Science pioneer on the big screen

The scientific struggles of Marie Curie are explored in a film screened in Perth for International Women’s Day.

Perth Film Society is contributing to the list of events that makes up Perth’s Women’s Festival, arranged in celebration of International Women’s Day (#IWD2019).

On Tuesday, March 5, the highly praised film,‘Marie Curie - The Courage of Knowledge’will tie in nicely with the theme for 2019 (#BalanceforBetter), which is all about gender balance, including in the workplace.

The film, which will be screened in the Joan Knight Studio at Perth Theatre at 7.45pm, has Polish actress Karolina Gruszka staring in this biopic of Marie Curie, the Polish but naturalised French, physicist and chemist. Marie Curie is remembered for her discovery of radium and polonium, and for her huge contribution to the fight against cancer. This film is a worthy tribute.

It shows a gifted woman struggling in a society that looks down on her, yet the men closest to her love her mind and want her success to be properly recognised.

A pioneer in the study of radioactivity, Curie spent her life setting precedents - she was the first woman ever to win the Nobel Prize (physics in 1903), and the first person to ever win it twice (chemistry in 1911).

But the film is as much an intimate portrayal of her private life as it is of her legendary public accomplishments, chronicling her blissful marriage to her scientific partner, Pierre (Charles Berling).

The Curies worked closely on the study of uranium and Marie’s world falls apart in 1906 when Pierre is killed in a road accident. Despite grieving, Marie perseveres and advances their work, making bold new discoveries. Scandal comes when new romance comes on the scene for Marie.

Tickets £6 and £5 from all the Horsecross box offices as usual.

Perth Film Society has invited local Marie Curie charity fundraisers to introduce the film and to collect donations on the night.