The Theory of Everything

Black hole with corona, artist's concept from Wikipedia: "NASA's NuSTAR Sees Rare Blurring of Black Hole Light". NASA. 12 August 2014. Click to enlarge.

Kaiken teoria. GB © 2014 Universal. PC: Working Title Films. P: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce, Anthony McCarten. D: James Marsh. SC: Anthony McCarten - based on the book Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen (2008) by Jane Hawking. DP: Benoît Delhomme - DI: Technicolor, Creative Services London. M: Jóhann Jóhannsson. ED: Jinx Godfrey. C: Eddie Redmayne (Stephen Hawking), Felicity Jones (Jane Hawking), Charlie Cox (Jonathan Hellyer Jones, Jane's second husband), Emily Watson (Beryl Wilde, Jane's mother), Simon McBurney (Frank Hawking, Stephen's father), David Thewlis (Dennis Sicama), Maxine Peake (Elaine Mason, Stephen's second wife), Christian McKay (Roger Penrose). - Stephen Hawking provides his Equalizer computerized voice. - Loc: London, Cambridge, Ealing. 123 min
    Technical specs from the IMDb: - Dolby Digital - Color - 2.35:1 - Camera: Arri Alexa, Leica Summilux-C Lenses - Negative Format: SxS Pro - Cinematographic Process: Digital Intermediate (2K) (master format), ProRes 4:4:4 (1080/24p) (source format) - Release Format: D-Cinema
   2K DCP, DF (Deutsche Fassung = German spoken version) viewed at Eva, Berlin, 29 Dec 2014.

Official synopsis: "Starring Eddie Redmayne (“Les Misérables”) and Felicity Jones (“The Amazing Spider-Man 2”), this is the extraordinary story of one of the world’s greatest living minds, the renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, who falls deeply in love with fellow Cambridge student Jane Wilde. Once a healthy, active young man, Hawking received an earth-shattering diagnosis at 21 years of age. With Jane fighting tirelessly by his side, Stephen embarks on his most ambitious scientific work, studying the very thing he now has precious little of – time. Together, they defy impossible odds, breaking new ground in medicine and science, and achieving more than they could ever have dreamed. The film is based on the memoir "Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen," by Jane Hawking, and is directed by Academy Award winner James Marsh (“Man on Wire”)." (Official synopsis from the homepage).

AA: "A British biographical romantic drama film" (Wikipedia), a well-made film, a mainstream entertainment film about the engrossing story of Stephen Hawking.

Regarding his brilliant ideas on cosmology Stephen Hawking has done a lot to popularize them himself, and his books are illuminating even for laymen. I was very impressed by The Grand Design. There is nothing of the kind in this film. And there are already other films about Hawking's ideas, for instance the fascinating A Brief History of Time by Errol Morris.

This film is the private story: the battle against odds to cope with the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or motor neurone disease, which gradually paralysed Hawking over the decades (this formulation I copied from Wikipedia). The viewpoint is that of Jane, his wife, and the film is largely about her battle for Stephen.

A true story about the triumph of the spirit.