Hurts When I Laugh and Only When I Laugh , which allude to the punch line of a joke which exists in numerous versions since at least the 19th century. A typical setup

6601-515: Is largely absent from policy and academic debate and is rarely conceptualised, as a problem, as a symptom, or as a social or housing movement." In many of the world's poorer countries, there are extensive slums or shanty towns , typically built on the edges of major cities and consisting almost entirely of self-constructed housing built without the landowner's permission. While these settlements may in time become upgraded , they often start off as squats with minimal basic infrastructure. Thus, there

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6762-499: Is largely autobiographical. "Marwood" is Robinson; "Withnail" is based on Vivian MacKerrell , a friend with whom he shared a Camden house and "Uncle Monty" is loosely based on Franco Zeffirelli , from whom Robinson received unwanted amorous attentions when he was a young actor. He lived in the impoverished conditions seen in the film and wore plastic bags as Wellington boots . For the script, Robinson condensed two or three years of his life into two or three weeks. Robinson stated he named

6923-486: Is located at the corner of 136 Lancaster Road, W11 near the corner with Ladbroke Grove . The scene where the police order Withnail and Marwood to "get in the back of the van" was filmed on the flyover near John Aird Court, Paddington . Uncle Monty's house is actually the West House , Glebe Place , Chelsea , SW3, owned by Bernard Nevill . The police station interior was shot at Shepperton Studios . The film score

7084-553: Is no legal link to sewerage, electricity or water. Such settlements also exist in industrialized countries, such as for example Cañada Real on the outskirts of Madrid. Squatting can be related to left-wing movements, such as anarchist , autonomist , or socialist . It can be a means to conserve buildings or a protest action. Squats can be used by local communities as free shops , cafés, venues, pirate radio stations or as multi-purpose self-managed social centres . Adverse possession , sometimes described as squatter's rights,

7245-658: Is of the 54 percent of householders in Britain who are owner-occupiers. They are all the ultimate recipients of stolen land, for to regard our planet as a commodity offends every conceivable principle of natural rights." Others have a different view; UK police official Sue Williams, for example, has stated that "Squatting is linked to anti-social behaviour and can cause a great deal of nuisance and distress to local residents. In some cases there may also be criminal activities involved." The public attitude toward squatting varies, depending on legal aspects, socioeconomic conditions, and

7406-745: Is one of three ways to access land, the other being ownership by deed or customary ownership. West Point was founded in Monrovia in the 1950s and is estimated to house between 29,500 and 75,000 people. During the First Liberian Civil War 1989–1997 and the Second Liberian Civil War 1999–2003, many people in Liberia were displaced and some ended up squatting in Monrovia. The Ducor Hotel fell into disrepair and

7567-690: Is suggested that they do over $ 1 million in business every day. Other squatters are pavement dwellers , with very few possessions. Activists such as Jockin Arputham , Prema Gopalan and Sheela Patel are working for better living conditions for slum dwellers, through organisations such as Mahila Milan and Slum Dwellers International . In the 2016 Mathura clash , members of Azad Bharat Vidhik Vaicharik Kranti Satyagrahi (Free India Legal Ideas Revolutionary Protesters) who had been living in Mathura's largest public park Jawahar Bagh for two years were evicted in

7728-439: Is that someone badly hurt is asked "Does it hurt?" – "I am fine; it only hurts when I laugh." The term was part of the language before Freud wrote an essay on it—'gallows humor.' This is middle European humor, a response to hopeless situations. It's what a man says faced with a perfectly hopeless situation and he still manages to say something funny. Freud gives examples: A man being led out to be hanged at dawn says, 'Well,

7889-412: Is wanted for the lead part in a play but will need to move to Manchester to take it. The four share a huge cannabis joint but the celebration ends when Marwood learns they have received an eviction notice for unpaid rent, while Withnail is too high to care. Marwood—with new haircut—packs a bag to leave for the railway station. He turns down Withnail's offer of a goodbye drink, so Withnail walks with him to

8050-536: The Bateau-Lavoir , in Montmartre , Paris . Paris moved to legitimize some popular artist squats in the mid-2000s by purchasing and renovating the buildings for artist–residents. An example is Les Frigos . In the 2010s there have been several land squats protesting against large infrastructure projects. These are known collectively as Zone to Defend or ZAD (French: zone à défendre). The first and largest

8211-719: The New York Times in a 27 March 1987 review coinciding with the film's New York premiere at the New Directors/New Films series at the Museum of Modern Art . In the end credits and most media relating to the film, McGann's character is referred to solely as "...& I" . In the supplemental material packaged with the Special Edition DVD in the UK, McGann's character is referred to as Peter Marwood in

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8372-551: The Battle of Ryesgade . Another flashpoint came in 2007 when Ungdomshuset was evicted. While not technically a squat until 14 December 2006, it was a social centre used by squatters and people involved in alternative culture more generally. After a year of protests, the city council donated a new building. The Dublin Housing Action Committee (DHAC) was active between 1968 and 1971, occupying buildings to protest

8533-458: The Diggers in the 17th century. In the 20th century, squatters turned to abandoned buildings. Mass squats were organised in a number of prominent public buildings in central London, culminating in the occupation of 144 Piccadilly in 1969. The London Street Commune or "Hippydilly" garnered worldwide attention. There were estimated to be 50,000 squatters throughout Britain in the late 1970s, with

8694-626: The Haitian Revolution (1791–1804), squatters in Haiti acquired smallholdings across the country. Cité Soleil was founded in 1958 to house workers, then grew rapidly to 80,000 people in the 1980s and 400,000 people in the 1990s. It became the largest slum in Haiti, housing people displaced from other areas. There is little infrastructure and the area frequently becomes flooded. Following the 2010 Haiti earthquake , 1.5 million people were displaced. One year later, 100,000 squatters had left

