# Insignificance
**Insignificance** is a 1985 British comedy-drama film directed by [Nicolas Roeg](https://www.edgepedia.org/nicolas-roeg), adapted by playwright Terry Johnson from his own stage play, in which four unnamed characters resembling [Albert Einstein](https://www.edgepedia.org/albert-einstein), Marilyn Monroe, Joe DiMaggio, and [Joseph McCarthy](https://www.edgepedia.org/joseph-mccarthy) converge in a New York City hotel room over a single night in the 1950s[1](https://www.criterion.com/films/27618-insignificance). Playing the Professor is Michael Emil, the Actress is portrayed by Theresa Russell, Gary Busey takes the role of the Ballplayer, and the Senator is played by Tony Curtis.[1](https://www.criterion.com/films/27618-insignificance)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / writer | Nicolas Roeg; screenplay by Terry Johnson, adapted from his play[1](https://www.criterion.com/films/27618-insignificance) |
| Cast | Michael Emil (the Professor), Theresa Russell (the Actress), Gary Busey (the Ballplayer), Tony Curtis (the Senator), Will Sampson (the Indian elevatorman)[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57718-INSIGNIFICANCE) |
| Source play | First performed at the Royal Court Theatre, London, on 8 July 1982[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57718-INSIGNIFICANCE) |
| Production | Principal photography began 18 June 1984 in London, with location work in New York City; budget $4 million[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57718-INSIGNIFICANCE) |
| Festival | In Competition at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival; winner of the C.S.T. Prize[3](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/insignificance/) |
| US release | 2 August 1985 (Los Angeles), rated R, distributed by Island Alive Releasing[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57718-INSIGNIFICANCE) |
| Runtime | Criterion lists 108 minutes; the AFI Catalog lists 110 minutes[1](https://www.criterion.com/films/27618-insignificance) • [2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57718-INSIGNIFICANCE) |
## Spoilers
### Premise and characters
The film never names its four principals, identifying them only as the Professor, the Actress, the Ballplayer, and the Senator, but their models are unmistakable: a white-haired Princeton physicist, a white-blonde movie star, a baseball legend, and a red-baiting senator[1](https://www.criterion.com/films/27618-insignificance) • [4](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-08-01-ca-4535-story.html). A title card before the opening credits states, "This story and its contents are entirely fictitious"[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57718-INSIGNIFICANCE).
According to the AFI Catalog synopsis, the story is set in March 1954 at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City. The Senator visits the Professor on the eve of an "Anti-American" activities committee hearing and pressures him to cooperate, but the Professor refuses to testify. At three in the morning the Actress visits the Professor's room and goes to great lengths to prove she understands his Theory of Relativity. Her husband, the Ballplayer, arrives; embarrassed by him, she first refuses to leave with him, then locks herself in the bathroom. The Senator returns in the morning with a search warrant, finds the Actress alone in the Professor's bed, threatens to destroy the Professor's work, and punches her in the stomach when she offers to sleep with him. The Professor, refusing to cooperate, throws his life's work out the hotel window; the Actress suffers a miscarriage, and the Professor admits guilt over the atomic bomb his theories helped create. The film ends with the Professor imagining another bomb destroying the hotel room and burning her alive[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57718-INSIGNIFICANCE).
The film's most often cited scene is the Actress's demonstration of relativity for the Professor, staged with props including clockwork trains and balloons[5](https://www.timeout.com/movies/insignificance). The Los Angeles Times review notes that the meeting is not entirely surreal, since Einstein and Monroe did once meet and were reportedly charmed by each other[4](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-08-01-ca-4535-story.html).
## Themes
Roeg uses the four icons as a fun-house-mirror image of fifties America, reflecting on the nature of celebrity and lingering cold-war nuclear nightmares[1](https://www.criterion.com/films/27618-insignificance). The characters stand for the pillars of American culture: science and technology, entertainment, politics, and sports[6](https://www.qnetwork.com/review/2587). The film is set against the threat of atomic destruction, the [House Un-American Activities Committee](https://www.edgepedia.org/house-un-american-activities-committee) at "full boil," and Monroe's famous subway-grate scene, which opens the film with the Actress's skirt blowing up "like a mushroom cloud"[6](https://www.qnetwork.com/review/2587) • [7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1985/10/04/insignificance-myth-the-point/fff07575-6b7a-48eb-940d-9031fe955d6f/). Screen Slate places the story in the week of the initial hydrogen bomb tests at [Bikini Atoll](https://www.edgepedia.org/bikini-atoll), and notes the film's flashes of twisted Timexes, pocketwatches, and broken clocks as part of a meditation on cinematic time[8](https://www.screenslate.com/articles/insignificance).
