Infinity (film)
Encyclopedia
Infinity is a 1996
American
biographical
drama film
about the early life of physicist Richard Feynman
. Feynman was played by Matthew Broderick
, who also directed and produced the film. Broderick's mother, Patricia Broderick, wrote the screenplay, which was based on the books Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!
and What Do You Care What Other People Think?
, both written by Richard Feynman and Ralph Leighton
.
fairly closely in terms of the stories told.
The film starts in 1924 with Richard and his father Melville walking through the woods where Melville shows his scientific inspiration for Richard.
In 1934, Richard & Arline are in high school and their romantic relationship starts.
The story then jumps to his college years and Arline getting sick with lymphatic tuberculosis
.
It continues to his move west to Los Alamos National Laboratory
in Los Alamos, New Mexico
, where Arline follows him later to a hospital in Albuquerque, New Mexico
, where she dies.
The film ends with Feynman crying at the sight of the red dress Arline had pointed out.
1996 in film
Major releases this year included Scream, Independence Day, Fargo, Trainspotting, The English Patient, Twister, Mars Attacks!, Jerry Maguire and a version of Evita starring Madonna.-Events:...
American
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
biographical
Biographical film
A biographical film, or biopic , is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or people. They differ from films “based on a true story” or “historical films” in that they attempt to comprehensively tell a person’s life story or at least the most historically important years of their...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
about the early life of physicist Richard Feynman
Richard Feynman
Richard Phillips Feynman was an American physicist known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics and the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, as well as in particle physics...
. Feynman was played by Matthew Broderick
Matthew Broderick
Matthew Broderick is an American film and stage actor who, among other roles, played the title character in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Adult Simba in The Lion King film series, and Leo Bloom in the film and Broadway productions of The Producers.He has won two Tony Awards, one in 1983 for his...
, who also directed and produced the film. Broderick's mother, Patricia Broderick, wrote the screenplay, which was based on the books Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!
Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!
"Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!": Adventures of a Curious Character is an edited collection of reminiscences by the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman. The book, released in 1985, covers a variety of instances in Feynman's life...
and What Do You Care What Other People Think?
What Do You Care What Other People Think?
"What Do You Care What Other People Think?": Further Adventures of a Curious Character is the second of two books consisting of transcribed and edited oral reminiscences from American physicist Richard Feynman. It follows Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!The book presents his life as a series of...
, both written by Richard Feynman and Ralph Leighton
Ralph Leighton
Ralph Leighton is a biographer, film producer, and friend of the late physicist Richard Feynman. He recorded Feynman relating stories of his life. Leighton has released some of the recordings as The Feynman Tapes. These interviews became the basis for the books Surely You're Joking, Mr...
.
Plot
The film follows the book What Do You Care What Other People Think?What Do You Care What Other People Think?
"What Do You Care What Other People Think?": Further Adventures of a Curious Character is the second of two books consisting of transcribed and edited oral reminiscences from American physicist Richard Feynman. It follows Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!The book presents his life as a series of...
fairly closely in terms of the stories told.
The film starts in 1924 with Richard and his father Melville walking through the woods where Melville shows his scientific inspiration for Richard.
In 1934, Richard & Arline are in high school and their romantic relationship starts.
The story then jumps to his college years and Arline getting sick with lymphatic tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
.
It continues to his move west to Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory, managed and operated by Los Alamos National Security , located in Los Alamos, New Mexico...
in Los Alamos, New Mexico
Los Alamos, New Mexico
Los Alamos is a townsite and census-designated place in Los Alamos County, New Mexico, United States, built upon four mesas of the Pajarito Plateau and the adjoining White Rock Canyon. The population of the CDP was 12,019 at the 2010 Census. The townsite or "the hill" is one part of town while...
, where Arline follows him later to a hospital in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...
, where she dies.
The film ends with Feynman crying at the sight of the red dress Arline had pointed out.