8855-640: The Homeless Workers' Movement (MTST) or Downtown Roofless Movement (MSTC), have occurred. There are also rural squatter movements in Brazil, such as the Landless Workers' Movement (MST), which organise land occupations. For example, in Pontal do Paraná in the state of Paraná 112 occupations were carried out, housing 6,500 families. The Colombian Constitution of 1991 states that housing

9016-717: The Landbouwbelang in Maastricht . Land squats include Ruigoord and Fort Pannerden . On 1 June 2010, squatting in the Netherland became illegal and punishable when a decree was sent out that the squatting ban would be enforced from 1 October. Following legal challenges, on October 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of the Netherlands decided that the eviction of a squat can only occur after an intervention of

9177-617: The Marikana massacre ). It also successfully challenged the KZN Slums Act , which sought to mandate the eviction of slums but was eventually declared unconstitutional. There have been a number of similar conflicts between shack dwellers, some linked with the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign , and the city council in Cape Town . One of the most high-profile cases was the eviction of squatters in

9338-553: The N2 Gateway homes in the suburb of Delft , where over 20 residents were shot, including a three-year-old child. There have been numerous complaints about the legality of the government's actions. Many of the families then squatted on Symphony Way , a main road in the township of Delft, before being forced to move to a camp called Blikkiesdorp . Squatting in Sudan is defined as the "acquisition and construction of land, within

9499-653: The Palestinian territories . The international community considers the settlements in occupied territory to be illegal, In March 2018, Israeli settlers were evicted from a house they had illegally occupied in Hebron , a Palestinian city in the West Bank . The fifteen families had argued that they had bought the house, but the High Court of Justice ruled that they had to leave. The Israel Defense Forces declared

9660-648: The USA the 2010s saw many new squats following the 2007–2008 financial crisis . The majority of squatting is residential in nature. As a phenomenon it tends to occur when a poor and homeless population makes use of derelict property or land through urban homesteading . According to a 2003 estimate by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), there were about one billion people in squatter settlements and slums. According to housing researcher Kesia Reeve, "squatting

9821-412: The military dictatorship there was a zero tolerance policy. Nevertheless, forced by hunger and unemployment to take action, 20,000 squatters occupied 211 hectares of disused privately owned land on the periphery of Buenos Aires in 1981, forming six new settlements. They collectively resisted the eviction attempts and by 1984 had outlasted the dictatorship. The election of a democratic government led to

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9982-424: The 16th greatest comedy film of all time. In a 2017 poll of 150 actors, directors, writers, producers and critics for Time Out magazine, the film was ranked the 15th best British film ever. The line "We want the finest wines available to humanity, we want them here and we want them now", delivered by Richard E. Grant as Withnail, was voted the third favourite film one-liner in a 2003 poll of 1,000 film fans. There

10143-462: The 1950s and 1960s, many Latin American cities demolished squatter settlements and would quickly evict land invasions. In Chile , the government of Eduardo Frei Montalva (1964–1970) began to permit shanty towns and the government of Salvador Allende (1970–1973) encouraged them, but under the military junta from 1973 onwards squatters were again quickly evicted. Likewise in Argentina , under

10304-574: The 1970s and were routinely evicted. Only Epworth persisted on account of its size (around 50,000 people). After Zimbabwe was created in 1980, peasant farmers and squatters disputed the distribution of land. Informal settlements have developed on the periphery of cities such as Chitungwiza and the capital Harare . In 2005, Operation Murambatsvina ("Operation Drive Out Filth") organised by President Robert Mugabe evicted an estimated 700,000 people and affected over two million people. Israeli settlements are communities of Israeli citizens living in

10465-480: The 1980s, there were more than 300 pueblos jóvenes surrounding the capital Lima , housing over one million people. In Argentina they are known as villa miseria (literally "misery settlement"), and as asentamiento in Uruguay and Guatemala. The population of Ecuador's capital Quito grew sevenfold between 1950 and 2001. There are three types of slums in the city, namely barrios periféricos (shanty towns on

10626-454: The 1989 Velvet Revolution . Ladronka (1993–2000) became internationally famous as a hub for counter-cultural activities and anarchist organisation. Squat Milada was occupied in 1997 and evicted in 2009. Its longevity was in part due to the building not existing in the cadastre . Klinika was an occupied social centre between 2014 and 2019. These three social centres, all in Prague, were

10787-694: The 19th and early 20th centuries saw various land raids in which cottars attempted to occupy land for subsistence farming. In 1948, the Seven Men of Knoydart unsuccessfully squatted land owned by the Nazi-supporting Lord Brocket . There have been several road protest land squats such as Bilston Glen and Pollok Free State . The former premises of the Forest Café in Edinburgh were squatted in 2011 and activists occupied

10948-916: The Boulevard des Philosophes, a few blocks away from the main campus of the University of Geneva . The RHINO organisation often faced legal troubles, and Geneva police evicted the inhabitants on July 23, 2007. There were large riots in Zürich when the Binz occupation was evicted in 2013. The squatters moved to another building. During the public opposition in the 1970s, squatting in West German cities led to what Margit Mayer  [ de ] termed "a self-confident urban counterculture with its own infrastructure of newspapers, self-managed collectives and housing cooperatives, feminist groups, and so on, which

11109-493: The French humour noir ) was coined by the Surrealist theorist André Breton in 1935 while interpreting the writings of Jonathan Swift . Breton's preference was to identify some of Swift's writings as a subgenre of comedy and satire in which laughter arises from cynicism and skepticism , often relying on topics such as death. Breton coined the term for his 1940 book Anthology of Black Humor ( Anthologie de l'humour noir ), in which he credited Jonathan Swift as

11270-434: The Gezi protests and later died. Atopya was squatted in Ankara in June 2014 by anarchists, who claimed it was the city's first political squat. Squatters in Malaysia live on both privately owned and government-owned land. Some squatters have lived on land owned by national electricity company Tenaga Nasional for over five decades. Squatters in Indonesia live on both privately owned and government-owned land. For example,

