Quite high-quality work allows you to learn more about iconic figures. It would be interesting to understand how the egoism of the characters correlates with the real biographies of the characters, that is, whether it was not exaggerated or underestimated. In some places, the storytelling allows you to get bored, but since this is a biographical series, I will not call it a serious flaw.
The biopic series is not uncommon today. Still, to tell about the lives of outstanding people in the framework of a two-hour film is very difficult. Enough for a few accomplishments. The format of the series in this regard helps to learn all the details of their lives. The National Geographic channel offers us its view on the biographies of real geniuses who literally changed our view of the world.
The first season is dedicated to the life and work of the famous scientist Albert Einstein, who from a young age began to ask questions about the nature of things that no one had asked before him, and in his youth wrote scientific papers and conducted incredible thought experiments in the field of physics, which were not immediately recognized by fellow scientists. An important role here is played by his rather tumultuous personal life and relations with his first wife, Mileva Marich, then with his second wife, cousin Elsa Einstein. And finally, living in Germany in the era of the formation of Nazism, Einstein goes to America, but there he will find a lot of upheaval both in his personal life and in his scientific activities.
The second season takes us from the world of science to the world of art, telling about one of the most famous artists of the 20th century – Pablo Picasso. Born in Spain, young Pablo moves to Paris, which in the early 20th century becomes a haven for many talented artists, and tries to find his style in painting. And years later, who has already become a world-famous artist, Pablo creates new masterpieces on the eve of World War II, and tries to maintain relations with all his muses and children, and starts a new romance with a young artist Françoise Gillot.
Each of the seasons covers in great detail almost all aspects of the lives of its main characters, while using a not quite linear narrative. The plot in both seasons is divided into two parts - the youth of the genius and his mature years. This technique compares and compares the two periods of his life, showing what difficulties they faced in their youth, and which – already in those years when the hero has become famous and rich, and it would seem – what other problems he may have. It turns out there are many more. For example, their lives during the World Wars are shown (plus the attention of special services and the invention of nuclear weapons are added to Einstein’s life years). This kind of symbolizes that in the life of any talented person at any age there will be difficulties, and the way he overcomes these difficulties speaks of perseverance, firmness and high strength of spirit.
The first season is dedicated to the outstanding theoretical physicist Albert Einstein, who made a huge contribution to the development of science of the twentieth century, forming the way of thinking of modern scientists and the very vision of modern physics. We see what difficulties the genius expected at the beginning of his journey, when his theories did not resonate with his contemporaries. And with success begins the First World War, which presents Einstein not only as a scientist, but also as a humanist who denies war and refuses to participate in it, despite the fact that many of his colleagues consider it their duty to provide whatever Germany can, which contributed to the creation and use of chemical weapons. The role of Einstein was played by two actors – Johnny Flynn in his youth and Jeffrey Rush in adulthood. The main message of Flynn's game was to show the formation of a young genius who worked in the patent office, wrote 4 outstanding essays in the Year of Miracles, while experiencing a love drama and torn between two lovers - Mileva Marich ("Samantha Collie"), his wife, the mother of his sons, who was also a talented mathematician and physicist who left science for the sake of his family, and his cousin Elsa Einstein ("Emily Watson"), who conquered him with her devotion, calmness, admiration of his genius, impulsion and opposition to Miliveness. When the baton takes over Rush, Einstein is already a recognized genius, received a doctorate and a job as a professor (with the same tumultuous personal life), but who finds himself in a completely different Germany (where Nazism is gaining strength), where his friends and colleagues begin to be persecuted, his science is subjected to rethinking and criticism, and moving to the United States is more difficult, due to the negative attitude of CIA Director Hoover to Einstein.
