A Brief History of Time
United States • 1991
Director
#699Criterion Collection →Synopsis
Errol Morris turns his camera on one of the most fascinating men in the world: the pioneering astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, afflicted by a debilitating motor neuron disease that has left him without a voice or the use of his limbs. An adroitly crafted tale of personal adversity, professional triumph, and cosmological inquiry, Morris’s documentary examines the way the collapse of Hawking’s body has been accompanied by the untrammeled broadening of his imagination. Telling the man’s incredible story through the voices of his colleagues and loved ones, while making dynamically accessible some of the theories in Hawking’s best-selling book of the same name, A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME is at once as small as a single life and as big as the ever-expanding universe.
Synopsis
Errol Morris turns his camera on one of the most fascinating men in the world: the pioneering astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, afflicted by a debilitating motor neuron disease that has left him without a voice or the use of his limbs. An adroitly crafted tale of personal adversity, professional triumph, and cosmological inquiry, Morris’s documentary examines the way the collapse of Hawking’s body has been accompanied by the untrammeled broadening of his imagination. Telling the man’s incredible story through the voices of his colleagues and loved ones, while making dynamically accessible some of the theories in Hawking’s best-selling book of the same name, A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME is at once as small as a single life and as big as the ever-expanding universe.
Credits
Crew
DirectorErrol Morris
CinematographerJohn Bailey, Stefan Czapsky
ComposerPhilip Glass
EditorBrad Fuller
ProducerDavid Hickman
Cast
Stephen Hawkingas Self
Isobel Hawkingas Self - Stephen Hawking's Mother
Janet Humphreyas Self - Stephen Hawking's Aunt
Mary Hawkingas Self - Stephen Hawking's Sister