This week I bought myself the DVD of The Theory of Everything as a little treat (I'm trying to only buy DVDs of films I've already watched, instead of bulk-buying cheapie things I've never seen) and as I saw it in the cinema but never got round to reviewing it then, I thought I would talk about it now!
This is such a beautiful film. I wanted to see it because obviously there was all the buzz, and a magnificent cast, but I still didn't really know what to expect. That said, I did not expect the beauty, grace and emotion delicately woven into the fabric of this film. Maybe I'm guilty of stereotyping, but perhaps a little part of me saw it as a film about a scientist so it was obviously going to be clinical and clean and neat, right? Not so much. This isn't so much a film about scientific discovery as self-discovery; for all the fame Stephen Hawking is subject to today, his life is portrayed here as often ordinary and not neat at all.
The film begins with Stephen as a brilliant but scatterbrained PhD Physics student at Cambridge University who falls for Christian languages student Jane Wilde. Despite their ideological differences they embark on a sweet, innocent courtship, which may seem an outdated word to use but that's the only way to describe it. Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones so perfectly show the delicate emotions with restrained performances that speak a thousand words with the smallest exchange of glances of touch of a hand. The film touches on Hawking's scientific discoveries without going into too much depth; they seem more a backdrop to ground the story's chronology. Many reviews and articles have talked about how the film explores and to some extent praises the strength and quiet determination of Jane, but I think it's more than that. I feel like yes, Jane is depicted as an extraordinary woman and rightly so, but for me the greatest achievement of the film is illustrating how the Hawkings' marriage deteriorated without any tone of of judgement. There is a maintained mutual respect and understanding between these two people, trying to live an ordinary life in the face of extraordinary circumstances.
I've mentioned the stellar cast briefly already, but let me elaborate. We all know by now that Eddie Redmayne won an Oscar for his performance which was so richly deserved. (There was the expected 'controversy' discussion online about Felicity Jones not being equally recognised and accusation of the industry having 'double standards, but that's another blog post altogether.) For me, I think quite a lot about the weight of celebrity in terms of casting. For example, when I watch Iron Man, I think to myself "that's Robert Downey Jr playing Iron Man"; with this film, for those two hours, I believed that it was Stephen Hawking up on that screen, even though I knew it was Eddie Redmayne. Does that make sense? If it does, then I wonder if you agree. I think that shows an actor with true star quality, so bravo Eddie Redmayne, bravo *applause* The supporting cast - featuring David Thewlis, Charlie Cox, Harry Lloyd, Emily Watson and Maxine Peake - do just that: support the two leads admirably, creating an entirely believable world (doesn't any biopic aim for that, after all?), immersing the audience in this family's life and ultimately make you emotionally invest in the story in the most unexpected way.
Anyway, I'm not really sure what else I have to say. This is one of those films that stays with you long after you've watched it, for reasons that are hard to put into words. I loved this film; I hope you do too.
RK.
If you have somehow managed to evade this film, watch the trailer below:
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