Marie Curie: The Courage of Knowledge

Marie Curie
Film poster
Directed byMarie Noëlle [fr]
Written by
Starring
CinematographyMichał Englert
Edited by
Music byBruno Coulais
Release date
  • 9 September 2016 (2016-09-09) (TIFF)
Running time
100 minutes[1][2][3]
CountryPoland
LanguageFrench
Box office$1.9 million[1][2]

Marie Curie: The Courage of Knowledge (Polish: Maria Skłodowska-Curie;[4] French and German title: Marie Curie[5][6]) is a 2016 internationally co-produced drama film directed by Marie Noëlle [fr].[7] It was screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival.[8] It made its United States premiere at the New York Jewish Film Festival in 2017.[9]

Plot

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The film shows the life of Marie Curie from 1904 to 1911. Together with her husband Pierre Curie, she researches the isolation of the element radium, which they had discovered, and which leads to the first attempts to use radioactivity in cancer therapy. However, shortly after her second child is born, Pierre dies in a tragic accident with a horse wagon. Despite her great sadness, Curie continues her research and takes over her husband's lectures at the University of Paris. At the first Solvay conference, where she is the only woman, she meets Albert Einstein, who makes her laugh with his charm.

Returning to Paris, she runs for a place in the French Academy of Sciences, which until now has only consisted of men: those who still do not want to admit female members narrowly prevail in the election. She then begins an affair with her friend and scientist Paul Langevin; when his wife informs the press, Curie is publicly slandered. The Nobel Committee awards her the 1911 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, her second one after the Physics Prize in 1903. When they found out about the scandal, the Swedish ambassador tries to persuade her to voluntarily renounce, but she refuses and travels anyways to Stockholm to give the acceptance speech.

Cast

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Reception

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Box office

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Marie Curie: The Courage of Knowledge grossed $127,993 in the United States and Canada, and $1.8 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $1.9 million.[1][2]

Critical response

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On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 65%, based on 26 reviews, with an average rating of 5.30/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Marie Curie: The Courage of Knowledge may test the patience of some viewers with its deliberate pacing, but this sensitively made biopic has its well-acted rewards".[3] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 49 out of 100, based on 6 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[10]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Marie Curie: The Courage of Knowledge". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  2. ^ a b c "Maria Sklodowska Curie (2017)". The Numbers. Nash Information Services. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Marie Curie (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  4. ^ "Maria Skłodowska-Curie". Filmweb.
  5. ^ "French-language poster". UniFrance.
  6. ^ "German-language poster". UniFrance.
  7. ^ "Major Polish Films Premiering at Toronto Film Festival". Cultural. 2 September 2016. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  8. ^ "Marie Curie: The Courage of Knowledge". TIFF. 2 September 2016. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  9. ^ "Sloan Science & Film". scienceandfilm.org. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  10. ^ "Marie Curie (2018) Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
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