In the second season, we are offered to plunge into the world of art – which I confess was more understandable to me (as a humanitarian and a fan of art). Namely in the life and art of the most famous and prestigious artist of the twentieth century – Pablo Picasso. To be honest, I knew about Picasso’s life, but I didn’t see many of his paintings. Here, from the very beginning of his creative path, we can observe the formation of Picasso’s style, how periods and themes changed – from Blue to Pink, from melancholic portraits to scenes of the lives of circus workers, before he wrote the famous Maidens and opened, together with his friend Georges Braque, a revolutionary cubic style that will revolutionize the idea of art of contemporaries. I really liked the game, as well as the actor Alex Rich - who played Picasso at a young age, which combined emotionality and restraint, innocence and burning passion, love and impermanence - and the magnificent Antonio Banderas, who played the artist at the zenith of his fame, influential, proud, loving. After all, every woman who was in the life of Picasso, had a huge influence on his work, each became his muse. As ballerina Olga Khokhlova, a young model Maria-Theresa Walter, photographer Dora Maar (like other muses at the beginning of his work). Particular attention is paid to his relationship with the artist Françoise Gillot, who, despite all his love for genius, was forced to put up with his difficult character, his way of life and all his muses, whom Picasso did not let go of himself even after parting.
The series bears such a name for a reason - Genius. After all, who are geniuses? These are people with outstanding talent, who sometimes have no equal in a particular field (be it knowledge or art), but who are forced to pay for such talent by difficult character, conflicts with government bodies in the fight for their beliefs, difficult relationships with close friends and difficult personal life. These were the people who were passionate, brilliant, and exceptional. Genius.
A film about the conflict relationship of the genius with the outside world.
Curiosity is a characteristic of a child, but it did not fade in Einstein’s later years, which allowed him to fully manifest his genius. Simple questions: What is time, space, light? And it was necessary to become an inner rebel to get answers, contrary to the laws of classical physics and the rejection of authoritative academics.
Einstein was a cosmopolitan and pacifist. He renounced his German citizenship, studied in Switzerland, worked in the United States, promoted the education of Israel, and embraced socialist ideals. This gave rise to hostility and Himler and Hoover and colleagues.
Einstein rejected monogamy. Hence his numerous connections with the ladies around him, which caused much suffering to his wives and children. And fascinated by Konenkov's wife, he became close, unwittingly, with a Soviet intelligence agent. Einstein put science above family debt, which allowed him to devote a minimum of time to relatives and friends. With deep resentment, Mileva’s wife, who was a talented mathematician, helped her husband write an article on the theory of relativity. Formally, she was not listed in the co-authors, but after receiving the Nobel, Einstein gave her all the monetary reward either as a confession or as compensation for the divorce he sought. The extent of Mileva’s involvement in the creation of the theory of relativity remained a mystery.
Persuasive acting, great J. Rush, J. Flynn in the title role.
This is the first National Geographic film I've watched with great interest. In this anthology, the fates of the main characters are recreated with all historical accuracy - (season 1) Albert Einstein and (season 2) Pablo Picasso. I was impressed by the actors, especially by Antonio Banderas, who has not been seen for a long time. We're waiting for season three.
A kind of analogy about, I do not know by what principle chosen, the biography of world celebrities.
The first season of Einstein. Two about Picasso. Everything is well done, the idea is interesting, the actors are cool. Einstein was played by quite famous Jeffrey Rush (the Barbossa of the Caribbean Pirates), Picasso very famous Antonio Banderas. Everything is cool, but the TV series did not make a special impression. It didn't come true. I liked Picasso better. But Banderas must be cooler than Rush. That may not be the case.
In general, Einstein has an interesting beginning, and then santabarborovshchina about his women, a drama about a bad character and tweaks with colleagues, nauchpop with a fabulous visualization of the emergence of brilliant ideas (a kind of garriporterism for those who are older than the National Geographic) and some urapatriotic American crap about the fact that it is better not to do an atomic bomb, but still need to do what if anything to fuck up on the advice, and otherwise nothing. Einstein creaked, but agreed.
About Picasso is brighter, less stupid politics and special effects, but in general everything is in the same direction. A genius with a vile and faint-hearted character and his ladies.
