Compared with the BBC movie called "Hawking" ten years ago, although "Theory of Everything" has a very physical name, because it is based on Jane Hawking's memoirs, it focuses more on Stephen Hawking. (Stephen Hawking) and Jane Wilde Hawking (Jane Wilde Hawking) in their love and marriage life.
As a biopic, the presentation of the main characters is undoubtedly the most important. The male lead actor Eddie Redmayne has restored Hawking’s image very well. Whether it’s Hawking’s witty and witty temperament, or the muscle weakness caused by Lou Gehrig’s disease, the actor has made every detail as faithful as possible. To be presented. Eddie not only studied Hawking's works, but also tried to show this role perfectly through contact with Hawking himself and his family, and in-depth conversations with patients with Lugaré disease and their families. Obviously his hard work has brought great success, even if Hawking himself said that he could not distinguish the difference between himself and Eddie's version of Hawking.
The performance of the actress Felicity Jones complements Eddie's Hawking. A strong and forbearing intellectual woman emerges on the screen, expressing the feeling of love and pain intertwined with delicate and balanced control. Her grasp of the character's behavior and manner of speaking even surprised Jane herself: "She stole my personality!"
Due to the limited perspective of the film, Hawking’s most profound contribution to physics theory appears in the film only as an embellishment (this is actually the helplessness of popular works, unfortunately, it seems that there is no way to interpret complex theories in a limited space. ), I am a little regretful for admirers, including me. But we can not only regard him as a legendary physicist, but also a person who struggles with the disease, to understand his life and emotions, achievements and pain. And this film also provides another equally important point of view, allowing us to understand the light behind this man, the great woman who has been struggling and supporting him-Jane Wilde Hawking.
The film chooses a very plain chronological narrative, starting from when Hawking and Jane meet, and ending when Hawking meets with the Queen of England. Hawking's doctoral research device in Cambridge was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease, but he still completed a significant doctoral thesis. Jane, who fell in love with him, married Hawking regardless of his critical condition. While taking care of Hawking's life, he also took care of the children. At the same time, he worked hard to study for a doctorate in liberal arts. While in the church choir, Jane met the musician Jonathan, who became friends with the Hawking family and often provided them with help in life. Jane and Jonathan gradually developed feelings, and after a pneumonia infection, Hawking lost the ability to speak and began to be taken care of by professional nursing Elaine. Afterwards, Hawking trusted Elaine more and more, and the couple gradually estranged, eventually separating and divorcing.
The end of this 25-year-long companionship is still embarrassing to appear on the big screen today. The film gives a good explanation to the outsider. At least I am very pleased with the choice of the two, even if I feel a little regretful. A great mind with a disability and a strong mind, a lifetime of waiting, love to overcome all difficulties, these sound beautiful, especially for people who have not experienced this kind of life.
In addition to Hawking's own popular science books, he has also learned about his own life and anecdotes out of curiosity. Our education or subconsciousness seems to tend to formulately equate the personalities of people who have made great contributions with those of saints, but reality tells us that the way of getting along with each other, especially in private life, is almost completely related to This is irrelevant (specially declare that this article does not have any evaluation or pertinence to Professor Hawking).
In the film and in the memoirs, Hawking seems to have a dedication to the privacy and freedom of life similar to that of scholarship. He does not want other people, including nursing workers, to intervene in his own life. He does not like going to the hospital and is more deeply afraid of being in Spend the rest of my life in a nursing home. For Jane, who takes care of several important responsibilities, it undoubtedly means sacrificing more of his time and career to take care of his lover who is almost completely unable to take care of himself.
Jane once said in an interview that she was too carefree and optimistic when she was young. She believed that they would eventually overcome the disease and live like a normal family. She overestimated medicine and underestimated the hardships of home life. The latter tortured the young woman like a stubborn systematic error. The core of her universe is completely occupied by her husband. In addition to daily care, there are also her husband’s personal affairs, three children, her studies and work, and tedious family chores are turned into bad spots on the data graph. Her smile. These pressures have undoubtedly formed a huge black hole, and what supports her is entirely love and responsibility. These forces are like Hawking radiation, making the black hole look less dark and desperate.
In my opinion, the description of the life of the Hawking family in the film is still a bit understatement. Perhaps only after experiencing similar burdens can I better understand Jane’s scream in the film, "We are not a normal family!".
The encounter between Jane and Jonathan is somewhat of a comfort like a filter at this time. Jonathan not only provided meticulous and thoughtful help to the family, but also provided a reliable barrier on Jane's psychological level. His warmth is flowing like notes, allowing Jane to take a short rest in rare peace. In the days and nights as a friend, Jane also sprouted additional emotions from this more normal peer-to-peer relationship.
Hawking actually knew and acquiesced to the relationship between the two, which also contained hidden worries about caring for his children after his death. Therefore, Jane and Jonathan also maintained a platonic relationship for a long time. This delicate balance has been maintained for a long time, until the appearance of private care Elaine after Hawking's severe surgery.
The film wisely avoids the unpleasant relationship breakdown in the later period, and gently touches on it. After all, the parties are still alive, and Hawking's second marriage is also divergent, so I don't try to gossip. But now Professor Hawking has regained good care, and Jane and Jonathan live peacefully, and both of them currently maintain a close friendship. From the perspective of the ending, although it is not satisfactory, it can be regarded as comforting.
As the old saying goes, there is no filial son in front of the bed for a long time. In other words, poor couples are sad. Although the Hawkings are not financially distressed, the huge pressure from life undoubtedly drags the family away from the flat time and space of "normal", and most of these pressures are borne by Jane. The two people in the film confessed that the part of the breakup was moving. When this woman made up her mind to unite with this great genius, it was to make him calm and calm for the remaining two years of his life. Excessive expectations are counted as extravagant hopes. With Hawking's tenacity and Jane's careful care, this journey miraculously extended for more than twenty years, but ended with reasons unrelated to the disease. The promise made for love when he was young was sublimated in reality through actions, but the ending turned around. The subtlety of the theory was more fully reflected in the experiment, but it slowly deviated from the original prediction.
Looking back on the arduous journey of the two, apart from admiration and appreciation, the rest may be a shallow sigh and a deep blessing.
Reference materials:
1. Interview with Jane Hawking on this film:
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jan/12/jane-hawking-stephen-hawking-first-wife-theory-of-everything-interview
2. Related content of Hawking's autobiography:
http://www.theweek.co.uk/uk-news/55031/stephen-hawking-book-reveals-anguish-two-marriages For
more information, please refer to the memoirs of the two.
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