## Production
The project was the third collaboration between Roeg and producer Jeremy Thomas[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57718-INSIGNIFICANCE). According to trade-press reports gathered by the AFI Catalog, Roeg planned to begin filming in New York in 1983; principal photography instead began 18 June 1984 in London at Lee International Studios, moved to New York City for ten days, and returned to London for a final week. Filming was completed on the $4 million picture by mid-August 1984[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57718-INSIGNIFICANCE). The production companies were Zenith and Recorded Picture Company[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57718-INSIGNIFICANCE).
The crew included cinematographer Peter Hannan, editor Tony Lawson, and composers Stanley Myers and [Hans Zimmer](https://www.edgepedia.org/hans-zimmer)[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57718-INSIGNIFICANCE). The songs include "Wild Hearts," written by Will Jennings and [Roy Orbison](https://www.edgepedia.org/roy-orbison) and sung by Orbison, and "Life Goes On," sung by [Theresa Russell](https://www.edgepedia.org/theresa-russell)[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57718-INSIGNIFICANCE).
## Release and reception
The film screened In Competition at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival and received the C.S.T. Prize[3](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/insignificance/); Cinegraph records this as the Technical Grand Prize[9](https://cinegraph.org/movies/insignificance-1985). It opened in Los Angeles on 2 August 1985 and in New York on 11 August 1985[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57718-INSIGNIFICANCE).
Contemporary reviews were divided. [The Spectator](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-spectator)'s Peter Ackroyd called it "by any standards an interesting film" and praised Michael Emil's handling of a difficult part, while finding the source material somewhat constricting for Roeg's concerns[10](https://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/17th-august-1985/34/cinema). The Washington Post's Rita Kempley was dismissive, calling the adaptation self-indulgent[7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1985/10/04/insignificance-myth-the-point/fff07575-6b7a-48eb-940d-9031fe955d6f/). Later assessments have been warmer: Adam Nayman of The Ringer called it "a minor masterpiece of American counter-mythology, with the most comically apocalyptic finale since Dr. Strangelove," and Roger Ebert gave it three of four stars, calling it "more of an acting and writing tour de force than a statement on sports, politics, sex symbols or relativity"[11](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/insignificance). Rotten Tomatoes reports a 73% Tomatometer from 15 reviews and a 65% audience score[11](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/insignificance).
## Home video
[The Criterion Collection](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-criterion-collection) issued a director-approved special edition (Spine #566) with a newly restored digital transfer supervised by Roeg and Thomas, new interviews with Roeg, Thomas, and editor Tony Lawson, the set documentary *Making "Insignificance,"* the original trailer, an essay by critic Chuck Stephens, and a reprinted exchange between Roeg and Terry Johnson[1](https://www.criterion.com/films/27618-insignificance). The film streams on the Criterion Channel and can be rented or bought on Prime Video[12](https://www.moviefone.com/movie/insignificance/1017541/where-to-watch/).
## References
1. [Insignificance (1985), The Criterion Collection](https://www.criterion.com/films/27618-insignificance)
2. [Insignificance (1985), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57718-INSIGNIFICANCE)
3. [INSIGNIFICANCE, Festival de Cannes](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/insignificance/)
4. ["'Insignificance': A Night of Icons," Los Angeles Times, 1 August 1985](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-08-01-ca-4535-story.html)
5. [Insignificance review, Time Out](https://www.timeout.com/movies/insignificance)
6. [Insignificance review, QNetwork](https://www.qnetwork.com/review/2587)
7. ["'Insignificance': Myth the Point," The Washington Post, 3 October 1985](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1985/10/04/insignificance-myth-the-point/fff07575-6b7a-48eb-940d-9031fe955d6f/)
8. [Insignificance, Screen Slate](https://www.screenslate.com/articles/insignificance)
9. [Insignificance, Cinegraph](https://cinegraph.org/movies/insignificance-1985)
10. [Peter Ackroyd, "Cinema," The Spectator, 17 August 1985](https://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/17th-august-1985/34/cinema)
11. [Insignificance, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/insignificance)
12. [Where to Watch Insignificance, Moviefone](https://www.moviefone.com/movie/insignificance/1017541/where-to-watch/)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of the 1980s › Comedy-dramas of the 1980s*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license