A brief history of love The Theory of Everything James Marsh, director Working Title Films, 2014. 123 minutes.

Abstract

![Figure][1] ![Figure][1] CREDIT: PHOTO: LIAM DANIEL/FOCUS FEATURES “It's American!” the woman exclaims with dismay, as her British husband demonstrates a speech synthesizer that will allow him to communicate after months of silence. With two words, Jane Hawking, portrayed by Felicity Jones, brings a moment of levity to a film that might easily have sunk under the weight of its own serious subject matter. Instead, The Theory of Everything , directed by James Marsh, masterfully weaves moments of humor and happiness throughout the dramatized retelling of the early life of renowned cosmologist Stephen Hawking. Despite receiving a devastating diagnosis—motor neuron disease—at the age of 21, Stephen Hawking married Jane Wilde in the summer of 1965. Yet even as his health was rapidly deteriorating, his fame as a physicist was growing. The film gives equal consideration to the effects these factors had on the couple. In a subtle performance, actor Eddie Redmayne conveys an almost palpable frustration as the progression of Stephen's affliction gradually makes everyday tasks difficult and then impossible. Not to be overshadowed, Jones's Jane is at once full of quiet grace and steely resolve. Hawking has confirmed the general accuracy of the story, which is based on Jane's 2007 memoir ([ 1 ][2]), reportedly describing it as “broadly true” ([ 2 ][3]). In a more tacit endorsement, the film also features Hawking's own computer-generated voice. Although the film only briefly touches on Hawking's many illustrious scientific contributions, it does a delightful job of introducing his complex theories to a lay audience. A potato and a pea, for example, become the framework for explaining quantum physics, while the properties of a black hole are illustrated with a beer poured on a pub table. In a poignant homage to Hawking's contributions to our understanding of time, the film closes with a sweeping montage of scenes from the relationship's early days, as the couple, now divorced, reflects on their life together. In the end, we are left with a unique and intimate portrait of the personal struggles that accompanied Hawking's meteoric rise in the field of theoretical physics. 1. [↵][4] 1. J. Hawking , Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen (Alma Books, London, 2007). 2. [↵][5] [www.slate.com/blogs/quora/2014/10/07/theory\_of\_everything\_stephen\_hawking\_how\_difficult\_was\_it\_to\_make\_a\_movie.html][6]. [1]: pending:yes [2]: #ref-1 [3]: #ref-2 [4]: #xref-ref-1-1 View reference 1 in text [5]: #xref-ref-2-1 View reference 2 in text [6]: http://www.slate.com/blogs/quora/2014/10/07/theory_of_everything_stephen_hawking_how_difficult_was_it_to_make_a_movie.html