11431-477: The Mardale Inn in Bampton, won the auction at a price of £265,000 but he failed to secure financing and the property was resold for an undisclosed sum to Tim Ellis, an architect from Kent , whose original bid failed at the auction. Exterior and ground floor interior shots of Crow Crag were shot at Sleddale Hall in Cumbria and Stockers Farm in Rickmansworth , Hertfordshire , and the bedroom and stair scenes of Crow Crag were also filmed in Hertfordshire. Stockers Farm

11592-975: The Netherlands , the Dutch use the term krakers to refer to people who squat houses with the aim of living in them (as opposed to people who break into buildings for the purpose of vandalism or theft). Notable squats in cities around the country include ACU and Moira in Utrecht , the Poortgebouw in Rotterdam , OCCII , OT301 and Vrankrijk in Amsterdam, the Grote Broek in Nijmegen , Vrijplaats Koppenhinksteeg in Leiden , De Vloek in The Hague and

11753-1260: The Préfontaine squat in Overdale , a district of Montréal (2001), the Woodward's Squat in Vancouver (2002), the Infirmary Squat in Halifax (2002), the Pope Squat in Toronto (2002), the Seven Year Squat in Ottawa (2002), the Water Street Squat in Peterborough (2003), and the North Star hotel in Vancouver (2006). These were squats organised by anti-poverty groups which tended to be short-lived. The Woodward's building

11914-643: The Tour , Todd Sklar 's Awful Nice , Jay and Mark Duplass 's Jeff, Who Lives at Home , John Bryant's The Overbrook Brothers , David Gordon Green 's Pineapple Express , Alexander Payne 's Sideways , and Tom DiCillo 's Box of Moonlight . In 1999, the British Film Institute voted Withnail and I the 29th greatest British film of all time . In 2001, Withnail and I was ranked 38th in Channel 4 's 100 Greatest Films poll. In 2008,

12075-635: The Unionist councillor who had given her the house and two Catholic families who had been overlooked complained that the same councillor had scotched plans to build houses for Catholics in the Dungannon area. Several days after the woman had moved in, the Catholic squatters in the house next door were evicted. Austin Currie , then a young politician, complained both at the local council and at Stormont about

12236-624: The United States . Oppositional movements from the 1960s and 1970s created freespaces such as Freetown Christiania in Denmark, Ruigoord in the Netherlands and the self-managed social centres of Italy . Each local situation determines the context: in England and Wales , there were estimated to be 50,000 squatters in the late 1970s; in Athens, Greece, there are refugee squats . In Spain and

12397-565: The aid camps and were occupying land next to an official camp called Corail. On island nations such as Fiji, Kiribati and Samoa, informal settlements are known as squatter settlements. Unlike most Pacific Island countries, it is possible to sell or buy customary land in Kiribati. Zoning laws are not implemented by the government and not widely recognised by local people. On the island of Kiritimati , squatters live in both villages and on old Burns Philp copra plantations. On Rarotonga ,

12558-529: The beginning of the 19th century, there was internal migration from rural areas to cities such as Cochabamba in Bolivia. By 1951, the migrants had begun to seize land and build informal settlements . The land invasions continued despite the authorities often evicting them and from 1945 until 1976, 10 per cent of development in Cochabamba was illegal. From the 1970s the government has attempted to regularize

12719-804: The breakup of these two movements was born Autonomia Operaia , which was composed of a Marxist–Leninist and Maoist wing and also an anarchist and more libertarian one. These squats had Marxist–Leninist (but also Stalinist and Maoist ) ideals and came from the left wing of Autonomia. The militants of the Italian armed struggle (the New Red Brigades ) were connected to these squats. There are many left-wing self-organised occupied projects across Italy such as Cascina Torchiera and Centro Sociale Leoncavallo in Milan and Forte Prenestino in Rome. In Rome there

12880-627: The building a closed military zone and it was unclear if the Palestinian owners could regain possession. The settlers had already occupied the house and been evicted in 2012. In October 2018, Fatou Bensouda , the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court stated that Israel's planned demolition of Bedouin village Khan al-Ahmar could constitute a war crime . Gecekondu is a Turkish word meaning

13041-524: The building being demolished was shot on Freston Road, W11. The Mother Black Cap pub was played by the Frog and Firkin pub at 41 Tavistock Crescent, Westbourne Green , Notting Hill . For some time after the film, the pub was renamed the Mother Black Cap, though it was sold and renamed several times before being demolished in 2010–2011. The cafe where Marwood has breakfast at the beginning of the film

13202-536: The cast credits. It has been suggested that it is possible that 'Marwood' can be heard near the beginning of the film: As the characters escape from the Irishman in the Mother Black Cap , Withnail shouts "Out of my way <indistinct word>!". Some hear this line as "Out of the way, Marwood!", although the script reads simply "Get out of my way!". Although the first name of "I" is not stated anywhere in

13363-430: The character of Withnail after a childhood acquaintance named Jonathan With nall , who was "the coolest guy I had ever met in my life". Early in the film, Withnail reads a newspaper headline "Boy lands plum role for top Italian director" and suggests that the director is sexually abusing the boy. This is a reference to the sexual harassment that Robinson alleges he suffered at the hands of Zeffirelli when, at age 21, he won

13524-871: The city boundaries for the purpose of housing in contradiction to Urban Planning and Land laws and building regulations." These informal settlements arose in Khartoum from the 1920s onwards, swelling in the 1960s. By the 1980s, the government was clearing settlements in Khartoum and regularizing them elsewhere. It was estimated that in 2015 that were 200,000 squatters in Khartoum, 180,000 in Nyala , 60,000 in Kassala , 70,000 in Port Sudan and 170,000 in Wad Madani . Land squats occurred in what would become Zimbabwe in

13685-544: The city's three most important political squats. Starting from December 2012, Greek Police initiated extensive raids in a number of squats in Athens , arresting and charging with offences all illegal occupants (mostly anarchists). Squats including Villa Amalia were evicted. A march in support of the 92 arrestees drew between 3,000 and 8,000 people. After Villa Amalia, Villa Skaramanga and then Villa Lela Karagianni were evicted. Lela Karagianni had been squatted since 1998 and

