Hawking 2014
For the past fifty years, I have travelled the world studying and
lecturing about time and space. This film is a personal journey through
my life, told in my own words. Come with me and I will tell you the
story of how I became who I am."
The above is found at the
beginning of this extraordinary autobiographical documentary about the
life of theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking. (He "was born in 1942,
exactly 300 years after the death of Galileo.")
I personally have read quite a bit on Hawking but what made this film special to me was that:
(1) It was entirely narrated by Stephen Hawking.
(2)
Brief comments were made by such people as his siblings, care giver,
school friends, university friends, professors, software experts,
biographers, his first wife, physicists (like Roger Penrose, Kip
Thorne), and his present and former students.
(3) We actually get to see Hawking in his natural environment and get to actually see the people mentioned in (2) above.
We
also learn about his science ("I was writing the rule book for black
holes") and the progression of his devastating illness whose spectre is
always present.
We also get to see the good and the bad of worldwide celebrity.
Finally, this documentary had an "intimate feel" for me, as if Hawking were talking directly to me.
In
conclusion, I feel this is an incredible documentary narrated by a
determined scientist who has a strong will to live. In fact, at the end
of the documentary he tells us:
"I'm not afraid of dying, but I'm in no hurry to die."
(2013; 1 hr, 30 min; wide screen; 12 scenes; PBS)
Hawking 2014
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