Oolon Colluphid
26 Feb 2009, 02:50 PM
Thanks to a bit in today's Nature, I've just heard that there's an upcoming movie about Darwin and his relationship with his wife Emma. It's called Creation, and stars Paul Bettany:
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v457/n7233/images/4571087b-i2.0.jpg
IMDB's summary:
What happens when a world-renowned scientist, crushed by the loss of his eldest daughter, conceives a book which will prove the non-existence of God. This is the story of Charles Darwin and his master-work "The Origin of Species". It tells of a global revolution played out the confines of a small English village; a passionate marriage torn apart by the most dangerous idea in history; and a theory saved from extinction by the logic of a child.
IMDB has 25 September as its release date.
From the Nature mini interview with Bettany (who is an atheist (http://www.pr-inside.com/bettany-the-non-believer-r4665.htm), btw):
Was it difficult playing such a famous man?
It was a real honour and horribly frightening in equal measure. Often when I prepare I must scratch around for research, but with Darwin there is almost too much material. He was such a prolific writer and there has been so much written about him that no matter how much I read, I felt that I hadn't done enough.
Did your experience of playing the ship's surgeon in the 2003 film Master and Commander help you?
I found it really useful having spent time in the Galapagos Islands making that earlier movie. I was able to draw on a real place in my memory. Creation is set during the writing of On the Origin of Species 20 years after Darwin returned from the Galapagos. The film is about his procrastination and the reasons for it — his inability to write, it making him sick, the death of his daughter, the effect that had on his relationship with his wife, and their different means of dealing with it.
Scientists are often portrayed as being emotionless, so how did you draw out his intense grief following his daughter Annie's death?
People say he looked at his children like they were projects. But I think that this was a sign of the utmost love and respect. Science was his life. So of course he was going to involve his family. For him, science was an act of love, and study was an act of love. I don't think that science is a dry, dusty thing for scientists.
I see from IMDB that the working title was Annie's Box and that Randall Keynes is listed as a writer, so it's undoubtedly based on Keynes's book (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Annies-Box-Charles-Daughter-Evolution/dp/1841150606). Has anyone read it?
Something to look forward to!
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v457/n7233/images/4571087b-i2.0.jpg
IMDB's summary:
What happens when a world-renowned scientist, crushed by the loss of his eldest daughter, conceives a book which will prove the non-existence of God. This is the story of Charles Darwin and his master-work "The Origin of Species". It tells of a global revolution played out the confines of a small English village; a passionate marriage torn apart by the most dangerous idea in history; and a theory saved from extinction by the logic of a child.
IMDB has 25 September as its release date.
From the Nature mini interview with Bettany (who is an atheist (http://www.pr-inside.com/bettany-the-non-believer-r4665.htm), btw):
Was it difficult playing such a famous man?
It was a real honour and horribly frightening in equal measure. Often when I prepare I must scratch around for research, but with Darwin there is almost too much material. He was such a prolific writer and there has been so much written about him that no matter how much I read, I felt that I hadn't done enough.
Did your experience of playing the ship's surgeon in the 2003 film Master and Commander help you?
I found it really useful having spent time in the Galapagos Islands making that earlier movie. I was able to draw on a real place in my memory. Creation is set during the writing of On the Origin of Species 20 years after Darwin returned from the Galapagos. The film is about his procrastination and the reasons for it — his inability to write, it making him sick, the death of his daughter, the effect that had on his relationship with his wife, and their different means of dealing with it.
Scientists are often portrayed as being emotionless, so how did you draw out his intense grief following his daughter Annie's death?
People say he looked at his children like they were projects. But I think that this was a sign of the utmost love and respect. Science was his life. So of course he was going to involve his family. For him, science was an act of love, and study was an act of love. I don't think that science is a dry, dusty thing for scientists.
I see from IMDB that the working title was Annie's Box and that Randall Keynes is listed as a writer, so it's undoubtedly based on Keynes's book (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Annies-Box-Charles-Daughter-Evolution/dp/1841150606). Has anyone read it?
Something to look forward to!