RADIOACTIVE : Tuesday 10th November 2020.

'RADIOACTIVE' which I saw earlier in the week is an M Rated British biographical film Directed by Marjane Satrapi, the Iranian born French graphic novelist, cartoonist, illustrator, children's book author and film maker whose previous feature film outings take in 2007's 'Persepolis', 2011's 'Chicken with Plums' and 2014's 'The Voices'. This film is based on the 2010's graphic novel 'Radioactive : Marie & Pierre Curie - A Tale of Love and Fallout' by Lauren Redniss, and saw its World Premier screening as the Closing Night film at TIFF back in September 2019, before its scheduled release due in March this year, which was subsequently cancelled due to COVID-19 and released digitally in mid-June, and in cinemas around Australia a couple of weeks ago now. The film has garnered mixed or average Reviews so far and taken just over US$2.5M at the Box Office.

The film opens up with an ageing Marie Curie (Rosamund Pike) collapsing in her Paris laboratory in 1934. Her lab assistants come to her aid and she is rushed to hospital. While being stretchered in she remembers her life going back to 1893 when she was studying physics, chemistry and mathematics at the University of Paris, France. Gabriel Lippmann (Simon Russell Beale) presided over the faculty and held the purse strings and the head strong and outspoken Curie often collided with him over funding for her research, for the interference in her laboratory, and probably because she was female in very much a mans world. She is ousted from her laboratory by Lippmann and his panel of colleagues, and so is forced to find alternative accommodation and a place to conduct her experiments and research. 

One evening by chance she literally stumbles into Pierre Curie (Sam Riley). In time the pair develop a close relationship, after Pierre invites Marie to share his own laboratory space which she agrees to albeit reluctantly, saying that she prefers to work alone without the distraction of others, or sharing the fruits of her experiments. However, she soon relents and in time the couple are married, ultimately having two children - Irene (Indica Watson as the six year old, and then Anya Taylor-Joy as the grown woman) and Eve, the younger sister (Cara Bossom).

Soon afterwards Marie announces her discovery of two new elements - radium and polonium and with it radioactivity which completely revolutionises physics and chemistry. Within a couple of years radium, which glows bright green, is being used in a number of commercial applications from matches, to toothpaste and playing cards. Pierre even takes Marie to a seance (under the guise that it's science after all) where radium is used to attempt to contact the dead, but Marie disapproves of spiritualism and any notion of a life after this one following the death of her mother in Poland

In 1903 Pierre is nominated to receive the Nobel Prize for Physics in Stockholm, and insists that it be shared in joint names with his wife Marie. On the occasion of his visit to Stockholm just before he is about to make his acceptance speech he coughs up blood, having developed a hacking cough in the lead up to the ceremony which he has been unable to shake off. Upon returning home Marie has become agitated that he attended without her (she didn't want to go) and accepted the prize in his own right (which he did not), and the pair fight. Later having made up, Pierre is becoming increasingly sick with anaemia as a result of his ongoing research into radioactivity, and one night, in the rain, while crossing the busy Rue Dauphine he slips on the cobble stones and falls under a heavy horse drawn cart. He is killed outright instantly when one of the wheels runs over his head, fracturing his skull. It was the 19th April 1906 and Pierre was 46 years of age. 

Marie is devastated by the death of her Pierre. She originally dismissed the idea that her elements are toxic, even though ever increasing numbers of people were dying from serious health conditions after exposure to radium. Depressed, she begins an affair with her colleague Paul Langevin (Aneurin Barnard). She is subsequently invited by Lippmann to apply for Pierre's Professorship at the Sorbonne, and tells the gathered panel that she will not apply and that if they choose to give her the position she will gladly accept on the basis that her work speaks for itself and that this should be their key decision making factor. She gets the job needless to say and is the first female Professor at the University of Paris. At around the same time the French nationalist press reports on the details of her affair with Langevin, including personal and intimate letters sent between the two. She is harassed in the street and at home by xenophobic mobs due to her Polish origins, with the press taunting her as a Jewish home wrecker even though Langevin had been estranged from his wife during their affair. Langevin caves into the pressure and goes back to his wife ending his year long relationship with Marie.

