"...Fly...On The Wings
Of Words..."
- The Professor And The Madman on BLU RAY -
As
you sit through the engaging real-life-story movie that is "The Professor
And The Madman" - you might well think - where was this fabulous film in
the 2020 Oscars? Why was the entire world told that fatuous tut like
Tarantino's "Once Upon A Time In Hollywood" was worthy of our
attention or even an Oscar for Brad Pitt? There are just so many choice roles
in "The Professor And The Madman" that on any other year, it would
have been garnished with nominations galore. Is it that in Hollywood, Mel
Gibson is still a persona non grata? Well, be that as it may, this is without
question the Australian actor and director's most accomplished work in
decades...
Shot
in Ireland and especially the older parts of Dublin (the truly gorgeous library
inside Trinity College is featured to fabulous effect), I suspect that for many
viewers, this beautifully realized movie is coming out of left field. Few have
heard of it, let alone went to see it in a cinema. Based on a true story -
principled Scotsman and Professorial multi-lingual scholar James Murray (Mel
Gibson) is charged with forming an English Language Dictionary chronicling
every word along with its history, meaning and literature reference - a task
that has defeated snooty Oxford and Cambridge dons for decades - possibly even
driven some of them stark raving mad.
But
James Murray is different. He has armour and secret weapons. His wife Ada is
his rock and their many children fill James with wonder, strength and even
purpose (Ada is beautifully played by Jennifer Ehle of Pride and Prejudice TV
Series fame). Murray is also in love with language and words to the point where
he feels they may even be a route to the divine, love and that most difficult
of all emotions in the mid 19th century - forgiveness.
Used
on one third of the earth as a 'mother tongue' - Murray goes at the impossible
task of finding and defining 'every' word and permeation of the English
language with aid from his team of researchers led by Henry Bradley (Iain
Gruffudd). But it soon becomes obvious why others have been driven to tears
with such a task - smashed up every time against the rocks of 'proof' for even
the simplest of words like 'art' or 'approved' - and that's just the 'A's'. But
help comes from an unlikely source and a parallel story.
Possessed
of a demon-infested and yet brilliant mind, Dr. William Minor is also drawn to
the healing of literature. But while he was once a respected surgeon in the
American Civil War, conflict and actions he was forced into (maiming a soldier
deemed to be a deserter) have left his mind shattered to the point where in a
frenzy of voices and illusions - he shoots dead a young man called Everett.
This has left his young wife Eliza and her five children to destitution
(Natalie Dormer excelling in a genuinely great part for the Games Of Thrones
star). Dr. Minor (a seriously brilliant Sean Penn) is easily convicted and sent
to prison – Eliza Everett initially glad to see him suffer.
Inside
the correctional facility/lunatic asylum for the criminally insane that is
Broadmoor in Berkshire, he meets Dr. Richard Brayn - a caring physician played
by the stunning Stephan Dillane - also of Games Of Thrones and cruelly robbed
of an Oscar for his exceptional work in the Churchill film "Darkest
Hour". Determined to methodically help inmates rather than let them rot in
cells, Dr. Brayn gives the mad but clearly intelligent American leeway that may
indeed lead to his salvation – space, paper and books. And after a letter is
found inside a book that has called on the entire English-speaking world to
supply words and their meanings, the strange relationship with the Scottish
Professor James Murray and the convicted-of-murder American Civil War surgeon
William Minor begins – over an English book from Oxford.
Both
Gibson and Penn are magnificent in this movie - not just good - but towering.
Throw in the genuinely awesome humanity that Eddie Marsan of "Ray
Donovan" fame brings to everything that he does (Eddie plays a guard
called Mr. Muncie who takes pity on the madman and is instrumental as a liason)
and a fantastically good Steve Coogan as an establishment friend to James
Murray who can oil and circumnavigate the cogs of Oxford snoots malicious and
vindictive towards the Scotsman (Anthony Edwards and Laurence Fox leading the
doubters) - and you get an inkling of the kind of quality ensemble cast that is
on offer here. There are at least six or seven more names I could mention...
Good
as they all are though, the cast excels because the story and the writing that
depicts this unusual tale is simply beautiful - a gorgeous script by Director
Farhad Safina (credited as P.B. Shemran) and Todd Komarnicki (Safina wrote
large swathes of both seasons to a Kelsey Grammer Mayor-of-Chicago TV Series I
loved called "Boss"). Based on a 1998 book by Simon Winchester called
"The Surgeon Of Crowthorne", the 2019 film "The Professor And
The Madman" has heart and compassion and delights in language and its
power to diffuse and even heal. And on it goes to the credits where photographs
and achievements give further insight into these odd but earnest men and their
achievements – Bear McCreary’s music lifting proceedings all the way to the
end.
I
loved "The Professor And The Madman" and I suspect many others will
too. As the damaged man, Dr. Minor says, "...I can fly out of here...on
the wings of words..." Good advice, I think. A really, really good movie
and well done to all involved...
