Radioactive (film)

Last updated

Radioactive
Radioactive film poster.png
Theatrical release poster
with the original release date
Directed by Marjane Satrapi
Screenplay by Jack Thorne
Based onRadioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie: A Tale of Love and Fallout
by Lauren Redniss
Produced by
Starring
Cinematography Anthony Dod Mantle
Edited byStéphane Roche
Music by
  • Evgueni Galperine
  • Sacha Galperine
Production
companies
Distributed by StudioCanal
Release dates
  • 14 September 2019 (2019-09-14)(TIFF)
  • 15 June 2020 (2020-06-15)(United Kingdom)
Running time
109 minutes [1] [2]
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Box office$3.5 million [1]

Radioactive is a 2019 British biographical drama film directed by Marjane Satrapi, written by Jack Thorne, and starring Rosamund Pike as Marie Curie. The film is based on the 2010 graphic novel Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie: A Tale of Love and Fallout by the American artist Lauren Redniss. [3]

Contents

The film premiered as the Closing Night Gala at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival. The film was scheduled to be released in cinemas in 2020, but its opening was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was released digitally in the United Kingdom on 15 June 2020 by StudioCanal and began streaming on Amazon Prime Video in the United States on 24 July 2020.

Plot

In 1934, Marie Curie collapses in her laboratory in Paris. As she is rushed to the hospital, she remembers her life. In 1893 she was frequently rejected for funding due to her attitude, which she had in common with Pierre Curie. This joint attitude issue with the leading academic authorities led her to share a laboratory with Pierre Curie.

After Marie discovers polonium and radium, the two fall in love, marry, and have two children. Soon, Marie announces the discovery of radioactivity, revolutionizing physics and chemistry. Radium is soon used in a series of commercial products. Pierre takes Marie to a séance where it is used to attempt to contact the dead, but Marie disapproves of spiritualism and the idea of an afterlife after the death of her mother in Poland.

Although Pierre rejects the Légion d'honneur for not nominating Marie and insists that they jointly share their Nobel Prize in Physics, she becomes agitated that he accepted the Prize in Stockholm without her. Soon afterwards Pierre becomes increasingly sick with anemia as a result of his research and is trampled to death by a horse.

Marie initially dismisses concerns that her elements are toxic, but increasing numbers of people die from serious health conditions after exposure to radium. Depressed, she begins an affair with her colleague Paul Langevin. Although she receives Pierre's professorship at the Sorbonne, the French nationalist press reports the details of her affair with Langevin and she is harassed by xenophobic mobs due to her Polish origins.

Marie returns to the house where she attended the seance and tearfully begs her friend, Loie Fuller, who was there to try to use radium to contact Pierre. When she is awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1911, she defies the committee's instructions not to travel to Stockholm and at her award ceremony receives a standing ovation from the entire audience.

In 1914, when World War I starts, Marie's daughter Irene convinces her to run an X-ray unit on the Western Front in order to determine whether or not amputation is needed for wounded soldiers. Irene begins dating Frédéric Joliot, and Marie initially disapproves of that relationship because of their joint research into induced radioactivity, later asking Irene not to take part in Frédéric's future work on this because of possible effects on her health. Although Irene does not heed her mother, together they go to the Western Front together to run the X-ray machine.

Scenes of Marie's life are interwoven with scenes depicting the future impact of her discoveries, including external beam radiotherapy at a hospital in Cleveland in 1956, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a nuclear bomb test in Nevada in 1961, and the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. As she dies in 1934, she sees visions of these events before awakening in a hospital room. Pierre arrives and they leave the hospital together.

Before the film's credits, the Curies' accomplishments are detailed, including their mobile unit which X-rayed more than a million men during the war "saving countless lives", their research would be used to create radiotherapy, and the Joliot-Curies would discover artificial or induced radioactivity in 1935.

The movie's last image is of a photo showing Marie Curie's attendance at the 1927 Solvay Conference with many other celebrated physicists, including Albert Einstein.