In 1911 she is nominated to receive the Nobel Prize for Chemistry. She defies the Committee's instructions not to travel to Stockholm because of the bad press surrounding her affair, and is greeted enthusiastically by the local dignitaries and audience in attendance at the awards ceremony, many of whom are women. 

In 1914, with the outbreak of the World War, her daughter Irene convinces her to run X-Ray units from the back of ambulances on the Western Front in order to determine whether or not amputation is needed for wounded soldiers. Marie offers to fund the X-Ray diagnostic units by selling her gold Nobel Prize medals to the government, but they reject this notion and reluctantly agree to put up the funding following a very persuasive argument. 

Irene begins dating Frederic Joliot (Edward Davis), but Marie disapproves of their relationship because they have been researching artificial radioactivity and warns Irene not to see him or research radioactivity anymore because it is so life threateningly dangerous. Although she refuses to obey her, they go to the Western Front together to run the X-Ray machine.

Throughout the film we see scenes of the negative impact of her discoveries upon humanity. First off there is the dropping of the two Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 effectively ending WWII, then there is experimental external beam radiotherapy on a young lad in a hospital in Cleveland in 1956, then a nuclear bomb test in the Nevada desert in 1961, and finally the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster. Fast forwarding to 1934 we see Marie in hospital coming round with visions of her cradled in her dying mothers arms in Poland as a young child, and the events played out in flash-forwards to those negative impacts. Pierre arrives to collect her and they leave the hospital together. She died on 4th July 1934 from aplastic anaemia from exposure to radiation in the course of her scientific research and in the course of her radiological work at field hospitals during WWI. She was 66 years of age. 

As the closing credits roll, we learn that the Curies' X-Ray unit saved over a million lives during the war, that their research would be used to create radiotherapy, and that the Joliot-Curies would discover artificial radioactivity in 1935 for which they would both receive the Nobel Prize for Chemistry that year. 

Having read the very mixed Reviews of 'Radioactive', I went into my local multiplex with my expectations set none too highly. That said, I was pleasantly surprised when the final credits rolled. Rosamund Pike gives a compelling performance as Marie Curie with her staunchly opinionated view of the world, her ahead of her time feminist beliefs and her outspoken fearless and highly educated manner with just about anyone and everyone. Sam Riley is equally on fine form here as the foil to Pike's Marie - as the put upon scientist who cannot believe he's bagged a woman more intelligent, more educated and perhaps more committed to science than he is, and is prepared to stand up for what she believes in. Whilst Marjane Satrapi has crafted a film that looks great and on the surface does contain many elements that played out in the real lives of the Curie's, there are some obvious moments of poetic license and dramatic effect that dilute the impact of the film and relegate it from what it truly could have been to what it simply is. In the final analysis the film serves as an important reminder of what a great scientist Marie Curie was, and how the influence of her groundbreaking work still radiates to this day. 

'Radioactive' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

    

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 5th November 2020.

The 33rd annual Tokyo International Film Festival is currently running from 31st October though until 9th November. The official website reads that given the current circumstances with the pandemic and the limitations it has necessitated, this year's Tokyo International Film Festival may take on a slightly different character than in previous years. We would most like to emphasise the power of art and culture, especially film to enrich our daily lives even as we weather this pandemic. We hope you will come to the festival to enjoy cinema on the big screen with quality sound, and that the experience will provide a renewed sense of hope for the future. Needless to say, Japan is not the only country suffering from the effects of the pandemic. The Tokyo International Film Festival therefore wishes to further international solidarity through cinema.

The main sections of this years films being showcased are Tokyo Premier 2020, Special Screenings, Japan Now, World Focus, Japanese Animation, Japanese Classics, and Youth.

