A Brief History of Time (1991) on Netflix
G19911h 20mBiographyDocumentary
A documentary portrait of the physicist Stephen Hawking, who has ALS, a disease that damages nerve cells in his spine and brain. Family, classmates and colleagues describe him.
- Netflix4.2/5
- IMDb7.3/106,271 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes95%
Trailer
Plot summary
Stephen Hawking is a physicist who has ALS, a disease that damages nerve cells in his spine and brain over time. The film borrows its title from his bestselling book on cosmology, yet it is also a portrait of the man. His mother, his aunt, his sister and a neighbor of the family are among those who speak about him, along with classmates and a tutor from Oxford and physicists in his field. Clips of his lectures carry his own account of time, the universe and black holes. Static images of Hawking, his wheelchair and the computer-based system that speaks for him run through the interview segments.
Cast
- Isobel Hawkingas Self - Stephen Hawking's Mother
- Janet Humphreyas Self - Stephen Hawking's Aunt
- Mary Hawkingas Self - Stephen Hawking's Sister
- Basil Kingas Self - Hawking Family Neighbor
- Derek Powneyas Self - Hawking Classmate at Oxford
- Norman Dixas Self - Hawking Classmate at Oxford
- Robert Bermanas Self - Hawking Tutor at Oxford
- Gordon Berryas Self - Hawking Classmate at Oxford
- Dennis Sciamaas Self - Professor at Cambridge
- John Archibald Wheeler
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Did you know?!Facts and trivia about A Brief History of Time (1991)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Errol Morris remembers that Stephen Hawking kept posters of Marilyn Monroe in his office and that one of them fell down while they were filming; Hawking's speech synthesizer intoned, "A fallen woman."
- Errol Morris had only a few days of access to film Stephen Hawking, so because of Hawking's ALS he shot static images of Hawking, his wheelchair and his Intel-sponsored communication system, later editing them into the interview segments.
- Philip Glass composed the score before Errol Morris showed him the movie: Morris gave him cues such as "falling into a black hole" or "event horizon."
- Rather than travel to film his interview subjects in their own surroundings, Errol Morris shot every interview for the film on specially built sets on a sound stage in England.
- After the film premiered, Stephen Hawking told director Errol Morris, "Thank you for making my mother a star."
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