These days in the cinema, it
seems many movies have some element of science, amongst all the spectacle and
action scenes. The recent reboot of the Planet of The Apes franchise has tried
to put a certain sense of reality into its movies, explaining how a planet
could be easily populated by advanced apes that enslave the human race. The
Terminator franchise (for better or worse) plays on our fears of our own
technology turning against us and overthrowing Earth. Star Trek, arguably the
oldest science fiction franchise in popular culture has recently been rebooted
also and has raised some issues such as genetic engineering and the effect that
one person's actions can have on the course of life (which resulted in Captain
Kirk being played by Chris Pine rather than William Shatner). However all these
movies have one thing in common, they all bring their own points up about
issues that affect us but the problem is that they all do so amongst all the
explosions, special effects and gunfire that bring in big audiences, so where
has the science gone?
Professor Stephen Hawking himself
may be the living embodiment of the ideas that those movies I mentioned before.
He has a foot firmly in popular culture and a great sense of humour and love of
science fiction and is still considered a leader in his intellectual field.
Professor Hawking has appeared in Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Big Bang
Theory and most recently as part of Monty Python's Mostly Live farewell shows,
he's a face everyone knows and yet for the masses, his theories may go over
most of our heads as to how they work and even less is known about the man's
life and stratospheric rise to international acclaim as the greatest living
mind on Earth. The Theory Of Everything is a welcome beginner's guide to
Professor Hawking's life, his diagnosis of Motor Neuron Disease and to his
greatest achievements.
By the age of 21 he was one of
Oxford University's brightest and most promising students, but his theory on
black holes and the beginning of time itself would push Hawking into a league
of his own. During his time at Oxford however, Hawking was struck down with
Motor Neurone Disease, otherwise known as Lou Gehrig's Disease or as last
year's ice bucket challenge highlighted, ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis).
Taken from Jane Hawking's book "Travelling
To Infinity: My Life With Stephen", The Theory Of Everything tells the
life of Stephen Hawking very much through his first wife's eyes. Those who want
to learn more and understand Hawking's theories and scientific achievements may
be left disappointed but the heart, wit and wisdom of Professor Hawking is
evident in every scene and Eddie Redmayne's portrayal is one of great detail
and care as another actor may overemphasise Professor Hawking's condition but
Redmayne uses it to his advantage as part of a character. Motor Neurone Disease
never defines the role of Stephen Hawking as I'm sure it never defines him as a
person and the character shines through as warm, inspiring and sometimes even
comedic.
The Theory Of Everything even
manages to maintain Hawking's personality after he loses his ability to speak
and shows the audience what kind of a man Hawking really is and how he touched
the lives of so many people (as he still does today) not only through his work
but through his interactions with the ones he loves.
On the other side of the story is
his then wife, Jane (Felicity Jones) who has her own story, that of a woman
torn and eventually defeated when the care of her husband becomes too much and
Felicity Jones should be equally as awarded and celebrated as Eddie Redmayne
has already been and will no doubt continue to do so. The story of their
marriage is a complicated one, not so much due to Professor Hawking's condition
but more for the strain Jane Hawking has on losing the man she loves, through
disability and through his success.
The film discusses many aspects
of life throughout its running time; marriage, birth, death and love are all
explored. Even the meaning of life itself comes into question and dealt equally
on both sides of the argument (Jane Hawking being a devout Christian and
Professor Hawking being a liberal atheist). However, the film never takes a
side and never belittles one another's opinions, leaving that for the audience
to decide.
Then there comes the conflict in
the story, as with many stories of hope and triumph there is one of loss. When
Jane becomes bored and frustrated with her life she decides that she needs a
break from being her husband's full time carer and she joins the church choir.
The choirmaster, Jonathon (Charlie Cox) finds an instant connection to Jane and
vice versa and soon he almost becomes part of the family. The introduction of
Jonathon never feels like a betrayal to Jane's marriage as I'm sure it wasn't
in real life either. Even at a point where they announce their third child,
Jane vehemently objects to the idea posed by one of her friends, that her
husband may not be the father so the loyalty to Stephen is absolute and
unquestionable, even if the love may not be as strong as it once was.
As life continues then things
happen that may be out of your control, Jane and Stephen never lose their love
for each other but it changes, as does life and their paths move in different
ways. This is a love story, whether it's about Stephen and Jane's love or even
the love that Jane and Jonathon find is up to the audience. The relationship
between Jane and Jonathon is never torrid or illicit but played just as a time
in Jane's life where she needs to move on, as these things happen in life.
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