The Tokyo Premier 2020 section focuses on World and Asian Premieres showcasing thirty-two films from across the globe, by both veterans and emerging Directors. Maintaining the usual balance among regions and the selection criteria of TIFF’s three main competition sections, this special lineup will allow audiences to enjoy, on an equal footing, a diversity of films from international and Japanese Directors in all stages of their careers. Among those films featured in this section are : 

* 'Underdog' - drama and action from Japan, by Director Masaharu Take - World Premier screening. A man sticks with boxing while dwelling in the humble glories of his past. His life hits rock bottom but he tries to crawl out of the pit and shine again.
* 'After Love' - drama from England, France and Saudi Arabia, by Director Aleem Khan - Asian Premier. Mary, lost in grief after her husband's death, discovers his secret and crosses the English Channel.
* 'Alaya' - drama from China, by Director Shi Meng - World Premier. A man becomes a hermit after losing his son. An assaulted woman closes her mind. A girl was born illegitimately. As time passes by, their fates begin to move.
* 'Apples' - drama from Greece, by Director Christos Nikou - Asian Premier showing. An amnesiac man gets medical treatment but is left without memories.
* 'Ashes on a Road Trip' - drama comedy from India, by Director Mangesh Joshi - World Premier. A family patriarch dies. He leaves an envelope for the family, not to be opened until his ashes are scattered in his favorite places. His family takes a trip to fulfil his last wish.
* 'The Bike Thief' - drama from England and Romania, by Director Matt Chambers - World Premier screening. A Romanian immigrant in London feeds his family through delivery work. As their life gets tougher, his motorbike is stolen.
* 'Eternally Younger Than Those Idiots' - drama from Japan, by Director Ryohei Yoshino - World Premier. Horigai spends her boring days waiting to graduate from college. As she hangs out with friends, she begins to realise the violence and sorrow behind their ordinary lives.
* 'Fan Girl' - drama from the Philippines, by Director Antoinette Jadaone - World Premier. A starstruck girl sneaks into an Actor's house and sees a horrifying truth.
* 'First Job' - drama from Japan, by Director Syunsuke Koyama - World Premier. A story of two men in an ethical maze. Yamashita accepts an offer from Anzai to photograph the corpse of his baby. As the job proceeds, reality hits them in different ways.

* 'Forgiveness' - drama from Turkey, by Director Cem Ozay - World Premier. A boy, unloved by his strict father, accidentally fires at his little brother. Will the bereaved family, with father in shock, silent mother and boy in despair, find hope?
* 'The Last Bath' - drama from Portugal and France, by Director David Bonneville - World Premier. In a sun-drenched remote village, a nun takes care of her lonely nephew. As they grow attached to each other, the aunt feels conflicted.
* 'Moral Order' - drama from Portugal, by Director Mario Barroso - Asian Premier. Based on the true story of the women who fought against the male-dominated upper class in the early 20th century.
* 'Mr. Suzuki - A Man in God's Country' - Sci-Fi fantasy from Japan, by Director Omoi Sasaki - World Premier screening. In a city where unmarried people are drafted to solve the declining birthrate, 44-year-old unmarried Yoshiko tries to find a marriage partner in order to escape from recruitment.
* 'No Choice' - drama from Iran, by Director Reza Dormishian - World Premier. A 16-year-old homeless girl repeatedly works as a surrogate mother for money. A human rights attorney tries to rescue her, but inevitably faces difficulties.
* 'The Old Town Girls' - drama from China, by Director Shen Yu - World Premier. A high school girl living with her father and stepmother is visited by her biological mother, who left her soon after birth. They gradually reconcile, but the mother has a heavy debt.

* 'Possessor' - Sci-Fi action fantasy from Canada and the UK, by Director Brandon Cronenberg - Asian Premier. A story about the battle between an assassin and the man she hijacks and remotely controls to serve as an executioner.
* 'Sasaki in My Mind' - drama from Japan, by Director Takuya Uchiyama - World Premier. The story of a would-beAactor, his larger-than-life classmate and their friends all seeking to unfold their past and present.
* 'Sweat' - drama from Poland and Sweden, by Director Magnus von Horn - Asian Premier. A charismatic fitness instructor attracts attention on social media, but her loneliness grows as the emotions of a woman seeking true love and an exit from falsity begin to unravel.
* 'That Was Life' - drama from Spain, by Director David Martin de los Santos - World Premier. Maria's stable, retired life drastically changes when the condition of a young patient sharing a hospital room abruptly worsens.
* 'TiTi' - drama from Iran, by Director Ida Panahendeh - World Premier. Hospitalised elite physicist reaches out to a Roma janitor woman.

