Les Palmes de M. Schutz (1997) - film review

In 1894, Pierre Curie and Gustave Bémont are engaged in scientific research in the department of Physics and Chemistry at the University of Paris.   Their faculty head, Rodolphe Schutz is once more disappointed that he has not been awarded a coveted academic prize, so he foists on Curie and Bémont a brilliant Polish student, Marie Sklodowska.  From the start, Marie upsets the ordered life of Pierre and his colleague.  When Bémont leaves to pursue a career in industry, Pierre and Marie occupy themselves with research in the new science of radioactivity and make an extraordinary discovery: a mineral known as pitchblende appears to far more radioactive than uranium.  Will Schutz win his prize after all...?

This light-hearted portrayal of the lives of Pierre and Marie Curie was based on a celebrated 1989 stage play written by Jean-Noël Fenwick.  Historically accurate for the most part, the film also conveys, with some realism, the nature of scientific endeavour, although it is far from the conventional “biopic”.   Isabelle Huppert and Charles Berling make an engaging couple as the eminent Curies – their natural on-screen rapport serves the film well, carrying the humour of their situation as well as the serious nature of their working relationship.   There’s also another solid performance from Philippe Noiret – even if he does come across a bit like a pantomime villain in some scenes, obsessed with his own personal glory at the expense of real scientific achievement.   Les Palmes de M. Schutz is as much a satire on the painful realities of scientific research (in whatever era) as it is a celebration of the achievement of the Curies.

© James Travers 2006

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