Science cleans up at the Oscars

The Theory of Everything depicts Stephen Hawking’s relationship with first wife Jane. (Courtesy: Universal Pictures International)

By Tushna Commissariat

In a sweeping win for science-themed films at this year’s Oscars, British actor Eddie Redmayne has won the best actor award for his portrayal of the theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking in the film The Theory of Everything. Redmayne, 33, plays Hawking in the biographical film that was inspired by the memoir Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen written by Hawking’s former wife Jane, who is portrayed in the film by the British actress Felicity Jones. The Theory of Everything was also nominated for best picture, original score and adapted screenplay, while Jones was nominated in the best actress category. Redmayne’s success at the Oscars comes after his win in the best actor category at this year’s Bafta awards, which also saw The Theory of Everything pick up best film. The movie chronicles Jane’s relationship with Hawking – from the early days of their courtship to Hawking’s diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis at the age of 21 and his success in physics until the two divorced in 1995. I was lucky enough to attend an early screening of the film, and I thought it was a very worthy candidate for the awards season. You can read my review of the film here.

Continuing with the science theme, acclaimed director Christopher’s Nolan’s epic space-travel film Interstellar scooped an Oscar for best visual effects in a film. This is an unsurprising and well-deserved win, considering the awe-inspiring and scientifically accurate special effects and images of supermassive black holes, wormholes, extreme planets and space travel that have enthralled cinema-goers. You can read more about Interstellar and its science here. And finally, The Imitation Game – a film detailing the life and work of pioneering British mathematician Alan Turing – loosely based on the biography Alan Turing: the Enigma by Andrew Hodges, won the Oscar for best adapted screenplay. All in all, it was a good night for all the films with a scientific theme that were nominated for this year’s Oscars, so make sure that you see all three and tell us which one was your favourite.