Bringemovies
← Browse Movies
Searching for Sam: Adrian Dunbar on Samuel Beckett
TITLE DETAILS

Searching for Sam: Adrian Dunbar on Samuel Beckett

2019-12-22 · 58 min · ★ 10.0

Documentary

Samuel Beckett has fascinated Adrian Dunbar since he was a young student. Now, 30 years after Beckett's death in Paris, Dunbar explores what made the man who made Waiting for Godot.

Open detail page

Trailers are previews, not full movies.

No authorized playback source configured. Use the legal watch options below.

Production details

Directors
Paul McGuigan
Production companies
BBC
Countries
United Kingdom, Ireland, France
Status
Released

Top Cast

Adrian DunbarAdrian DunbarSelf - Presenter
Stephen ReaStephen ReaSelf
James KnowlsonSelf
Barry McGovernBarry McGovernSelf
John MinihanSelf
Clara SimpsonClara SimpsonSelf
Samuel BeckettSamuel BeckettSelf (Archive)

Title information and images are supplied by TMDb. Explore our discovery guide for advice on comparing metadata and legal viewing options.

Where to watch

Availability provided by JustWatch via TMDb. Offers can change. Provider links are listed on TMDb; full playback requires a separately authorized source.

Availability not listed for this country.

Recommendations

Hamilton's America
★ 6.8
Hamilton's America2016Documentary

This documentary delves deeper into the creation of the Hamilton musical, revealing Lin-Manuel Miranda's process of absorbing and then adapting Hamilton's epic story into ground-breaking musical theater.

For the Love of Spock
★ 7.4
For the Love of Spock2016Documentary

The life of Mr. Spock, as well as that of Leonard Nimoy, the actor who played him for almost fifty years, written and directed by his son: Adam.

The Pigeon Tunnel
★ 6.6
The Pigeon Tunnel2023Documentary

Academy Award winner Errol Morris pulls back the curtain on the storied life and career of David Cornwell, the former spy known to the literary world as John le Carré.

The Mole: Undercover in North Korea
★ 7.1
The Mole: Undercover in North Korea2020Documentary

A real-life undercover thriller about two ordinary men who embark on an outrageously dangerous ten-year mission to penetrate the world's most secretive and brutal dictatorship: North Korea.

Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold
★ 7.4
Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold2017Documentary

Literary icon Joan Didion reflects on her remarkable career and personal struggles in this intimate documentary directed by her nephew, Griffin Dunne.

Struggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski
★ 7.5
Struggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski2018Documentary

Artists in LA discover the work of forgotten Polish sculptor Stanislav Szukalski, a mad genius whose true story unfolds chapter by astounding chapter.

Gilbert
★ 6.7
Gilbert2017Documentary

The life and career of one of comedy's most inimitable modern voices, Mr. Gilbert Gottfried.

35 Up
★ 7.6
35 Up1991Documentary

Director Michael Apted revisits the same group of British-born adults after a 7 year wait. The subjects are interviewed as to the changes that have occurred in their lives during the last seven years.

The Battered Bastards of Baseball
★ 7.4
The Battered Bastards of Baseball2014Documentary

Hollywood veteran Bing Russell creates the only independent baseball team in the country—alarming the baseball establishment and sparking the meteoric rise of the 1970s Portland Mavericks.

Get Me Roger Stone
★ 7.1
Get Me Roger Stone2017Documentary

From his days of testifying at the Watergate hearings to advising recent presidential candidate Donald Trump, Roger Stone has long offended people on both sides of the political fence as a force in conservative America. Outspoken author, pundit, ahead of his time election strategist, this is his story.

My Mom Jayne
★ 8.0
My Mom Jayne2025Documentary

Through deeply personal interviews with her siblings and an examination of the photographs, letters, and belongings left behind, Mariska assembles a new portrait of her mother Jayne Mansfield, an extraordinary and complex woman.

I Am Heath Ledger
★ 7.4
I Am Heath Ledger2017Documentary

The life and career of an actor, artist, and icon. His own journey through his own camera.

Michael Moore in TrumpLand
★ 5.9
Michael Moore in TrumpLand2016Documentary

Oscar-winner Michael Moore dives right into hostile territory with his daring and hilarious one-man show, deep in the heart of TrumpLand in the weeks before the 2016 election.

Lost in La Mancha
★ 7.0
Lost in La Mancha2002Documentary

Fulton and Pepe's 2000 documentary captures Terry Gilliam's attempt to get The Man Who Killed Don Quixote off the ground. Back injuries, freakish storms, and more zoom in to sabotage the project.

In the Realms of the Unreal
★ 7.2
In the Realms of the Unreal2004Documentary

In the Realms of the Unreal is a documentary about the reclusive Chicago-based artist Henry Darger. Henry Darger was so reclusive that when he died his neighbors were surprised to find a 15,145-page manuscript along with hundreds of paintings depicting The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glodeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Cased by the Child Slave Rebellion.

