Scientist Marie Curie inspired a lot of directors: Mervyn Le Roy's "Madame Curie " (1943) starring Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon stopped with the discovery of radium ; the MTV "une femme honorable" starring Marie-Christine Barrault in the eighties told her whole life ,including her affair ,passed over in silence by the MGM production (which in the end ,made sense ,for it happened after Pierre's death.)
"Marie curie " has a strong feminist side : it depicts Marie's struggle in a macho world ;when Albert Einstein -whom she actually met:there are famous photographs of both scientists walking and discussing in the country -tells he she's the most clever woman he has ever met ,Marie wryly answers "there's not much competition";she had to struggle to get her late husband 's chair (it's not a place that's passed down from husband to wife); her affair with Langevin gets unanimous thumbs down and meets the populace's hatred (If I were a man, my affair would be taken for granted).
Karolina Gruzka is a convincing scientist , who has "the courage of knowledge " ,at a time when a complete and utter fool could vote and a genius like her was not allowed to .
There are lessons to be learned from Mrs Curie's admirable life : she insists her work be useful to relieve the humanity's sufferings ( it was a brand new way to cure cancer) ;a great woman who gave all and who wanted to live just like a woman , that is to say ,with the right to be in love.