I was disappointed because I expected more. Many people will love the movie because the product is good. I will watch the third season, but mentally ready, although I have hopes.
I rarely write reviews (or rather, almost never). But for this review, I even registered on the site.
Delight! This series is beautiful, the creators – thank you! I watched all night long, I was not so excited.
When we were in high school, we solved a series of problems: find m if E; hear about Planck's constant. What was the relationship between Einstein, Curie, Planck and Bohr? And who is Marich after all?
Of course, the entire biography is not fully transmitted. Did not pay attention to the death of his mother, the influence of Maya, maybe somewhere embellished but ... but this series did not get worse.
The meaning of the series for me is that family is all we have left; genius can not be alone; the misfortune of a woman can ruin a family. And of course, if you want to do something, you have to fight to the end. And the reward will find its hero.
Our mathematical difficulties of God are not disturbing. It integrates empirically.
I have to admit, I am very cautious about the series. This year, National Geographic presented the Genius Project. I decided to watch it largely thanks to Walter Isaacson's book Albert Einstein. “His Life and the Universe” was the basis for the first season. This is one of my favorite writers, who was the author of biographies of Henry Kissinger, Benjamin Franklin, Steve Jobs and the above-mentioned Albert Einstein. It would be incredibly difficult to fit the narrative into one film, unless you chose a specific episode from Einstein’s life. But here we see a very detailed adaptation of the life of the great scientist, who, like atoms, faces incredibly complex periods of that time. The authors of “Genius” touched upon the most significant moments: these are student years, acquaintance with colleagues, the appearance of rivals, a difficult personal life. But the most important thing is the work on modern theoretical physics, where mathematical models of phenomena were compared with reality. And it is at the moment of work on the theory of space-time that the authors present to us the main opponent of the theory of relativity - Philip Lenard. We see an incredible academic standoff resulting from the rejection of new physical theories. Philippe Lenard was the founder of Aryan physics. On the pretext that Einstein's works are "dogmatic-dialectical" Leonard and his supporters almost completely rejected modern theoretical physics. In their opinion, science required a clearly demonstrated experiment, and for its study the Aryan race has the best prerequisites, while Einstein was a Jew who proved his theories by calculations. But due to mathematical calculations, some supporters of Lenard still adopted quantum mechanics.
“I considered this Jew, according to the then accepted point of view, as an Aryan man, and this was a mistake.” – Philippe Lenard
However, Einstein also had strong supporters. And one of these supporters was the founder of quantum physics Max Planck, whose relationship is perfectly demonstrated by the authors of "Genius". It was Planck and Einstein who laid the foundations of quantum theory. Einstein’s friendship with another German scientist, Fritz Haber, changed dramatically after Haber played a key role in the development of chemical weapons. And here we see the confrontation of the two minds not only in a scientific but also in a moral context. And this diversity in which the narrative is one of the strongest aspects of this film adaptation. We see discoveries, fame, love, family, scientific disputes, political views. And all this is happening against the background of pseudo-scientific racism and anti-Semitism.
Due to the fact that the authors had enough screen time – we see all the relationships unfolded, and the characters as open as possible. What is the relationship between Einstein and Mileva Marich? They have everything: love, hatred, a sense of duty, scientific research, disappointment and tragedy. Einstein’s relationship with Mileva Marić or with Elsa Einstein is summed up in one of his own words: “I’m better at theory than in practice.” And if Mileva for Einstein was an intellectual companion, then Elsa became a full-fledged companion of life, taking all the advantages and disadvantages of the great scientist.
It should be noted that the authors, like Walter Isaacson in his book, managed to show the excellent attitude of Albert Einstein to his friends. Incredibly easy to communicate, he created a good atmosphere. With his conversation, he blurred the line between gross division of the mind and emancipation. Even if the interlocutor was not intellectually savvy, Albert contributed to his fullest expression of personality, supporting the development of individuality. There was a clear feeling that for this person there are many different types of intelligence, each of which is important in its own way.