Hawking
★ 7.6
Hawking2013Documentary

The extraordinary story of the planet’s most famous contemporary scientist, told in his own words and by those closest to him. Made with unique access to Hawking’s private life, this is an intimate and moving journey into Stephen's world, both past and present.

Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
★ 6.0
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood2018Documentary

A deliciously scandalous portrait of unsung Hollywood legend Scotty Bowers, whose bestselling memoir chronicled his decades spent as sexual procurer to the stars.

Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin
★ 7.0
Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin2003Documentary

Brilliant, long in-the-works story of the life and art of the world's greatest comedian and the cinema's first genius, Charlie Chaplin. Produced, written and directed by renowned film critic Richard Schickel.

Come See Me in the Good Light
★ 7.0
Come See Me in the Good Light2025Documentary

In an intimate and joyful story of love in the face of loss, celebrated poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley find strength—and unexpected hilarity—in what might be their final year together.

The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart
★ 7.7
The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart2020Documentary

The story of the triumphs and hurdles of brothers Barry, Maurice, and Robin Gibb, otherwise known as the Bee Gees. The iconic trio, who found early fame in the 1960s, went on to write over 1,000 songs and have 20 No. 1 hits throughout their career, transcending more than five decades of changing tastes and styles.

Similar titles

Poster unavailable
Not rated
This Beggar's Description2006Documentary

It's a sensitive, moving doc chronicling the life of Tétrault's brother Philip , a Montreal poet, musician and diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic. A promising athlete as a child, Philip began experiencing mood swings in his early 20s. His extended family, including his daughter, share their conflicted feelings love, guilt, shame, anger with the camera. They want to make sure he's safe, but how much can they take?

Bukowski: The Last Straw
★ 2.0
Bukowski: The Last Straw2008Documentary

The Last Straw is a film documenting the very last live poetry reading given by Charles Bukowski at The Sweetwater, a music club in Redondo Beach, California on March 31, 1980

Merton: A Film Biography
★ 7.8
Merton: A Film Biography1984Documentary

In his lifetime, Thomas Merton was hailed as a prophet and censured for his outspoken social criticism. For nearly 27 years he was a monk of the austere Trappist order, where he became an eloquent spiritual writer and mystic as well as an anti-war advocate and witness to peace. Merton: A Film Biography provides the first comprehensive look at this remarkable 20th century religious philosopher who wrote, in addition to his immensely popular autobiography The Seven Storey Mountain, over 60 books on some of the most pressing social issues of our time, some of which are excerpted here. Merton offers an engaging profile of a man whose presence in the world touched millions of people and whose words and thoughts continue to have a profound impact and relevance today.

Poster unavailable
Not rated
Pra Milan i Rtanjska bićaDocumentary

Pra-Milan (73) is a poet, philosopher, and two-time presidential candidate from the 1990s. After winning a lawsuit against the state for the persecution he endured under the communist regime, he leases a neglected tourist complex on the mystical mountain of Rtanj.

Who's Afraid of Kathy Acker?
★ 7.0
Who's Afraid of Kathy Acker?2007Documentary

Documentary tracing the extreme life of outlaw writer, performance artist and punk icon, Kathy Acker. Through animation, archival footage, interviews and dramatic reenactments, director Barbara Caspar explores Acker's colorful history, from her well-heeled upbringing to her role as the scribe of society's fringe.

Jean Sénac, The Blacksmith of the Sun
★ 10.0
Jean Sénac, The Blacksmith of the Sun2003Documentary

By ending the life of Jean Senac on August 30, 1973 in Algiers, his assassins believed they would silence him forever. They were wrong since his voice is a little louder every day. Witnesses to these craze: the publication of the complete works of this great poet, the countless conferences and radio broadcasts devoted to him and finally the production of films such as "Jean Sénac, the blacksmith of the sun". The moving and overwhelming testimonies of those who knew him, the unpublished film archives, the generous voice of the poet on the radio, the discovery of his travels in the territories of poetry and politics make this film a precious document on the life of Jean Senac.

Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World
★ 7.0
Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World2026Documentary

From a lonely childhood to literary fame, her life was shaped by devotion to nature, paying attention, and the long journey toward learning to love and to be loved. If poetry had a pop icon, Mary Oliver would be it.

What The Durrells Did Next
★ 7.4
What The Durrells Did Next2019Documentary

Hosted by Keeley Hawes, star of the popular television series The Durrells, this documentary reveals the adventures of the eccentric Durrell family once they left Corfu, Greece.

Das Schreiben und das Schweigen - Die Schriftstellerin Friederike Mayröcker
Not rated
Das Schreiben und das Schweigen - Die Schriftstellerin Friederike Mayröcker2008Documentary

After her first film about Friederike Mayröcker, filmmaker Carmen Tartarotti decided to make a second film about the poet 15 years later.