For the complete line-up of films being showcased at this years Tokyo International Film Festival, plus plenty more news, views and happenings, you can visit the official website at : https://2020.tiff-jp.net/en/

And so this week we have three latest release new films coming to your local Odeon. We kick off the week with a historical biopic about a famed Polish born French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. We then turn to an Australian doco about the foundations of the feminist movement back in Brisbane in the mid-'60's and how this charted a path for where feminism is at today. And we wrap up the week with a sort of concert film played to a deserted Alexandra Palace by one of Australia's pre-eminent singer, songwriter, composers and authors in a truly unique event. 

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the three latest release new movies as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release or as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are most welcome to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your big screen Odeon outing during the coming week.

'RADIOACTIVE' (Rated M) - this British biographical film is Directed by Marjane Satrapi, the Iranian born French graphic novelist, cartoonist, illustrator, children's book author and film maker whose previous feature films outings take in 2007's 'Persepolis', 2011's 'Chicken with Plums' and 2014's 'The Voices'. This film is based on the 2010's graphic novel 'Radioactive : Marie & Pierre Curie - A Tale of Love and Fallout' by Lauren Redniss, and saw its World Premier screening as the Closing Night film at TIFF back in September 2019, before its scheduled release due in March this year, which was subsequently cancelled due to COVID-19 and released digitally in mid-June. The film has garnered mixed or average Reviews so far and taken just over US$2M at the Box Office.

Following the death of her beloved husband Pierre Curie (Sam Riley), Marie Curie's (Rosamund Pike) commitment to science remains strong as she tries to explain previously unknown radioactive elements. However, it soon becomes terrifyingly evident that her work could lead to applications in medicine that could save thousands of lives, or applications in warfare that could destroy them by the billions. Also starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Aneurin Barnard.

'BRAZEN HUSSIES' (Rated M) - is an Australian documentary film that recounts how a daring and diverse group of women joined forces to defy the status quo, demand equality and create profound social change - contributing to one of the greatest social movements of the 20th Century. The film interweaves freshly uncovered archival footage, personal photographs, memorabilia and lively accounts from the bold women who reignited the feminist movement in Australia between 1965 and 1975, at times at great personal cost. Charting how from humble beginnings in Brisbane in 1965 women began organising around issues such as equal pay, reproductive rights, affordable childcare, and the prevention of family violence and rape. As the story unfolds, these issues go from being dismissed as the outrageous demands of a few 'brazen hussies’ to becoming crucial elements on the platforms of Australia’s major political parties, and how the issues demanded by these women fifty years ago have created a path for where feminism finds itself today. Directed and written for the screen by Catherine Dwyer.

'IDIOT PRAYER : NICK CAVE ALONE AT ALEXANDRA PALACE' (Rated M) - this film has Nick Cave playing his songs at the piano in a rarely seen stripped back form, from early Bad Seeds and Grinderman, right through to the most recent seventeenth studio Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds album, 'Ghosteen'. Recorded in June 2020 and initially imagined as an online only event, fans will now be able to watch the film in cinemas as an extended cut featuring four unseen performances. Recorded as the UK slowly emerged from its first stages of lockdown and conceived as a reaction to the confinement and isolation of the preceding months, Idiot Prayer is a souvenir from a strange and precarious moment in history. The performance was filmed by award winning Cinematographer Robbie Ryan ('The Favourite', 'Marriage Story', 'American Honey') in Alexandra Palace’s stunning West Hall in London.

With three new release films this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere in the week ahead, at your local Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-