'Radioactive' Review: Rosamund Pike's Marie Curie shines but film fails to balance between biopic and romance
"It's difficult for a woman to express her feelings in a language, chiefly designed by men to express theirs," Thomas Hardy's Bathsheba says in his book 'Far From The Madding Crowd' which was penned in 1874. Such were the ideas that women had attached themselves to, in those times, whether they believed it or not. While women authors were determined to turn this phrase around, Marie Curie had begun her own path to fame.
It was a man's world back in the 1900s, but Marie didn't that hold her back in her scientific pursuits that led to massive breakthroughs for better as well as worse, also paved the way for women in science. Her story of ups and downs is also tragically symbolic of the era she lived in — dogged by xenophobia and inherent misogyny which almost resulted in her missing being nominated for the first Nobel Prize. She had discovered radium and polonium and was meant to receive her second Nobel Prize but her affair with a married man younger than her was enough to tarnish her image. She endured enough humiliation while the men carried on blithely but she still kept a cool face to the public, continued her work till her death after being poisoned by radium in a cruel twist of fate. It does make for a fascinating and empowering story and director Marjane Satrapi, known for powerful 'Persepolis', was keen on sharing this inspiring tale to the world. So did she manage to do so? Well, yes and no.
While 'Radioactive' is aesthetically stunning with some powerfully raw and emotional moments but it stumbles along the way and can't hide the gaps in the film. Rosamund Pike, known for taking on such bold and unusual roles, sinks her teeth into Marie Curie, a fiercely headstrong woman, who falls in love with Pierre Curie (Sam Riley), another scientist. There's no doubt that Pike is convincing and works with everything she's been given to shine in the film. Her grief when Pierre dies in a freak accident is chilling to the bone, and that's just the power that Pike exudes in each of her roles. But unfortunately, she cannot carry the film on her shoulders, alone.
The chemistry between her and Riley is also commendable and for the first 40 minutes, you're intrigued by the film, despite the occasional lapses of attention here and there. But that's only for so long. After that, the film gets lost in fragmented storytelling. It wishes to take you forward quickly, skipping over the excessively scientific and intellectual discourse, which is fair to a point, but it comes across very patchy and disorienting at points. They met, married, discovered two new elements, radium and polonium before you can blink. Their achievements are shown in a quick montage and the actual impact of Marie's life remains diluted and sketchy. Crucial points such as Marie's disappointment over her exclusion from the Nobel Prize nominations, an example of sheer sexism, is swept into the romantic tensions between Marie and Pierre. Unable to walk the fine line between a cushy romance and an inspiring biopic, the film falls into an inexplicable grey in the middle. At points, it feels like a quick PowerPoint presentation. Marie Curie seems too much like a distant celebrity at points, rather than being in actual flesh and blood which the film had the power to do.
And so, 'Radioactive' couldn't quite achieve what it had promised, though it did make a very fair attempt. It's streaming on Amazon Prime.