The Professor and the Madman
Directed by Farhad Safinia
- history
- drama
- mystery
- thriller
The story
Professor James Murray begins work compiling words for the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary in the mid 19th century, and receives over 10,000 entries from a patient at Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum, Dr. William Minor.
What it’s like
Muted, rain-grey Victorian light gives way to the warm amber of lamps in a cramped Oxford shed, where words are gathered slip by slip onto a crowded desk. The palette runs to sepia, slate and soot, with the asylum's cold stone corridors rendered in pale, bleached tones that feel damp to the touch. The camera tends to hold on faces and hands in quiet interiors, with steady, measured framing and the occasional wide shot of the empty English countryside. The score is spare and melancholy, built on low strings and soft piano, and it swells only in the rare moments of grief or shock. Its vibe is contemplative and wistful, with a thread of unease running beneath it, and it suits a rainy afternoon, a quiet evening alone, or a reflective night in. The pace is unhurried, with long dialogue scenes and a slow, deliberate build. Its emotional register is earnest and humane, following two very different men who slowly form an unlikely friendship across the divide of sanity and institution. Intensity is moderate: there are brief, sharp flashbacks to war-time violence and a disturbing account of a killing, and the asylum carries a bleak, oppressive dread, but there is no gore and little on-screen brutality. It is best for viewers who enjoy intelligent period drama, literate character work and quiet, thoughtful storytelling.
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