13846-445: The comedy is used to mock the victim. In the last cases, the victim's suffering is trivialized, which leads to sympathizing with the victimizer, as analogously found in the social commentary and social criticism of the writings of (for instance) Sade . Among the first American writers who employed black comedy in their works were Nathanael West and Vladimir Nabokov . The concept of black humor first came to nationwide attention after

14007-697: The cottage and suggests they leave for London the next day. Withnail in turn demands that they share a bed in the interest of safety but Marwood refuses. During the night, Withnail fears that the poacher wants to harm them and climbs under the covers with Marwood, who angrily leaves for a different bed. Hearing the sounds of an intruder breaking into the cottage, Withnail again joins Marwood in bed. The intruder turns out to be Monty, with supplies. The next day, Marwood realises Monty's visit has ulterior motives when he makes aggressive sexual advances upon him; Withnail seems oblivious to this. Monty drives them into town and gives them money to buy wellington boots but they go to

14168-684: The country, for example Can Masdeu and Can Vies in Barcelona and Eskalera Karakola and La Ingobernable in Madrid. In the Basque Country the centres are known as gaztetxes  [ eu ] . A well-known example was Kukutza in Bilbao. Squatting in England and Wales has a long history. The occupation and cultivation of untended land motivated the Peasants' Revolt of 1381 and

14329-505: The day is certainly starting well.' It's generally called Jewish humor in this country. Actually it's humor from the peasants' revolt, the forty years' war, and from the Napoleonic wars. It's small people being pushed this way and that way, enormous armies and plagues and so forth, and still hanging on in the face of hopelessness. Jewish jokes are middle European jokes and the black humorists are gallows humorists, as they try to be funny in

14490-890: The definitive recipe for all punning' (Puns, p. 127). En français on dit « rire jaune », en flamand « groen lachen » Les termes jaune, vert, bleu évoquent en français un certain nombre d'idées qui sont différentes de celles que suscitent les mots holandais correspondants geel, groen, blauw. Nous disons : rire jaune, le Hollandais dit : rire vert ( groen lachen ); ce que le Néerlandais appelle un vert (een groentje), c'est ce qu'en français on désigne du nom de bleu (un jeune soldat inexpéribenté)... On voit que des confrontations de ce genre permettent de concevoir une étude de la psychologie des peuples fondée sur les associations d'idées que révèlent les variations de sens (sémantique), les expressions figurées, les proverbes et les dictions. Q: Critiche feroci, interrogazioni parlamentari: momenti duri per la satira. A: Satira è far ridere

14651-563: The early 1980s, and attempts to relocate squatters to low-cost housing projects were made by the national government. The sites were not received well, as it moved people far away from their employment and social networks. Projects included the redevelopment of the former Smokey Mountain landfill in Tondo , the BLISS housing project in Taguig , and the establishment of Barangay Bagong Silang as

14812-542: The early 1990s, the Government of Moscow prepared to renovate buildings, but then ran out of money, meaning that squatters occupied prime real estate. By 1996, 40 percent of Tverskaya Street was rented illegally or squatted. Squatting in the Czech Republic began in its modern form when anarchist and punk activists inspired by squatting movements in Amsterdam and Berlin occupied derelict houses following

14973-589: The edge of the city), conventillos (dilapidated tenements in the urban centre) and rural shanty towns from where inhabitants commute to work in the city. An estimated 170,000 people were living in slums in 1992. In Guayaquil , Ecuador's largest city and main port, around 600,000 people in the early 1980s were either squatting on self-built structures over swamplands or living in inner-city slums. Illegal settlements frequently resulted from land invasions, in which large groups of squatters would build structures and hope to prevent eviction through strength in numbers. From

15134-541: The energy company RWE . While the majority of squatting in Germany still comes from left-wing actors there are also examples of right-wing squatting . An example for right-wing squatting in Berlin is the occupation of Weitlingstraße 122. The house was occupied by neo-Nazis in 1990, when a lot of houses in former GDR where empty. They named similar social issues as leftist squatters as their reason for squatting. The space

15295-647: The extra cost of having to rent more property. In the early 2000s, the government estimated that 37% of the population lived in low-income urban communities, over half of which were squatting public land or renting precariously. The National Housing Authority stated over 100,000 families were living under threat of immediate eviction. In China, informal settlements are known as urban villages . Squatter settlements occurred in Hong Kong in 1946, after its wartime occupation by Japan. After 700,000 people migrated from mainland China to Hong Kong between 1949 and 1950;

15456-452: The face of situations which they see as just horrible. At least, Swift's text is preserved, and so is a prefatory note by the French writer André Breton, which emphasizes Swift's importance as the originator of black humor, of laughter that arises from cynicism and scepticism. When it comes to black humor, everything designates him as the true initiator. In fact, it is impossible to coordinate

15617-425: The film credits. In September 1969, two unemployed young actors, flamboyant alcoholic Withnail and contemplative Marwood, live in a messy flat in Camden Town , London. Their only regular visitor is their drug dealer, Danny. One morning, the pair squabble about housekeeping and then leave for a stroll. In Regent's Park , they discuss the poor state of their acting careers and the desire for a holiday; Marwood proposes

15778-420: The film down on the first day of production. He thought that the film had no "discernible jokes" and was badly lit. During the filming of the scene in which Withnail drinks a can of lighter fluid, Robinson changed the contents of the can between takes from water to vinegar to get a better reaction from Grant. The film cost £1.1 million to make. Robinson received £80,000 to direct, £30,000 of which he reinvested into

15939-489: The film has an approval rating of 92% based on 39 reviews, with an average rating of 8.40/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann prove irresistibly hilarious as two misanthropic slackers in Withnail and I, a biting examination of artists living on the fringes of prosperity and good taste." Film critic Roger Ebert added the film to his Great Movies list, describing Grant's performance as

