Marie Curie

Marie Curie: The Courage of Knowledge (2016) is a Polish/French film co-written and directed by Marie Noelle

The wonderful Polish actor Karolina Gruszka stars as Marie Curie. Charles Berling portrays Pierre Curie, and Arieh Worthalter plays Paul Langevin, a married scientist with whom Marie had an affair.

If you're looking for a movie that explains Marie Curie's discoveries, and how she arrived at them, this isn't that film. If you're looking for a movie that portrays Marie Curie as a brilliant scientist, and a young widow that does, indeed, have an affair, this is that film.

This movie portrays the plight of women scientists in the early 20th Century. Male scientists simply wouldn't accept the fact that a woman could be a brilliant scientist. We know that Marie Curie was brilliant--she won two Nobel prizes. The scientists of her day must have known that she was brilliant, but it was easy to ignore this fact because she was a woman. Think of how many frustrated women lived their lives with their intellect undiscovered. Think of the great minds that were lost to science. These are not happy thoughts, but they reflect reality.

I enjoyed this movie. We had seen Karolina Gruszka in another Polish movie--The Happiness of the World. She is a brilliant actor. Directors love to photograph Gruszka getting into and out of her bath. Who can blame them? (She must be the cleanest actor in Poland.)

For whatever reason, this film has a ghastly IMDb rating of 5.9. This is one of those situations where I say, "Did they see the same film I saw?" It's not a perfect movie, but it's a very good one.

We saw the film at Rochester's excellent Little Theatre, as part of the great Rochester Polish Film Festival . It will work well on the small screen. My advice--ignore the IMDb rating and watch this movie. I think you won't be disappointed.

I just saw this film at the San Francisco Film Festival. I already knew about Madame Curie's scientific achievements so I was interested in the personal aspects that this film revealed.

The sexist aspects are relevant today. A woman tries to get recognition for her scientific achievements but is thwarted almost every step of the way. Nevertheless, she persisted....

It's a beautiful film, the cinematography is excellent. It's got an artistic feeling that I didn't expect from this period piece.

Here the woman playing Marie talks with an accent and most momentous events in her life are depicted during the duration of her most tumultuous years. I enjoyed very much all these details that makes the story comes out as real and true. Beautiful film.

I found the film interesting. I generally knew about Maria Skłodowska-Curie (she was a Pole, born and raised in Warsaw). I knew nothing about her personal life in Paris, which is the focus of this film.

The film looks more at her personal life and the large challenges she faced being a woman (and mother of two) in a Man's World. Worth seeing.

If you expect a literal scientific bio of Marie Curie, it is not that film. However, Marie Noelle focuses on the protagonist as a woman, first of all, and then as a scientist fighting in the world of men-dominated academia. And this selection makes the film particularly interesting. Beautifully shot, with masterfully selected music, and splendid performance of Karolina Gruszka. You can watch it as a love story or more as a dedication to your love. A very inspiring tale of tenacity and courage.