''Marie Curie: The Courage of Knowledge'' ( pl, Maria Skłodowska-Curie; French and German title: ''Marie Curie'') is a 2016 internationally co-produced

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by . It was screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the

2016 Toronto International Film Festival The 41st annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 8 to 18 September 2016. The first announcement of films to be screened at the festival took place on 26 July. Almost 400 films were shown. Awards The festival's final awards were ...

. It made its United States premiere at the

New York Jewish Film Festival The New York Jewish Film Festival (NYJFF) is an annual festival in New York City that features a wide array of international films exploring themes related to the Jewish experience. The Jewish Museum and The Film Society of Lincoln Center work in ...

in 2017.

Plot

The film shows the life of

Marie Curie Marie Salomea Skłodowska–Curie ( , , ; born Maria Salomea Skłodowska, ; 7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934) was a Polish and naturalized-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first ...

from 1904 to 1911. Together with her husband

Pierre Curie Pierre Curie ( , ; 15 May 1859 – 19 April 1906) was a French physicist, a pioneer in crystallography, magnetism, piezoelectricity, and radioactivity. In 1903, he received the Nobel Prize in Physics with his wife, Marie Curie, and Henri Becqu ...

, she researches the isolation of the element

radium Radium is a chemical element with the symbol Ra and atomic number 88. It is the sixth element in group 2 of the periodic table, also known as the alkaline earth metals. Pure radium is silvery-white, but it readily reacts with nitrogen (rather t ...

, which they had discovered, and which leads to the first attempts to use radioactivity in

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

therapy. However, shortly after her second child is born, Pierre dies in a tragic accident with a horse wagon. Despite her great sadness, Curie continues her research and takes over her husband's lectures at the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

. At the first

Solvay conference The Solvay Conferences (french: Conseils Solvay) have been devoted to outstanding preeminent open problems in both physics and chemistry. They began with the historic invitation-only 1911 Solvay Conference on Physics, considered a turning point i ...

, where she is the only woman, she meets

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...

, who makes her laugh with his charm. Returning to Paris, she runs for a place in the

French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV of France, Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific me ...

, which until now has only consisted of men: those who still do not want to admit female members narrowly prevail in the election. She then begins an affair with her friend and scientist

Paul Langevin Paul Langevin (; ; 23 January 1872 – 19 December 1946) was a French physicist who developed Langevin dynamics and the Langevin equation. He was one of the founders of the ''Comité de vigilance des intellectuels antifascistes'', an ant ...

; when his wife informs the press, Curie is publicly slandered. The

Nobel Committee A Nobel Committee is a working body responsible for most of the work involved in selecting Nobel Prize laureates. There are five Nobel Committees, one for each Nobel Prize. Four of these committees (for prizes in physics, chemistry, physiolog ...

awards her the 1911

Nobel Prize in Chemistry ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then "M ...

, her second one after the Physics Prize in 1903. When they found out about the scandal, the Swedish ambassador tries to persuade her to voluntarily renounce, but she refuses and travels anyways to Stockholm to give the acceptance speech.

Cast

* Karolina Gruszka as

, a physicist *

Arieh Worthalter Arieh Worthalter (born 25 March 1985) is a Belgian stage and film actor. He studied at the Institut Supérieur des Arts (INSAS) in Brussels and began working in theatre. His film credits include ''Les Anarchistes'' (2015), '' Marie Curie: The Co ...

, her collaborator and lover *

Charles Berling Charles Berling (born 30 April 1958) is a French actor, director and screenwriter. Life and career Charles Berling, son of a navy doctor, is also the nephew of the literary critic Raymond Picard. His mother, Nadia, "only daughter of (French) se ...

, Marie's husband and co-researcher *

Izabela Kuna Izabela Kuna (born 25 November 1970, Tomaszów Mazowiecki) is a Polish film, television and theatre actress as well as a blogger. Life and career She was born on 25 November 1970 in Tomaszów Mazowiecki. In 1989, she graduated from the Stefan Że ...

as Bronia, Marie's sister *

Malik Zidi Malik Zidi (born 14 February 1975)ifrance.com
is a French film, television and theatre actor. He is a

as André Debierne, a chemist *

André Wilms André Wilms (29 April 1947 – 9 February 2022) was a French film and television actor who also appeared in German and Finnish films. Wilms was the winner of the Best Supporting European Actor award at the 1992 European Film Awards for his wor ...

as , Pierre's father * Daniel Olbrychski as Emile Amagat, a physicist *

Marie Denarnaud Marie Denarnaud (born 1978) is a French actress. She has appeared in numerous films including ''Chaos'' (2001), ''Eager Bodies'' (2003), ''The Adopted'' (2011) and '' Une histoire banale'' (2014). She has also participated in the made-for-telev ...

as Jeanne Langevin, Paul's wife *

Samuel Finzi Samuel Finzi ( Bulgarian: Самуел Финци; born 20 January 1966) is a Bulgarian-German actor. Since his start in the late 1980s, he has hundreds of film, television, and theatrical credits. Between 1993 and 2011, he received ten acting a ...

as , a journalist * Piotr Głowacki as

, a physicist *

Jan Frycz Jan Frycz (born 15 May 1954) is a Polish screen and stage actor. He was nominated for six Polish Academy Awards, winning twice for his supporting roles in the films ''Pornografia'' (2003) and ''The Welts'' (2004). Biography Frycz's father was ...

as Ernest Solvay *

Sabin Tambrea Sabin Tambrea (born 18 November 1984) is a German actor. He is best known for his role as Ludwig II of Bavaria in Ludwig II (2012 film), Ludwig II. Personal life Tambrea was born in Romania but moved to Germany at the age of three. He married ac ...

as August Gyldenstople * Sasha Crapanzano as

Irène Curie Irene is a name derived from εἰρήνη (eirēnē), the Greek for "peace". Irene, and related names, may refer to: * Irene (given name) Places * Irene, Gauteng, South Africa * Irene, South Dakota, United States * Irene, Texas, United States ...

(9 years old) * Rose Montron as Irène Curie (15 years old) * Adele Schmitt as

Ève Curie Ève Denise Curie Labouisse (; December 6, 1904 – October 22, 2007) was a French and American writer, journalist and pianist. Ève Curie was the younger daughter of Marie Skłodowska-Curie and Pierre Curie. Her sister was Irène Joliot-Curie a ...

(7 years old)

Reception

Box office

''Marie Curie: The Courage of Knowledge'' grossed $127,993 in the United States and Canada, and $1.8 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $1.9 million.

Critical response

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has an approval rating of 65%, based on 26 reviews, with an average rating of 5.30/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "''Marie Curie: The Courage of Knowledge'' may test the patience of some viewers with its deliberate pacing, but this sensitively made biopic has its well-acted rewards". On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 49 out of 100, based on 6 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marie Curie The Courage Of Knowledge 2016 films 2016 drama films 2016 biographical drama films Polish drama films French biographical drama films 2010s French-language films Biographical films about scientists Films about Marie Curie Cultural depictions of Albert Einstein Films set in the 1880s Films set in the 1890s Films shot in Poland Films set in France Films set in Paris Films about Nobel laureates Cultural depictions of Pierre Curie 2010s French films