16100-480: The film to shoot additional scenes such as the journeys to and from Penrith , which HandMade Films would not fund. The money was never reimbursed after the film's success. Ringo Starr is credited as a "Special Production Consultant" under his legal name, Richard Starkey MBE . The film was shot almost entirely on location. There was no filming in the real Penrith ; the locations used were in and around nearby Shap and Bampton , Cumbria . Monty's cottage, Crow Crag,

16261-482: The film was ranked number 118 in Empire ' s 500 Greatest Films of All Time list. A 2009 poll by The Guardian among film critics and filmmakers voted it the second best British film of the last 25 years. In 2011, Time Out London named it the seventh-greatest comedy film of all time. In a 2014 poll, readers of Empire voted Withnail and I the 92nd greatest film. In 2016, Games Radar voted Withnail and I

16422-529: The film was released by the UK Film Council . It was shown at over 50 cinemas around the UK on 11 September, as part of the final week of the BBC 's Summer of British Film season. In 2010, McGann said that he sometimes meets viewers who believe the film was actually shot in the 1960s, saying "It comes from the mid-1980s, but it sticks out like a Smiths record. Its provenance is from a different era. None of

16583-548: The film's main characters in Alien 3 . McGann and Brown appeared; however, Grant turned down his role, which eventually went to Charles Dance , who played the character of Clemens in the "spirit of Withnail". In 1996, the Los Angeles Times reported the film (and the associated drinking game) had achieved cult status prior to its home video re-release in the United States. In 2007, a digitally remastered version of

16744-602: The film, it is widely believed that it is "Peter". This myth arose as a result of a line of misheard dialogue. In the scene where Monty meets the two actors, Withnail asks him if he would like a drink. In his reply, Monty both accepts his offer and says "...you must tell me all the news, I haven't seen you since you finished your last film". While pouring another drink, and downing his own, Withnail replies that he has been "Rather busy uncle. TV and stuff". Then pointing at Marwood he says "He's just had an audition for rep". Some hear this line as " Peter' s had an audition for rep", although

16905-684: The former Kalisosok Prison  [ id ] in Surabaya has been squatted since 2000s after being used as a prison for over 100 years. In Thailand , although evictions have reduced their visibility or numbers in urban areas, many squatters still occupy land near railroad tracks, under overpasses, and waterways. Commercial squatting is common in Thailand, where businesses temporarily seize nearby public real estate (such as sidewalks, roadsides, beaches, etc.) and roll out their enterprise, and at closing time they fold it in and lock it up, thus avoiding

17066-436: The former squatters can use their houses as collateral to secure business loans. Former squatters found that it was hard to maintain the property title over time after deaths or divorces and that banks changed their loan requirements so as to exclude them. In Nicaragua, squatting occurred after the 1972 Nicaragua earthquake . In Peru , the name given to the squatter zones is pueblos jóvenes (literally "young towns"). In

17227-550: The fugitive traces of this kind of humor before him, not even in Heraclitus and the Cynics or in the works of Elizabethan dramatic poets. [...] historically justify his being presented as the first black humorist. Contrary to what Voltaire might have said, Swift was in no sense a "perfected Rabelais." He shared to the smallest possible degree Rabelais's taste for innocent, heavy-handed jokes and his constant drunken good humor. [...]

17388-463: The history of the company. The occupation was known simply as Das Besetzte Haus (the occupied house) and was one of the most well known actions of left-radicals of that period in Germany. A book about the occupation was published in 2012, entitled Topf & Söhne – Besetzung auf einem Täterort ( Topf & Söhne – Occupation of a crime scene ). Since 2012, Hambach Forest has been occupied by activists seeking to prevent its destruction by

17549-588: The housing crisis in Ireland. The Prohibition of Forcible Entry and Occupation Act of 1971 criminalized squatting. Squatters can gain title to land and property by adverse possession as governed by the 1957 Statute of Limitations Act. From the 1990s onwards, there have been occasional political squats such as Disco Disco, Magpie and Grangegorman . In early twentieth century France , several artists who would later become world-famous, such as Guillaume Apollinaire , Amedeo Modigliani and Pablo Picasso squatted at

17710-480: The internal database of UK Bailiff Company, there were 100 cases of squatting in 2009, the highest for 40 years, following trends estimated by the Advisory Service for Squatters that squatting has doubled in England and Wales since 1995. As with England, from 1 September 2012, squatting in a residential building was made a criminal offence subject to arrest, fine and imprisonment. Cardiff Squatters Network

17871-439: The joke: whether the joke is being told by the threatened person themselves or by someone else. Black comedy has the social effect of strengthening the morale of the oppressed and undermines the morale of the oppressors. According to Wylie Sypher , "to be able to laugh at evil and error means we have surmounted them." Black comedy is a natural human instinct and examples of it can be found in stories from antiquity. Its use

18032-671: The lack of low cost housing, unemployment and inability to access loans. In 1995, almost 70% of the population of the Nigerian capital Lagos were living in slums. The City of the Dead slum is a well-known squatter community in Cairo , Egypt. Between 1955 and 1975, the Cairo authorities built 39,000 public housing apartments but 2 million people moved there, mostly ending up in informal housing . In Alexandria , Egypt's second city, public housing

18193-582: The largest island in Cook Islands , three informal settlements are inhabited by people from Manihiki , Penrhyn and Pukapuka . The 3,000 dwellers are known as squatters although they have permission to live on the customary land . In the 19th century, the British government claimed to own all of Australia and tried to control land ownership. Wealthy farmers of livestock claimed land for themselves and thus were known as squatters. This type of squatting

18354-480: The late 1960s, people in Northern Ireland were forced to squat through both poverty and a lack of decent housing. In County Tyrone , there were allegations of unfair housing provision on the basis of politics and religion. When a house in the village of Caledon , near Dungannon , was allocated to a young Protestant woman, Emily Beattie, it caused protests. She was secretary to a solicitor who worked for

