Galileo

Joseph Losey's adaptation of Bertold Brecht's controversial play about the famous philosopher and scientist. The story focusses on Galileo's run in with the Catholic Church, who whilst largely accepting his scientific evidence on a number of issues, particularly that the Earth was not a stationary object at the centre of the universe, were not prepared for it to be accepted truth. They simply could not allow this scientific fact to interfere in the order of things, particularly in their view the undermining of god and the church first and foremost.

An exception cast has been pulled together to tell the story and it is an absorbing tale, essentially delivered as a play with no exterior shots to be seen. The cast are universally good, although, I was never entirely convinced by Topol in the lead.

This movie opens as a modern-day movie production filming from above the artificial stage lights. The story begins in 1609 Padua. Galileo Galilei (Topol) is a math teacher demonstrating the new Copernican System. Eventually, he comes into conflict with Cardinal Inquisitor (Edward Fox).

This is like a play or at least a staged film. There are those three singing boys introducing each section. After all, it is based on a play. The story unfolds episodically in nature. Some of this may be educational. The general story is familiar to me. This British film is filled with solid actors, but the tension isn't very high.

I wrote a previous comment on the film of Bertolt Brecht's play "Galileo" a few years ago. Since it's posted here I will try not to repeat myself. However, comments from other reviewers need addressing, especially since this film is finally out on DVD and more people may be interested in seeing it. Brecht's intent in this play, which he wrote and rewrote over a period of thirty years, was never intended to be a "biography" of the scientist. Brecht was a Marxist and he saw theatre as a means of propaganda, to jolt viewers out of their complacency, to shake up their way of thinking and their view of the world. How well he succeeded may be open to question, but it is important to understand his intent and point of view. To this end he incorporated what he called the "alienation effect" into his plays. He did not want viewers to get emotionally involved in the characters or experience a catharsis afterward. He wanted to address them directly and tell them that there were important ideas being presented and they should pay attention and think about them. He did not want his audience to be "entertained". If you ever see a production of his "Three-Penny Opera", for instance, the characters come out to the front of the stage and sing little lectures to the audience. The best known tune from this show, "Mack the Knife" is not the swinging jazzy Bobby Darin version, but is supposed to be sung in a grating, irritating voice. This is perhaps the most obvious example of Brecht's alienation effect. In "Galileo" this effect is less apparent, perhaps because this play leans toward the genre of realism more than most of his other plays. It is a rather straightforward, narrative story. In the film the choir boys sing between what would be different scenes in the play. In the play, the lyrics the boys sing are supposed to be on a sign or projected on a screen to bring the tell the audience the year, the place and the general theme of the upcoming scene. Why the producers or director chose to use the choir boys for this purpose, I cannot say and I do think the message get lost in their shrill soprano voices. But for Brecht, this was to be his alienation effect in "Galileo", a break in the action to remind the audience not to get involved in the storyline or the characters, but to pay attention to the ideas he is presenting. I'm pretty sure that the choir boys are in this film to do the same thing, to break up the narrative, to take the focus off the characters in the story, and to communicate the information about the next scene in a way unrelated to the rest of the play. If only they weren't so screechy! One last comment about Brecht & Galileo, the character. I mentioned that Brecht rewrote this play several times, He did this because he was unhappy that actors portrayed Galileo too sympathetically; Brecht wanted him to be a villain, a coward and a betrayer of humanity. Actors, however, were seduced by the slyness and humor of the character. Charles Laughton, who worked with Brecht to translate "Galileo" into English in the late 1940's was among those who couldn't avoid making Galileo likable. Brecht admired Laughton's theatre craftsmanship as they rehearsed the play, but was horrified to find the audience liked the character of Galileo & saw him as a hero instead of a villain. Brecht tried and tried to make Galileo unlikable but never succeeded. Years later, after he have returned to communist East Germany he again tried to make Galileo despicable rather than heroic. But even though he had his own Marxist theatre company in a Marxist country with Marxist actors, his audiences still loved Galileo. It may be the only time a character defeated the author who had created him.

Bertolt Brecht is a great playwright. And Joseph Losey (during his self exile in the UK) captured the essential Brecht (originally in German) in English, complete with the choruses. The performances and the subject make you love this forgotten film that is laudable for its contribution to the world of evolved theater. It also presents Topol, Edward Fox, Michel Lonsdale and Judy Parfitt in memorable roles.

See the Plot Summary to know what this film is about.

Topol with his impatient manner of speech is somewhat insufferable as Galileo. But then, by all accounts, the real Galileo had a touch of arrogance in him and was not very likeable. This movie does not capture the horrors of pre-Industrial Europe, when religious authorities could inflict the most fiendish tortures on any victims they chose. This movie could have made a statement about religion run amok in the social milieu of the day. Instead, it is a bland film lacking dramatic tension. It is a movie adapted from a play and it shows. There is even a chorus of choirboys which is totally out of place. However, there are few bio-pics of great scientists, so this one is worth watching once.