THE PROFESSOR AND THE MADMAN
***
Director: P. B. Shemran
Screenwriters: Todd Komarnicki and Farhad Safinia (as P. B. Shemran), based on
The Surgeon of Crowthorne: A Tale of Murder, Madness and the Love of Words (aka The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary) by Simon Winchester.
Principal cast:
Mel Gibson
Sean Penn
Eddie Marsan
Natalie Dormer
Jennifer Ehle
Steve Coogan
Country: Ireland/France/Iceland
Classification: M
Runtime: 124 mins.
Australian release date: 20 February 2020.
It’s been a long time since the previous collaboration between Farhad Safinia and Mel Gibson - it was 2006 when they co-wrote the screenplay for their drama about life and death in the kingdom of the Maya, Apocalypto. Now, they’ve come together again for The Professor And The Madman, their interpretation of the fascinating true story behind the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary. Based on Simon Winchester’s 1998 best-seller, the story features Gibson as Scottish lexicographer James Murray, the man responsible for taking on the most ambitious project ever attempted in the literary world, and Safinia (using the name P. B. Shemran) as director and co-writer.
Murray was a remarkable man who had little formal education (he left school at the age of 14). He was an autodidactic polyglot specialising in etymology, who taught himself over a dozen Western and Eastern languages and dialects and had “sufficient knowledge of Hebrew and Syriac to read at sight the Old Testament.” In 1879, he entered into an agreement with the Delegates of the Oxford University Press to compile a dictionary of the English language that would include and define every word in current use in the English-speaking world. To this end, Murray gathered a team of researchers to undertake the challenge but he soon realised that the task was too great for such a small group. To reduce the predicted decades it would take to complete the formidable task, he decided to ‘crowdsource’ (a word not then invented!) the effort, asking for contributions from the general public. As word got out, the definitions came pouring in and, over time, it became evident that a great number came from a single source. An American Army surgeon, Dr. William C. Minor (Sean Penn), had contributed more than 10,000 definitions but, when Murray wanted to honour him for his work, he discovered that Minor had a homicidal past and was currently institutionalised in Broadmoor Asylum (much later he was diagnosed with schizophrenia).
Murray and Minor developed a close friendship against all odds (the Scot said they were “consanguineous”) and it is a tribute to Gibson and Penn that they successfully convey their mutual love of words and language, despite the differences in their positions. Their intellectual bond linked them but Murray also never forgot Minor’s basic humanity, even when the doctor was at his most delusional. As the plot develops, Minor is contacted by his victim’s wife (Natalie Dormer) and the script takes up the great themes of love, forgiveness and redemption. An excellent supporting cast that includes Jennifer Ehle, Eddie Marsan, Steve Coogan and Stephen Dillane in important roles add depth to the screenplay.
The Professor And The Madman is a strange story indeed, one of those that you think can’t possibly be true but, for the most part, it certainly is. It stretches believability occasionally (would a woman really be allowed to wander the grounds of Broadmoor unescorted?) and it’s necessarily wordy (but delightfully so, if you love language). Its slow pace may be too much for some, though, and the music gets a little overwrought at times. Apparently, Mel Gibson and his chosen director were not happy with the end result, having been denied final cut by the production company, Voltage Pictures. One suspects that this was a project too close to the actor’s heart, however - he purchased the film rights some 20 years ago - because it’s not as bad as he thinks.
Screenwriters: Todd Komarnicki and Farhad Safinia (as P. B. Shemran), based on
The Surgeon of Crowthorne: A Tale of Murder, Madness and the Love of Words (aka The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary) by Simon Winchester.
Principal cast:
Mel Gibson
Sean Penn
Eddie Marsan
Natalie Dormer
Jennifer Ehle
Steve Coogan
Country: Ireland/France/Iceland
Classification: M
Runtime: 124 mins.
Australian release date: 20 February 2020.
It’s been a long time since the previous collaboration between Farhad Safinia and Mel Gibson - it was 2006 when they co-wrote the screenplay for their drama about life and death in the kingdom of the Maya, Apocalypto. Now, they’ve come together again for The Professor And The Madman, their interpretation of the fascinating true story behind the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary. Based on Simon Winchester’s 1998 best-seller, the story features Gibson as Scottish lexicographer James Murray, the man responsible for taking on the most ambitious project ever attempted in the literary world, and Safinia (using the name P. B. Shemran) as director and co-writer.
Murray was a remarkable man who had little formal education (he left school at the age of 14). He was an autodidactic polyglot specialising in etymology, who taught himself over a dozen Western and Eastern languages and dialects and had “sufficient knowledge of Hebrew and Syriac to read at sight the Old Testament.” In 1879, he entered into an agreement with the Delegates of the Oxford University Press to compile a dictionary of the English language that would include and define every word in current use in the English-speaking world. To this end, Murray gathered a team of researchers to undertake the challenge but he soon realised that the task was too great for such a small group. To reduce the predicted decades it would take to complete the formidable task, he decided to ‘crowdsource’ (a word not then invented!) the effort, asking for contributions from the general public. As word got out, the definitions came pouring in and, over time, it became evident that a great number came from a single source. An American Army surgeon, Dr. William C. Minor (Sean Penn), had contributed more than 10,000 definitions but, when Murray wanted to honour him for his work, he discovered that Minor had a homicidal past and was currently institutionalised in Broadmoor Asylum (much later he was diagnosed with schizophrenia).
Murray and Minor developed a close friendship against all odds (the Scot said they were “consanguineous”) and it is a tribute to Gibson and Penn that they successfully convey their mutual love of words and language, despite the differences in their positions. Their intellectual bond linked them but Murray also never forgot Minor’s basic humanity, even when the doctor was at his most delusional. As the plot develops, Minor is contacted by his victim’s wife (Natalie Dormer) and the script takes up the great themes of love, forgiveness and redemption. An excellent supporting cast that includes Jennifer Ehle, Eddie Marsan, Steve Coogan and Stephen Dillane in important roles add depth to the screenplay.
The Professor And The Madman is a strange story indeed, one of those that you think can’t possibly be true but, for the most part, it certainly is. It stretches believability occasionally (would a woman really be allowed to wander the grounds of Broadmoor unescorted?) and it’s necessarily wordy (but delightfully so, if you love language). Its slow pace may be too much for some, though, and the music gets a little overwrought at times. Apparently, Mel Gibson and his chosen director were not happy with the end result, having been denied final cut by the production company, Voltage Pictures. One suspects that this was a project too close to the actor’s heart, however - he purchased the film rights some 20 years ago - because it’s not as bad as he thinks.