18515-483: The late 19th century, so they frequently squatted in these unclaimed and marginal spaces. The Frances Street Squats in Vancouver were a row of six buildings squatted for nine months in 1990. They were evicted in a large operation and a film was subsequently made, called The Beat of Frances Street . In recent years, there have been a number of public squats which have brought together the two main contemporary reasons for squatting – homelessness and activism. Examples are

18676-485: The local councils becoming more open to negotiation. More recently, governments have switched from a policy of eradication to one of giving squatters title to their lands, as part of various programs to move people out of slums and to alleviate poverty. Inspired by the World Bank and the thinking of economists such as Hernando de Soto , the programs aim to provide better housing and to promote entrepreneurship, for

18837-521: The majority (30,000) living in London. The BBC reported in 2011 that the government estimated that there were "20,000 squatters in the UK" and "650,000 empty properties". On 1 September 2012, under Section 144 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 , squatting in residential property was criminalised by the Cameron–Clegg coalition , punishable by up to six months in prison or

18998-571: The new offence. In Francoist Spain migrant workers lived in slums on the periphery of cities. After the Spanish transition to democracy , residential squatting occurred in Spanish cities such as Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid, Valencia and Zaragoza. The number of squatted social centres in Barcelona grew from under thirty in the 1990s to around sixty in 2014, as recorded by Info Usurpa (a weekly activist agenda). The influential Kasa de la Muntanya

19159-414: The original shooting script and all commercially published versions of the script read "he's". Towards the end of the film, a telegram arrives at Crow Crag on which the name "Marwood" is partially visible. Peter Frampton worked as make-up artist, Sue Love as hair stylist and Andrea Galer as costume designer. Mary Selway worked as casting director. McGann was Robinson's first choice for "I" but he

19320-450: The originator of black humor and gallows humor (particularly in his pieces Directions to Servants (1731), A Modest Proposal (1729), Meditation Upon a Broomstick (1710), and in a few aphorisms ). In his book, Breton also included excerpts from 45 other writers, including both examples in which the wit arises from a victim with which the audience empathizes, as is more typical in the tradition of gallows humor, and examples in which

19481-695: The particular type of laughter that it arouses ( risata verde or groen lachen ), and said that grotesque satire , as opposed to ironic satire, is the one that most often arouses this kind of laughter. In the Weimar era Kabaretts , this genre was particularly common, and according to Luttazzi, Karl Valentin and Karl Kraus were the major masters of it. Black comedy is common in professions and environments where workers routinely have to deal with dark subject matter. This includes police officers , firefighters , ambulance crews, military personnel, journalists, lawyers, and funeral directors , where it

19642-497: The place and return it to its use as low-income housing. City officials agreed to the repairs and then City Council voted to demolish the building. The cost of demolition was $ 8,900 and the cost of repairs had been projected to be $ 6,900. The North Star hotel was temporarily squatted as a protest against emptiness by the Vancouver Anti-Poverty Committee. In 2011, the "Occupy Toronto squat team" squatted

19803-737: The population lives in slums . There are pavement dwellers in India and in Hong Kong as well as rooftop slums . Informal settlements in Latin America are known by names such as villa miseria (Argentina), pueblos jóvenes (Peru) and asentamientos irregulares (Guatemala, Uruguay). In Brazil, there are favelas in the major cities and rural land-based movements. In industrialized countries , there are often residential squats and also left-wing squatting movements, which can be anarchist , autonomist or socialist in nature, for example in

19964-529: The production values, none of the iconography, none of the style remotely has it down as an 80s picture." On 12 October 2023, it was announced that a stage adaptation would premiere at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre from 3 to 25 May 2024, adapted by Robinson and directed by Sean Foley . Black comedy Black comedy , also known as black humor , bleak comedy , dark comedy , dark humor , gallows humor or morbid humor ,

20125-399: The provocations of reality, to let itself be compelled to suffer. It insists that it cannot be affected by the traumas of the external world; it shows, in fact, that such traumas are no more than occasions for it to gain pleasure." Some other sociologists elaborated this concept further. At the same time, Paul Lewis warns that this "relieving" aspect of gallows jokes depends on the context of

20286-476: The publication of a 1965 mass-market paperback titled Black Humor , edited by Bruce Jay Friedman . The paperback was one of the first American anthologies devoted to the concept of black humor as a literary genre. With the paperback, Friedman labeled as "black humorists" a variety of authors, such as J. P. Donleavy , Edward Albee , Joseph Heller , Thomas Pynchon , John Barth , Vladimir Nabokov, Bruce Jay Friedman himself, and Louis-Ferdinand Céline . Among

20447-504: The recent writers suggested as black humorists by journalists and literary critics are Roald Dahl , Kurt Vonnegut , Warren Zevon , Christopher Durang , Philip Roth , and Veikko Huovinen . Evelyn Waugh has been called "the first contemporary writer to produce the sustained black comic novel." The motive for applying the label black humorist to the writers cited above is that they have written novels, poems, stories, plays, and songs in which profound or horrific events were portrayed in

20608-442: The required period of time as set out in provincial limitation acts and during that time no legal action is taken to evict them, then the ownership of the land transfers from the legal owner to the squatter. Road allowance communities were settlements established by Métis people in the late 1800s through most of the 20th century on road allowances at the margins of settler society. Métis people were dispossessed from their land in

20769-415: The role of Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet . Robinson attributed Uncle Monty's question to Marwood ("Are you a sponge or a stone?") as a direct quote from Zeffirelli. The headline "Nude au pair's secret life" was an actual headline from News of the World on 16 November 1969. The end of the novel saw Withnail dying by suicide by pouring a bottle of wine into the barrel of Monty's shotgun and then pulling

20930-414: The situation. He then symbolically occupied the woman's house for a few hours, before being evicted by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC). One of the policeman was the woman's brother who himself moved into the house later on. The incident quickly became a media sensation and in August the civil rights movement arranged one of its first marches, from Coalisland to Dungannon. This was followed in October by

