Hawking

Film Review by Chris Buckle | 19 Sep 2013
Film title: Hawking
Director: Stephen Finnigan
Starring: Stephen Hawking, Nathan Chapple, Arthur Pelling
Release date: 23 Sep

“Imagine coming to the end of questions,” expresses Mary Hawking – younger sister of cosmologist Stephen – towards the end of this eponymous documentary. She’s referring to her brother’s restless curiosity; an inquisitiveness that helped the Oxford-born physicist overcome severe health problems to become one of science’s most celebrated thinkers. For Stephen to stop contemplating the universe in all its mystery and glory is, she suggests, impossible; there’s simply too much he hungers to know. Viewers may share this feeling of unanswered questions come Hawking’s end credits: for all its detail, Hawking the man remains somewhat unknown.

Co-written and narrated by Hawking himself, this elusiveness is possibly traceable to its subject’s conflicted relationship with his own celebrity. Having been stung by false press, a reluctance to open up emotionally is understandable. To director Finnigan’s credit, this absence doesn’t damage the film’s overall appeal, with Hawking’s sharp wit foregrounded and his accomplishments vividly catalogued. [Chris Buckle]

 

Hawking is released on DVD by 4DVD on 23 Sep http://www.edfilmfest.org.uk/films/2013/hawking