Wittgenstein is a 1993 film by the English director Derek Jarman, it is loosely based on the life story as well as the philosophical thinking of the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein.
Some may believe that the film is a useful way to learn about Wittgenstein’s philosophy as the film uses simple language that is easy to understand, this is reflected in Wittgenstein’s philosophy of language games because he believed to be able to be in the game, you had to understand the rules of the game to be able to talk about the game. Therefore, in order for people to talk about the film, language that is easy to understand needs to be used. The film also uses props which carry hidden meanings in order to portray Wittgenstein’s philosophy and certain parts of his life, in a way that may be easier for some people instead of too much description.
However, many people may find the use of props to portray certain things about Wittgenstein’s life and philosophy confusing, it is hard to understand the hidden meaning of the props being used if you have not studied Wittgenstein and his theory prior to watching the film. The props may also be seen to be distracting, for example the alien that is used in the film, it is very difficult to understand what the alien actually represents and why he was used at all. The alien is not the only prop that was hard to understand, there were many others that were never explained in the film, you just had to know. 
Another reason why the film is not a useful way to learn about Wittgenstein’s philosophy is because the film is heavily based on biographical information and what was happening in Wittgenstein’s life. The film was also based a lot on the build up to Wittgenstein’s philosophy and how he got to his final ideas, not the actual theory of his philosophy. Also, when the film actually did explain Wittgenstein’s theory (when he was lecturing at Cambridge) the film made it very hard for not only the other characters to understand what Wittgenstein was talking about, but also the audience, this could have been done in a much clearer way so that the audience can learn from the film.
To conclude, we feel that the film is not at all a useful way to learn about Wittgenstein’s philosophy, as not only is the film based more on biographical information but the hidden messages and props used are too distracting for any audience to learn anything about his philosophy from the film.
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