21091-431: The space and called it Gallery Bosnia. When the Reykjavíkur Akademían (the Reykjavík Academy) was evicted at short notice from Hringbraut 121 in November 2011, it was occupied in protest. The space, which had hosted lectures and also Iceland's trade union and anarchist libraries, was moved to another location but the occupiers were unhappy that the new use of the building would be a guest house for tourists. An art exhibition

21252-562: The squatter population was estimated at 300,000, with people sleeping wherever they could find a space. A fire at Shek Kip Mei in December 1953 resulted in over 50,000 slum-dwellers being left homeless. Rooftop slums then developed, when people began to live illegally on the roofs of urban buildings. In addition, the Kowloon Walled City became an area for squatters, housing up to 50,000 people in Hong Kong. In Mumbai , India, there are an estimated 10 to 12 million inhabitants, and six million of them are squatters . The squatters live in

21413-450: The squatter settlements and the programs have largely failed due to corruption. A fresh initiative set up in 2002 did not prevent new settlements being squatted. In the 1990s, La Paz had 48 unauthorised graveyards where the poor buried their dead. The land was squatted and there was no record of how many people were buried in the cemeteries. There are also squatters in the forest lowlands who are illegal loggers. Indigenous peoples occupied

21574-470: The station. In Regent's Park, Marwood reciprocates Withnail saying that he will miss him, and then leaves. Alone with bottle of wine in hand, Withnail performs " What a piece of work is a man !" from Hamlet to the wolves in a nearby Zoo enclosure, and then turns to walk home in the rain. The film is an adaptation of an unpublished novel written by Robinson in 1969–1970 (an early draft of which sold at auction for £8,125 in 2015). Actor friend Don Hawkins passed

21735-439: The structure needed for a city. As of 2004, across Brazil there were 25 million people living in favelas. After failed attempts in the 1960s and 1970s to bulldoze slums out of existence, the authorities moved towards a policy of toleration. In São Paulo , until 1972 favelas were usually demolished; after that time they were permitted, meaning that in the next decade the number of squatters rose to one million. The largest favela

21896-454: The term black comedy is a relatively broad term covering humour relating to many serious subjects, gallows humor tends to be used more specifically in relation to death, or situations that are reminiscent of dying. Black humour can occasionally be related to the grotesque genre. Literary critics have associated black comedy and black humour with authors as early as the ancient Greeks with Aristophanes . The term black humour (from

22057-406: The trigger as he drank from it. Robinson changed the ending, as he believed it was "too dark". While the name of "I" is never spoken in the film, in the screenplay it is "Marwood". The name "Marwood" is used by Robinson in interviews and in writing as well as by Grant and McGann in the 1999 Channel 4 documentary short Withnail and Us . The name "Marwood" was known to film critic Vincent Canby of

22218-405: The type of housing occupied by squatters. In particular, while squatting of municipal buildings may be treated leniently, squatting of private property can often lead to strongly negative reactions on the part of the general public and the authorities. In African countries such as Nigeria , informal settlements are created by migration from rural areas to urban areas. Reasons for squatting include

22379-516: The visit in London, lied that Marwood was a closet homosexual. Marwood lies that Withnail is the closeted one and that the two of them are in a committed relationship, which Withnail wishes to keep secret from his family and that this is the first night in six years that they have not slept together. Monty, a romantic, believes this explanation and leaves after apologising for coming between them. In private, Marwood furiously confronts Withnail. The next morning, they find Monty has left for London, leaving

22540-421: Was Grant's film debut and established his profile. Featuring performances by Richard Griffiths as Withnail's Uncle Monty and Ralph Brown as Danny the drug dealer, the film has tragic and comic elements and is notable for its period music and many quotable lines. It has been described as "one of Britain's biggest cult films ". The character "I" is named "Marwood" in the published screenplay but goes unnamed in

22701-424: Was a derelict department store which had stood empty for nine years. After being evicted from the building, two hundred squatters set up a tent city on the pavement outside. The action is credited with putting in motion the eventual redevelopment of the building. The Peterborough Coalition Against Poverty (PCAP) publicly squatted 1130 Water Street, a building which stood empty after a fire. The group offered to repair

22862-435: Was a large squatting movement in the newly formed state of Austria following the First World War . Famine was a significant problem for many people in Austria and the "Siedler" (settler) movement developed as these people tried to create shelter and a source of food for themselves. The Ernst Kirchweger Haus (EKH) in Vienna was squatted as a social centre in 1990 and legalised in 2008. In 2014, 1,500 riot police officers ,

23023-443: Was a practice used by artists and musicians to acquire communal rooms and then expand into other rooms. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union , there were many collectively organised housing occupations by families and refugees. The groups would attempt to legalise in some cases and not in others. There were also art squats, for example, in Saint Petersburg , there were Pushkinskaya 10, Na Fontanke and Synovia doktora Pelia. In

23184-431: Was also the location for the Crow and Crown pub. The King Henry pub and the Penrith Tea Rooms scenes were filmed in the Market Square in Stony Stratford , Milton Keynes , Buckinghamshire , at what is now The Crown Inn Stony Stratford and Cox & Robinson pharmacy, respectively. Withnail and Marwood's flat was located at 57 Chepstow Place in Bayswater , W2 . The shot of them leaving for Penrith as they turn left from

23345-425: Was composed by David Dundas and Rick Wentworth . The film features a rare appearance of a recording by the Beatles , whose 1968 song " While My Guitar Gently Weeps " plays as the titular duo return to London and find Presuming Ed in the bath. The song, written and sung by George Harrison, was able to be included in the soundtrack due to Harrison's involvement as a producer. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes ,

23506-451: Was fired during rehearsals because Robinson decided McGann's Scouse (Liverpool) accent was wrong for the character. Several other actors read for the role but McGann eventually persuaded Robinson to re-audition him, promising to affect a Home Counties accent and quickly won back the part. Actors Robinson considered for "Withnail" included Daniel Day-Lewis , Bill Nighy , Kenneth Branagh and Edward Tudor-Pole . Robinson claims that Grant