Cast

Production

Development

It was announced in February 2017 that Marjane Satrapi would direct a biopic on the life of Marie Curie, with StudioCanal and Working Title Films serving as producers. An "autumn 2017" production start was initially foreseen. [4] In May 2017, during the Cannes Film Festival, Rosamund Pike was cast as Curie. [5]

Filming

In February 2018, Amazon Studios acquired the US distribution rights to the film, with filming beginning in the Hungarian cities of Budapest and Esztergom the same week. [6] [7] The cast was rounded out by Sam Riley, Anya Taylor-Joy, Aneurin Barnard and Simon Russell Beale a few days later. [8]

Release

Radioactive premiered as the Closing Night Gala at the Toronto International Film Festival on 14 September 2019. [9] [10] [11] To celebrate International Women's Day, the film's UK premiere took place at the Curzon Mayfair Cinema on 8 March 2020, ahead of its intended 20 March theatrical release, [12] which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [13] StudioCanal eventually released the film in the United Kingdom through electronic sell-through platforms on 15 June 2020 and through video on demand on 6 July, followed by a DVD release on 27 July. [14] In the United States, where the film was originally set to be released theatrically on 24 April 2020 by Amazon Studios, [15] it was released straight to Amazon Prime Video on 24 July 2020. [16]

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 63% based on 154 reviews, with an average rating of 6/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Radioactive's flawed script and counterproductive storytelling choices are offset by Rosamund Pike's central performance in a sincere tribute to a brilliant scientific mind." [2] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 56 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. [17]

Deborah Young of The Hollywood Reporter praised Pike's performance, the pacing and the treatment of the subject. [18] The Independent gave it two stars and criticised the "on-the-nose writing that sucks the air out of every scene, as characters ceremoniously announce the film's themes and their personal motivations." [19] Charles Bramesco of The Guardian panned the film as "by-the-numbers", criticising the script and direction, and gave it one star out of five. [20] Kate Taylor of The Globe and Mail concluded that "the viewer may decide [Marie would] rather read a comic book." [21]

Controversy

Although the film is actually based on a 2010 graphic novel, it is marketed as a "biopic" on Marie Curie. Geraldine McGinty of Cornell University severely criticised the film not just for altering many historical events for dramatic effect, but for misrepresenting Curie's character and that of her husband, e.g. by saying that she stayed at home rather than attending the 1905 Nobel ceremony with Pierre, where he belatedly delivered the lecture for their 1903 prize. [22] McGinty said that its misleading analogies, misrepresentation of principal characters, and inappropriate nudity and violence, all make it unsuitable as an educational or biographical source. [22]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marie Curie</span> Polish-French physicist and chemist (1867–1934)

Maria Salomea Skłodowska-Curie, known simply as Marie Curie, was a Polish and naturalised-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first person to win a Nobel Prize twice, and the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two scientific fields. Her husband, Pierre Curie, was a co-winner of her first Nobel Prize, making them the first married couple to win the Nobel Prize and launching the Curie family legacy of five Nobel Prizes. She was, in 1906, the first woman to become a professor at the University of Paris.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pierre Curie</span> French physicist (1859–1906)

Pierre Curie was a French physicist and a pioneer in crystallography, magnetism, piezoelectricity and radioactivity. In 1903, he received the Nobel Prize in Physics with his wife, Marie Curie, and Henri Becquerel, "in recognition of the extraordinary services they have rendered by their joint researches on the radiation phenomena discovered by Professor Henri Becquerel". With their win, the Curies became the first married couple to win the Nobel Prize, launching the Curie family legacy of five Nobel Prizes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irène Joliot-Curie</span> French chemist and physicist (1897–1956)

Irène Joliot-Curie was a French chemist and physicist who received the 1935 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with her husband, Frédéric Joliot-Curie, for their discovery of induced radioactivity. They were the second married couple, after her parents, to win the Nobel Prize, adding to the Curie family legacy of five Nobel Prizes. This made the Curies the family with the most Nobel laureates to date.

