Michael Grandage | 104 mins
USA | 2016
English Cast: Colin Firth, Jude Law, Laura Linney, Nicole Kidman, Guy Pearce
The debut feature from West End theatre ace Michael Grandage, Genius takes a journey back in time to the vital New York literary scene of the Roaring Twenties. Adapted by John Logan from the 1978 book Max Perkins: Editor of Genius by A. Scott Berg, Genius stars Colin Firth (The King’s Speech, The Railway Man) as Perkins, the legendary literary editor who discovered such magnificent talents as Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Genius follows the burgeoning friendship between Perkins and the then unknown Thomas Wolfe (Jude Law, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Anna Karenina). When Wolfe’s sprawling, chaotic manuscript falls into his hands, Perkins is convinced that he has discovered a literary genius, and sets out to hammer it into shape for publication. Under Perkins’ supervision, Wolfe cuts a third of the pages from his manuscript and endows it with a new title: Look Homeward, Angel. The intensive editing process leads to the blossoming of a close relationship between the gentle family man Perkins and the eccentric Wolfe — a relationship that is viewed with suspicion by the men’s romantic partners, Perkins’ wife Louise Saunders (Laura Linney, Mr. Holmes, Hyde Park on Hudson) and Wolfe’s lover, the author Aline Bernstein (Nicole Kidman, Lion, The Railway Man).
The always-reliable Firth gives a restrained and poignant performance as Perkins, while Law delivers a tremendous turn as the increasingly troubled and conflicted Wolfe. Taking us inside the work of writing like few films have ever done, Genius is an extraordinary saga about one of the most important creative collaborations in American literary history.
Genius | Monday Night Film Series | Tilley Hall, Room 102, UNB Campus | October 24, 2016 – 7:30pm | See full schedule