23667-420: Was formed in December 2012, to network together squatters citywide, and host "skill-share" workshops on squatting legally in commercial buildings. In Canada, there are two systems to register the ownership of land. Under the land title system, squatter rights, formally known as adverse possession, were abolished. However, under the registry system, these rights have been preserved. If a person occupies land for

23828-626: Was founded in 1992 by people who had been squatting in Freiburg im Breisgau in the 1980s to provide a way of transforming private property into collective ownership , including squats. Squatting has also been used as a tactic for campaigning purposes, such as the Anatopia project, which protested against a Mercedes-Benz test track. Squatters moved into the former factory site of J.A. Topf & Söhne in Erfurt in April 2001 and remained there until they were evicted by police in April 2009. The firm made crematoria for Nazi concentration camps . The squatters ran culture programs which drew attention to

23989-424: Was later reoccupied. The name came from the street, named for a Greek World War II resistance leader of that name. From 2015 onwards Athens has seen refugee squats in response to the European migrant crisis which are anarchist and self-organised. In 2019, several squats in Exarcheia were evicted by the Greek state. Some of the migrants evicted set up a camp outside the Parliament at Syntagma Square . There

24150-551: Was occupied in 1989. In 2014, the ultimately unsuccessful attempts to evict the long-running social centre of Can Vies provoked major riots. Another long-running squat is Can Masdeu , which survived a concerted eviction attempt in 2002. Eleven occupiers suspended themselves off the walls of the building for several days. Younger squatters set up self-managed social centres which hosted events and campaigns. The 1995 Criminal Code among other things criminalised squatting, but failed to stop it. Social centres exist in cities across

24311-406: Was only 0.5% of the total housing stock, whereas informal housing was 68%. An estimated 3,500 people live in the Grande Hotel Beira in Mozambique . Informal settlements in Zambia , particularly around Lusaka , are known as kombonis . As of 2011, 64% of Zambians lived below the poverty line , whilst the United Nations predicted a 941% population increase by 2100. In Liberia , squatting

24472-442: Was organised, with a camera obscura, live music and shadow theatre. In Italy, despite the lack of official data, it appears that about 50,000 buildings all over the country are unused or abandoned and thus subject to squatting. Squatting has no legal basis, but many squats are used as social centres . The first occupations of abandoned buildings began in 1968 with the left-wing movements Lotta Continua and Potere Operaio . Out of

24633-582: Was prepared to intervene in local and broader politics". The Autonomen movement protected squats against eviction and participated in radical direct action in cities such as Berlin. The squats were mainly for residential and social use. Squatting became known by the term instandbesetzen , from instandsetzen ("renovating") and besetzen ("occupying"). Well-known contemporary squats include Køpi in Berlin and Rote Flora in Hamburg. Legalised housing projects include Hafenstraße in Hamburg and Kiefernstraße in Düsseldorf. The Mietshäuser Syndikat

24794-471: Was president of the country at the time. During the Great Recession (2007–2009) more shanty towns appeared with others squatting in foreclosed homes. During the hippie movement , squatters in New Mexico established the commune of Tawapa near the Sandia Mountains . However, they were kicked out in the 1990s because they did not have the legal rights to the land. Community organizations have abetted squatters in taking over vacant buildings not only as

24955-447: Was set up in 1992, aiming to help low-income families transition from squatting to affordable housing . By 2001, around 106,000 families had found secure housing in over 800 separate communities. The trajectory of squatting in central and eastern Europe is different from that of western Europe because, until recently, countries were part of the Communist Bloc and squatting is generally not tolerated. In 1980s Soviet Russia , there

25116-405: Was squatted in the Kadıköy district. It was stated to be the city's first occupied and self-managed social centre; Caferağa Mahalle Evi (community centre Caferağa), also in Kadıköy , was squatted soon afterwards and evicted in December 2014. A place was occupied in Beşiktaş district of Istanbul on March 18, 2014, and named Berkin Elvan Student House, after a 15-year-old boy who was shot during

25277-458: Was squatted, before being evicted in 2007. Recently, over 9,000 Burkinabés were squatting on remote land and the Liberia Land Authority (LLA) has announced it will be titling all land in the country. In South Africa , squatters tend to live in informal settlements or squatter camps on the outskirts of the larger cities, often but not always near townships . In the mid-1990s, an estimated 7.7 million South Africans lived in informal settlements:

25438-423: Was the ZAD de Notre-Dame-des-Landes , which successfully opposed an airport project near Nantes. Geneva in Switzerland had 160 buildings illegally occupied and more than 2,000 squatters, in the middle of the 1990s. The RHINO ( Retour des Habitants dans les Immeubles Non-Occupés , in English: Return of Inhabitants to Non-Occupied Buildings ) was a 19-year-long squat in Geneva. It occupied two buildings on

25599-402: Was too fat to play Withnail and told him that "half of you has got to go". Grant has denied this. Though he plays a raging alcoholic, Grant is a teetotaller with an allergy to alcohol. He had never been drunk prior to making the film. Robinson decided that it would be impossible for Grant to play the character without having ever experienced inebriation and a hangover, so he "forced" the actor on

25760-518: Was used for different purposes ranging from a place to live, gather or party, to producing propaganda and planning right-wing terrorist activities. The squat dissolved at the end of 1990 because of disagreements in the heterogenous group of squatters. In Reykjavík , the capital of Iceland, there is a small tradition of squatting. In 1919, anarchists occupied a building and were quickly evicted. Squatters occupied an empty house in downtown Reykjavík on Vatnsstigur street in April 2009. The squatters set up

25921-488: Was widespread in middle Europe , from where it was imported to the United States. It is rendered with the German expression Galgenhumor (cynical last words before getting hanged ). The concept of gallows humor is comparable to the French expression rire jaune (lit. yellow laughing ), which also has a Germanic equivalent in the Belgian Dutch expression groen lachen (lit. green laughing ). Italian comedian Daniele Luttazzi discussed gallows humour focusing on

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