Madame Curie is a 1943 American biographical film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film was directed by Mervyn LeRoy and produced by Sidney Franklin from a screenplay by Paul Osborn, Paul H. Rameau, and Aldous Huxley (uncredited), adapted from the biography by Ève Curie. It stars Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, with supporting performances by Robert Walker, Henry Travers, and Albert Bassermann.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosamund Pike</span> British actress (born 1979)

Rosamund Mary Ellen Pike is an English actress and producer. Known for her portrayals of morally ambiguous women in psychological thrillers and dramas, she is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for an Academy Award and two BAFTA Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Curie Institute (Paris)</span> French scientific research center

Institut Curie is a medical, biological and biophysical research centre in France. It is a private non-profit foundation operating a research center on biophysics, cell biology and oncology and a hospital specialized in treatment of cancer. It is located in Paris, France.

ESPCI Paris is a grande école founded in 1882 by the city of Paris, France. It educates undergraduate and graduate students in physics, chemistry and biology and conducts high-level research in those fields. It is ranked as the first French École d'Ingénieurs in the 2017 Shanghai Ranking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frédéric Joliot-Curie</span> French chemist and physicist (1900–1958)

Jean Frédéric Joliot-Curie was a French chemist and physicist who received the 1935 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with his wife, Irène Joliot-Curie, for their discovery of induced radioactivity. They were the second married couple, after his parent-in-laws, to win the Nobel Prize, adding to the Curie family legacy of five Nobel Prizes. Joliot-Curie and his wife also founded the Orsay Faculty of Sciences, part of the Paris-Saclay University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marjane Satrapi</span> Author and director

Marjane Satrapi is a French-Iranian graphic novelist, cartoonist, illustrator, film director, and children's book author. Her best-known works include the graphic novel Persepolis and its film adaptation, the graphic novel Chicken with Plums, Woman, Life, Freedom and the Marie Curie biopic Radioactive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ève Curie</span> French–American journalist and pianist (1904–2007)

Ève Denise Curie Labouisse was a French and American writer, journalist and pianist. Ève Curie was the younger daughter of Marie Skłodowska-Curie and Pierre Curie. Her sister was Irène Joliot-Curie and her brother-in-law Frédéric Joliot-Curie. She worked as a journalist and authored her mother's biography Madame Curie and a book of war reportage, Journey Among Warriors. From the 1960s she committed herself to work for UNICEF, providing help to children and mothers in developing countries. Ève was the only member of her family who did not choose a career as a scientist and did not win a Nobel Prize, although her husband, Henry Richardson Labouisse Jr., did collect the Nobel Peace Prize in 1965 on behalf of UNICEF, completing the Curie family legacy of five Nobel Prize winners.

Induced radioactivity, also called artificial radioactivity or man-made radioactivity, is the process of using radiation to make a previously stable material radioactive. The husband-and-wife team of Irène Joliot-Curie and Frédéric Joliot-Curie discovered induced radioactivity in 1934, and they shared the 1935 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for this discovery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hélène Langevin-Joliot</span> French physicist (born 1927)

Hélène Langevin-Joliot is a French nuclear physicist known for her research on nuclear reactions in French laboratories and for being the granddaughter of Marie Curie and Pierre Curie and the daughter of Irene Joliot-Curie and Frédéric Joliot-Curie, all four of whom have received Nobel Prizes, in Physics or Chemistry. Since retiring from a career in research Hélène has participated in activism centered around encouraging women and girls to participate in STEM fields. Her activism also revolves around promoting greater science literacy for the general public.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ștefania Mărăcineanu</span> Romanian physicist (1882–1944)

Ștefania Mărăcineanu was a Romanian physicist. She worked with Marie Curie and studied the element named for Curie's homeland Polonium. She made proposals that later lead to Irène Joliot-Curie's Nobel Prize. Mărăcineanu believed that Joliot-Curie had taken her work on Induced radioactivity to receive the prize.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eliane Montel</span> French physicist and chemist

Eliane Montel was a French physicist and chemist.

The Curie family is a French-Polish family from which hailed a number of distinguished scientists. Polish-born Marie Skłodowska-Curie, her French husband Pierre Curie, their daughter, Irène Joliot-Curie, and son-in-law, Frédéric Joliot-Curie, are its most prominent members. Five members of the family in total were awarded a Nobel Prize, with Marie winning twice.

