Over the last week or so we've had a bumper film viewing. We've seen The Imitation Game, Theory of Everything and Whiplash.
The Imitation Game is a 2014 historical thriller film about British mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst and pioneering computer scientist Alan Turing who was a key figure in cracking Nazi Germany's naval Enigma code which helped the Allies win the Second World War, only to later be criminally prosecuted for his homosexuality. The film stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Turing, and is directed by Morten Tyldum, with a screenplay by Graham Moore based on the biography Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges.
The Theory of Everything is a 2014 British biographical romantic drama film directed by James Marsh and adapted by Anthony McCarten from the memoir Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen by Jane Wilde Hawking, which deals with her relationship with her ex-husband, theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, his diagnosis of motor neuron disease, and his success in physics
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Whiplash is a 2014 American drama film written and directed by Damien Chazelle. The film stars Miles Teller as a young jazz drummer who attends one of the best music schools in the country under the tutelage of the school’s fearsome maestro of jazz. It also stars Paul Reiser, Melissa Benoist, Austin Stowell, Jayson Blair, and Kavita Patil.
The three films are outstanding in their own way as they explore the complexities of brilliance and the relationship of the man to his superiors and colleagues, the husband and wife, and the maestro and student. All positions of power in their own way.
The Imitation Game's portrayal of the man Alan Turing is fully rounded, showing his complex personality, his love for a fellow student who dies in childhood, and after whom he names his invention, the first computer essentially, called Chris; his brilliance as an adult mathematician, the impact of his autism on his social relationships, and the tragedy of being prosecuted for homosexual behaviour at a time when it was still illegal and linked to this, his suicide, before what he achieved in cracking the Enigma Code could be made public. (the 50 year secrecy laws).
Contrast this The Theory of Everything, the story of another scientist, Stephen Hawkins, from the point of view of Jane, his wife. The story is primarily her story of their relationship. I heard her interviewed on Woman's Hour recently, and she said that she became utterly exhausted in looking after her husband, as his motor neuron disease worsened. She had to sit up night after night with him as he had a tendency to choke. The only respite she got was when her mother occasionally came to stay. He refused outside help.This grind of exhaustion and personal sacrifice is only hinted at in the film. She to me is the hero, the heroine of this relationship.
Contrast again Whiplash the story of the relationship of a teacher to his student, studying jazz and drums at an American college. This is a story of misplaced intention, bullying, abuse of power, revenge, loneliness and suffering, but also of outstanding courage, overwhelming determination and hard, hard work in the desire to win and seek approval from the maestro tutor. This relationship, to me, was the most disturbing of the three films we saw.
What price, brilliance?
All films currently on general release. All recommended.
The three films are outstanding in their own way as they explore the complexities of brilliance and the relationship of the man to his superiors and colleagues, the husband and wife, and the maestro and student. All positions of power in their own way.
The Imitation Game's portrayal of the man Alan Turing is fully rounded, showing his complex personality, his love for a fellow student who dies in childhood, and after whom he names his invention, the first computer essentially, called Chris; his brilliance as an adult mathematician, the impact of his autism on his social relationships, and the tragedy of being prosecuted for homosexual behaviour at a time when it was still illegal and linked to this, his suicide, before what he achieved in cracking the Enigma Code could be made public. (the 50 year secrecy laws).
Contrast this The Theory of Everything, the story of another scientist, Stephen Hawkins, from the point of view of Jane, his wife. The story is primarily her story of their relationship. I heard her interviewed on Woman's Hour recently, and she said that she became utterly exhausted in looking after her husband, as his motor neuron disease worsened. She had to sit up night after night with him as he had a tendency to choke. The only respite she got was when her mother occasionally came to stay. He refused outside help.This grind of exhaustion and personal sacrifice is only hinted at in the film. She to me is the hero, the heroine of this relationship.
Contrast again Whiplash the story of the relationship of a teacher to his student, studying jazz and drums at an American college. This is a story of misplaced intention, bullying, abuse of power, revenge, loneliness and suffering, but also of outstanding courage, overwhelming determination and hard, hard work in the desire to win and seek approval from the maestro tutor. This relationship, to me, was the most disturbing of the three films we saw.
What price, brilliance?
All films currently on general release. All recommended.