Since the authors tried to show the complete environment of Einstein, the audience had the opportunity to get acquainted with many great scientists of the time. I mean not only Max Planck or Fritz Haber, but also Marcel Grossman, who co-authored many of Einstein’s works and assisted him in the mathematical sections for general relativity; and Niels Bohr, who, in Einstein’s opinion, possessed “the highest musicality in the field of thought”; and Maria Sklodowska-Curie, whose relationship perfectly complemented the picture of the tragedy of the Einstein and Mileva Marić family. But many of these scientists were among the first winners of the Nobel Prize.
The topic of nationalism, which manifested itself more and more strongly in Germany, was widely covered. The link between national intolerance of Jews and Einstein is the death of Walter Rathenau. Due to the restrictions imposed on Germany by the Treaty of Versailles after World War I, Rathenau, as foreign minister, wanted to restore military power and reach an agreement on the production of weapons on Russian territory. He became a very influential politician in Germany of Jewish origin. And in connection with the increased national unrest, Rathenau’s friends, including Einstein himself, warned him about the possible consequences.
After moving to the United States, we are introduced to a new opponent of Albert Einstein - J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. During Roosevelt’s reforms, Hoover investigated subversion in the United States, particularly fascism and communism. And it was to the Communists that Einstein was referred to in the management of the bureau.
Although Einstein was a staunch pacifist, he stressed the need for large-scale experiments to explore the possibility of creating a nuclear bomb by the Americans. This was largely due to rumors of the Nazis developing nuclear weapons. Einstein wanted the United States to have these weapons faster, but only for deterrence and no more. However, after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Einstein fiercely denounced the White House and spoke in favor of supporters of nuclear disarmament and the creation of a world government. That's what makes Hoover angry. The confrontation between Hoover and Einstein is perfectly illustrated in the series. Here Einstein appears not only as a talented scientist and dreamer, but also as a rebel and humanist.
The creators of the Genius project were able to demonstrate in detail the essence of the scientific discoveries of the great scientist and show us the life of Einstein in a difficult time of world wars and confrontations.
The series, consisting of ten episodes, will tell us about a brilliant and world-famous scientist - Albert Einstein. We will be told about his youth, how he was rejected throughout the scientific community, his marriage and love, and much more. As promised by the writers even before the release – the series will accurately convey what happened in the life of Einstein in fact.
Plot. Like I said, it's about famous physics. In the series, we are given food for thought (pacifism or militarism, novelty or tradition, etc.), and then a decision made by Einstein himself.
Characters. Everything here is amazing. The main character is conveyed so beautifully and believably that you do not cease to appease. And I'm not just talking about the outward signs, Jeffrey Rush is incredibly good at conveying the charisma of Albert Einstein. We are shown his relationship with Mileva Maric (his wife), his relationship with Hitler and politics in general.
The series itself is released in a good and pleasant quality. Given that the series is presented as a biographical, it can be called one of the best documentary series.
9 out of 10
P.S. All the above is a purely personal and biased opinion of the author of the review.
It is often argued that this or that historical film is not accurate enough in detail and not plausible, and in response they hear that this is the lot of documentary.
Nathional Geographic almost managed to make an artistic and documentary drama.
I am not an expert in the biography of Einstein, so I was quite interested to learn a lot of new things - for example, about his relationship with Mileva Marich.
And the narrative is conducted in an absolutely accessible and understandable film language, free from unnecessary metaphors and subtexts.
For drama, there are conflicts: Einstein/classical science, Einstein/authorities, Einstein/wife geniuses and many others. He is shown to be a truly unusual scientist who discovers physics in defiance of common sense and rigid formulas, driven by inner passions and struggling with prejudices.
It is important to note that geniuses also worked on this story: the genius of Rush acting, the brilliant composer Zimer (the main theme) and the genius of directing Howard (the pilot who set the tone for the narrative).
Interesting and informative cinema at the same time not devoid of soulfulness and some topical and now problems.