The Gospel According to Philip K. Dick
★ 3.6
The Gospel According to Philip K. Dick2001Documentary

Writers, publishers, fans, and friends share their perspectives and memories of sci-fi writer Philip K. Dick. In his career, Philip Kindred Dick (1928–82) published dozens of science fiction novels and short stories. His work has reached a wider audience due to such film adaptations as BLADE RUNNER (1982), TOTAL RECALL (1990), MINORITY REPORT (2002), and A SCANNER DARKLY (2006).

Tell Me the Truth About Love
★ 5.0
Tell Me the Truth About Love2000Documentary

A look at the theme of love in the life of the poet WH Auden, who wrote such famous poems as "Stop All the Clocks" (made famous in "Four Weddings and a Funeral"), "Lay Your Sleeping Head My Love" and "As I Walked Out One Evening". This film centres on new interviews with Auden’s close friends and looks at how his most important relationships were reflected in some of the greatest poems of the 20th century.

Poster unavailable
Not rated
Polis Is This: Charles Olson and the Persistence of Place2007Documentary

Documentary about Charles Olson, exploring his life and the significance of Gloucester, Massachusetts.

How Proust Can Change Your Life
★ 6.2
How Proust Can Change Your Life2000Documentary

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.

L'Arbre et le Soleil
Not rated
L'Arbre et le Soleil1990Documentary

This film is dedicated to Mas-Félipe Delavouët, the poet discovered by Lawrence Durrell, who wrote 14,000 verses in Provençal over a period of thirty years, and who died on November 18, 1990. "The sky, history and Mediterranean and Provençal myths are the inexhaustable wellspring of this man rooted down there, near Salon-de-Provence" (J.-D. Pollet). "Mas-Félipe Delavouët wrote five books in Provençal, 14,000 verses. A sort of "Odyssey". Of myths. What is stunning in him is that he always talks of disappearances. Cities, works, men, writings, television, etc., everything has to disappear. In order to be reborn. No pain. A sort of hand-to-hand of man and nature. During the filming, I would simply throw out some words... For example, one time I said "creation" and he said: "creation doesn't exist..., creation is before me..., I can only read creation"; this sentence describes Delavouët perfectly (J.-D. Pollet, 1989 and 1993).

Du Fu: China's Greatest Poet
★ 10.0
Du Fu: China's Greatest Poet2020Documentary

Sir Ian McKellen reads the poetry, Michael Wood traces the journey on the ground. Together they conjure up the extraordinary life, times and words of China’s greatest poet, Du Fu. In this film, the first to ever be made about Du Fu in the west, Michael follows his tracks by road, train and riverboat. Along the way, he meets ordinary people, dancers and musicians, who help to tell the amazing story of a poet whose words have resonated through the centuries, describing the experiences of ordinary people caught up in war, corruption, famine and natural disasters. "I am one of the privileged. If my life is so bitter, then how much worse is the life of the common people?"

Alexander Pope: Rediscovering a Genius
Not rated
Alexander Pope: Rediscovering a Genius2021Documentary

Docudrama that recounts the astonishing life story of a forgotten genius, English poet Alexander Pope, who lived from 1688 to 1744.

Poster unavailable
★ 9.0
Karel Jonckheere1976Documentary

Documentary about the life and work of Flemish poet Karel Jonckheere looked at from four perspectives/professions: farmer, fisherman, sheepherder and hunter.

Borges para millones
★ 10.0
Borges para millones1978Documentary

The life and work of Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges, a long interview, fragments of some of his most significant verses and dramatizations of some of his stories. Borges for everyone.

Poster unavailable
★ 4.5
Wilfred Owen: A Remembrance Tale2007Documentary

Jeremy Paxman tells the tragic story of World War One poet Wilfred Owen.

Poster unavailable
Not rated
Rodrigo Lira2026Documentary

A collective portrait in which friends and acquaintances explore the complexities of Rodrigo Lira, a pivotal poet on the national scene of the 1980s. The short film exposes diverse literary and personal facets of Lira, while simultaneously fragmenting, reiterating, and juxtaposing the speeches of the group of interviewees, making it in itself a work of audiovisual experimentation. Originally filmed months after Lira's suicide, this film was recuperated and preserved by Universidad de Chile's Film Archive, who were able to release it in 2026.

Your favorites

Recently viewed

Watch

Choose an authorized server.

Full video from an operator-configured authorized source. Official trailers use a separate player. If a server fails, retry or select another authorized server.

Legal watch options

Official trailer

Trailer preview only. Press Play to start.

Privacy choices

Favorites stay in your browser. Movie images load from TMDb. YouTube trailers contact YouTube only after you allow external media and choose a trailer. Advertising consent, if ads are enabled, is managed separately by the operator’s certified CMP.

Privacy policy

After allowing external media, choose the trailer button to load its player.