THE CURRENT WAR
***
Director: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
Screenwriter: Michael Mitnick
Principal cast:
Benedict Cumberbatch
Tuppence Middleton
Tom Holland
Michael Shannon
Katherine Waterston
Nicholas Hoult
Matthew Macfadyen
Country: USA/Russia/UK
Classification: M
Runtime: 108 mins.
Australian release date: 19 March 2020.
Like so many Hollywood movies, The Current War took a long time to get to the screen, with Michael Mitnick commencing his screenplay in 2008. Shooting finally began in late 2016 and the filmmakers premiered their work at the Toronto International Film Festival the following year, to mixed reviews. A re-edit was planned but before that could happen, as luck would have it, the Harvey Weinstein rape allegations surfaced and, as Weinstein was credited as co-producer and The Weinstein Company was slated to release the film, all bets were suddenly off. When, at last, another distributor was found, additional scenes were shot and the film was cut by 10 minutes or so and it was ultimately released in the UK and the USA in the second half of 2019. Now, it’s Australia’s turn, but was it worth waiting for?
The Current War tells a fascinating story - “inspired by true events” - and features a stellar cast and impressive production values, however, despite all the work on the script over the years, it’s unfocussed and allowed to ramble a little too far and wide, wandering off the track of the main plot. It begins in 1880 when we meet the great inventor Thomas Edison (Benedict Cumberbatch) as he is about to display his brightest creation yet to a group of potential backers. Flicking a switch, he illuminates row upon row of oversized light bulbs, powered by Direct Current (DC). This being a time when gas provides street and household lighting, industrialist George Westinghouse (Michael Shannon) wishes to learn more about this new power source and invites Edison and his wife (Tuppence Middleton) to dinner. When the eccentric Edison snubs the businessman, Westinghouse sets out to get revenge by providing financial support for the development of an opposing source of electricity, Alternating Current (AC), thus setting in motion what became known as ‘the war of the currents.’ Throw in the famed Serbian engineer and futurist Nikola Tesla (Nicholas Hoult), banker J. P. Morgan (Matthew Macfadyen), the US President (Corey Johnson) and assorted inventors and middle-managers (Stanley Townsend and Tom Holland) and you’ve got a hell of a tale, particularly when Edison attempts to discredit Westinghouse by the early use of ‘fake news.’
What could go wrong? The problem is that there’s a lot going on here and too much has been included. The crux of The Current War is the epic battle between these two giants of the history of modern America and trying to include every aspect of it reduces its impact. By necessity, the script is very wordy, so going off in tangents distracts from the main game. It is, of course, a pleasure to watch actors of the stature of Cumberbatch and Shannon strut their stuff and these two characters could have been written with each of these actors in mind. Edison is a live-wire, a bright spark flitting from idea to idea almost in the vein of Cumberbatch’s Holmes in Sherlock, while Shannon’s Westinghouse is dogged, deliberate and methodical, along the lines of his Martin Kurtz in The Little Drummer Girl. As previously stated, the production design, art direction and costume design are superb, the best things about this film. It’s easy to believe you’re in the late 19th century when the mise en scène is this striking. The street scenes and interiors, both industrial and domestic, are terrific. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, the director of Me And Earl And The Dying Girl, has done a good job of handling the various parts of the whole and you can’t help but feel sorry for him re. the Weinstein connection. It didn’t do the film any favours.
This is not a movie for everyone and if you’re looking for light entertainment The Current War might not be for you, but lovers of ‘gee whiz!’ tales from the past will appreciate the intriguing facts that the film throws a light on. It’s amazing that this extraordinary, indeed, illuminating, story has been forgotten by popular history.
Screenwriter: Michael Mitnick
Principal cast:
Benedict Cumberbatch
Tuppence Middleton
Tom Holland
Michael Shannon
Katherine Waterston
Nicholas Hoult
Matthew Macfadyen
Country: USA/Russia/UK
Classification: M
Runtime: 108 mins.
Australian release date: 19 March 2020.
Like so many Hollywood movies, The Current War took a long time to get to the screen, with Michael Mitnick commencing his screenplay in 2008. Shooting finally began in late 2016 and the filmmakers premiered their work at the Toronto International Film Festival the following year, to mixed reviews. A re-edit was planned but before that could happen, as luck would have it, the Harvey Weinstein rape allegations surfaced and, as Weinstein was credited as co-producer and The Weinstein Company was slated to release the film, all bets were suddenly off. When, at last, another distributor was found, additional scenes were shot and the film was cut by 10 minutes or so and it was ultimately released in the UK and the USA in the second half of 2019. Now, it’s Australia’s turn, but was it worth waiting for?
The Current War tells a fascinating story - “inspired by true events” - and features a stellar cast and impressive production values, however, despite all the work on the script over the years, it’s unfocussed and allowed to ramble a little too far and wide, wandering off the track of the main plot. It begins in 1880 when we meet the great inventor Thomas Edison (Benedict Cumberbatch) as he is about to display his brightest creation yet to a group of potential backers. Flicking a switch, he illuminates row upon row of oversized light bulbs, powered by Direct Current (DC). This being a time when gas provides street and household lighting, industrialist George Westinghouse (Michael Shannon) wishes to learn more about this new power source and invites Edison and his wife (Tuppence Middleton) to dinner. When the eccentric Edison snubs the businessman, Westinghouse sets out to get revenge by providing financial support for the development of an opposing source of electricity, Alternating Current (AC), thus setting in motion what became known as ‘the war of the currents.’ Throw in the famed Serbian engineer and futurist Nikola Tesla (Nicholas Hoult), banker J. P. Morgan (Matthew Macfadyen), the US President (Corey Johnson) and assorted inventors and middle-managers (Stanley Townsend and Tom Holland) and you’ve got a hell of a tale, particularly when Edison attempts to discredit Westinghouse by the early use of ‘fake news.’
What could go wrong? The problem is that there’s a lot going on here and too much has been included. The crux of The Current War is the epic battle between these two giants of the history of modern America and trying to include every aspect of it reduces its impact. By necessity, the script is very wordy, so going off in tangents distracts from the main game. It is, of course, a pleasure to watch actors of the stature of Cumberbatch and Shannon strut their stuff and these two characters could have been written with each of these actors in mind. Edison is a live-wire, a bright spark flitting from idea to idea almost in the vein of Cumberbatch’s Holmes in Sherlock, while Shannon’s Westinghouse is dogged, deliberate and methodical, along the lines of his Martin Kurtz in The Little Drummer Girl. As previously stated, the production design, art direction and costume design are superb, the best things about this film. It’s easy to believe you’re in the late 19th century when the mise en scène is this striking. The street scenes and interiors, both industrial and domestic, are terrific. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, the director of Me And Earl And The Dying Girl, has done a good job of handling the various parts of the whole and you can’t help but feel sorry for him re. the Weinstein connection. It didn’t do the film any favours.
This is not a movie for everyone and if you’re looking for light entertainment The Current War might not be for you, but lovers of ‘gee whiz!’ tales from the past will appreciate the intriguing facts that the film throws a light on. It’s amazing that this extraordinary, indeed, illuminating, story has been forgotten by popular history.