<i>Marie Curie: The Courage of Knowledge</i> 2016 film by Marie Noëlle

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indica Watson</span> English actress (born 2010)

Indica Elizabeth Watson is an English actress. She is best known for her work in television series Who Is Erin Carter?, The Midwich Cuckoos, Sherlock and The Missing, as well as feature films A Boy Called Christmas, Radioactive and The Electrical Life of Louis Wain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leticia Cugliandolo</span> Argentine condensed matter physicist

Leticia Fernanda Cugliandolo is an Argentine condensed matter physicist known for her research on non-equilibrium thermodynamics, spin glass, and glassy systems. She works in France as a professor of physics at the Sorbonne University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catherine Chamié</span> French chemist (1888 – 1950)

Catherine Chamié was a French chemist. Along with Irène Joliot-Curie, she first measured the Half-life of radon. She also undertook extensive research on the photographic effect of groupings of atoms, an effect which bears her name, known as Chamié effect.

References

  1. 1 2 "Radioactive (2019)". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  2. 1 2 "Radioactive". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  3. ↑ Kennedy, Margaret (5 February 2019). "Marjane Satrapi's Marie Curie Biopic Starring Rosamund Pike Set For 2020 Release". The Playlist. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  4. ↑ Tartaglione, Nancy (16 February 2017). "Marjane Satrapi To Helm 'Radioactive' Marie Curie Story For Working Title & Studiocanal". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  5. ↑ Hopewell, John; Keslassy, Elsa (16 May 2017). "Rosamund Pike Set for Marie Curie Story 'Radioactive' From Working Title, Studiocanal (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety . Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  6. ↑ "Varsóvá változott a Víziváros". Szeretgom.hu (in Hungarian). 19 February 2018.
  7. ↑ Keslassy, Elsa (19 February 2018). "Amazon Boards Marjane Satrapi's Marie Curie Biopic 'Radioactive' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.
  8. ↑ Roxborough, Scott (22 February 2018). "Berlin: Sam Riley, Anya Taylor-Joy, Aneurin Barnard Join Marie Curie Biopic 'Radioactive'". The Hollywood Reporter .
  9. ↑ "World Premiere of Radioactive Is the TIFF 2019 Closing Night Gala Film" (PDF) (Press release). TIFF. 23 July 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  10. ↑ "Radioactive". TIFF. Archived from the original on 20 October 2019. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  11. ↑ Lang, Brent (23 July 2019). "Toronto Film Festival: 'Joker,' 'Ford v Ferrari,' 'Hustlers' Among Big Premieres". Variety. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  12. ↑ "Marie Curie biopic 'RADIOACTIVE' gets a brand new trailer!". The Arts Shelf. 4 February 2020. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  13. ↑ Brew, Simon (19 May 2020). "Radioactive heads to digital download next month". Film Stories. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  14. ↑ "Radioactive – Press Assets". StudioCanal UK. Archived from the original on 24 July 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  15. ↑ Rosser, Michael (9 March 2020). "'Radioactive' director Marjane Satrapi reveals why she chooses not to work with US producers" . Screen Daily . Archived from the original on 11 July 2020. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  16. ↑ Aquilina, Tyler (10 July 2020). "Rosamund Pike is Radioactive as Marie Curie in new biopic trailer". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  17. ↑ "Radioactive". Metacritic . Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  18. ↑ Young, Deborah (6 September 2019). "'Radioactive': Film Review | TIFF 2019". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  19. ↑ Campbell, Kambole (7 September 2019). "Marie Curie biopic Radioactive gets lost in melodrama – review". The Independent . Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  20. ↑ Bramesco, Charles (7 September 2019). "Radioactive review – Rosamund Pike flounders in toxic Marie Curie biopic". The Guardian . Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  21. ↑ Taylor, Kate. "TIFF 2019: Updated – The Globe's latest ratings and reviews of movies screening at the festival". The Globe and Mail . Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  22. 1 2 McGinty, Geraldine (27 July 2020). ""Radioactive" fails to tell the true Curie story". Clinical Imaging. 67 (11): 191. doi: 10.1016/j.clinimag.2020.07.019 . OCLC   8655814983. PMID   32854080.
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