Cast
| Actor | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Matthew Broderick Matthew Broderick Matthew Broderick is an American film and stage actor who, among other roles, played the title character in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Adult Simba in The Lion King film series, and Leo Bloom in the film and Broadway productions of The Producers.He has won two Tony Awards, one in 1983 for his... |
Richard Feynman Richard Feynman Richard Phillips Feynman was an American physicist known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics and the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, as well as in particle physics... |
|
| Patricia Arquette Patricia Arquette Patricia T. Arquette is an American actress and director. She played the lead character in the supernatural drama series Medium for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.... |
Arline Greenbaum | Feynman's first wife & lover |
| Peter Riegert Peter Riegert Peter Riegert is an American actor, screenwriter, and film director, best known for his role as Boon from Animal House and crooked New Jersey State Assemblyman Ronald Zellman on the HBO original series The Sopranos.-Early life:... |
Melville "Mel" Feynman | Feynman's father |
| Dori Brenner | Tutti Feynman | |
| Peter Michael Goetz | Dr. Murray Gell-Mann Murray Gell-Mann Murray Gell-Mann is an American physicist and linguist who received the 1969 Nobel Prize in physics for his work on the theory of elementary particles... |
|
| Željko Ivanek Željko Ivanek Željko Ivanek is an Emmy award-winning Slovenian American actor best known for his role as Ray Fiske on Damages. He is also known for playing Blake Sterling on short-lived NBC series The Event and Emile Danko on Heroes.... |
Bill Price | |
| Joyce Van Patten Joyce Van Patten Joyce Benignia Van Patten is an American stage, film and television actress.-Personal life:Van Patten was born in New York City, the daughter of Josephine Rose , an Italian American magazine advertising executive, and Richard Byron Van Patten, a Dutch American interior decorator.She is the younger... |
Aunt Ruth | |
| James LeGros James LeGros James LeGros is an American film and television actor. He is known as a star of independent films with a diversified body of work in the early to mid 1990s.-Personal life:... |
John Archibald Wheeler John Archibald Wheeler John Archibald Wheeler was an American theoretical physicist who was largely responsible for reviving interest in general relativity in the United States after World War II. Wheeler also worked with Niels Bohr in explaining the basic principles behind nuclear fission... |
Thesis advisor at Princeton |
| Jeffrey Force | Young Richard Feynman Richard Feynman Richard Phillips Feynman was an American physicist known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics and the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, as well as in particle physics... |
|
| David Drew Gallagher | Harold | |
| Raffi Di Blasio | Robert | |
| Joshua Keaton | David | |
| James Hong James Hong James Hong is an American actor and former president of the Association of Asian/Pacific American Artists . A prolific acting veteran, Hong's career spans over 50 years and includes more than 350 roles in film, television, and video games.-Early life:Hong was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His... |
Abacus Adder | |
| Emerson Tran | Kid | |
| Melissa DeLizia | Young Joan | |
| John Hammil | County Dr. #1 | |
| Jack Lindine | Mr. Greenbaum | Arline's father |
| Helene Moore | County Nurse #1 | |
| Mary Pat Gleason | County Dr. #2 | |
| Horton Foote Jr. | Neighborhood Doctor | |
| Mary Kay Wulf | Aunt Rose | |
| Laurence Haddon | Family Doctor | |
| Tom Kurlander | Driver | |
| Mark Burnham | Passenger #1 | |
| Googy Gress | Passenger #2 | |
| Joshua Goldin | Passenger #3 | |
| Erich Anderson Erich Anderson Erich Anderson is an actor, sometimes credited as E. Erich Anderson, who has starred in film and on television. He is best known for his first film role in the 1984 horror film Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter as Rob Dyer... |
Gil | |
| Matt Mulhern | Gate Guard | |
| Drew Ebersole | Calculator Kid #1 | |
| John Patterson | Stan Ivanek | |
| Damion Scheller | Calculator Kid #2 | |
| Joshua Malina Joshua Malina Joshua Charles Malina is an American film and stage actor. He is perhaps most famous for portraying Will Bailey on the NBC drama The West Wing and Jeremy Goodwin on Sports Night.-Personal life:... |
Calculator Kid #3 | |
| Demetrius Navarro | Calculator Kid #4 | |
| Cosimo Sherman | Garo | |
| Geoffrey Nauffts | Rob | |
| David Barrera | Chepa | |
| Patrick James Clarke | Strong Fellow | |
| Kirk Fox | Mechanic | |
| Marianne Muellerleile Marianne Muellerleile -Life and career:Muellerleile was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the daughter of Margaret and Cecil E. Muellerleile, an oil company executive.... |
Nurse Gracie | |
| Michelle Feynman | Sewing Girl on Train | Cameo by Michelle (Richard Feynman's daughter) |
| Kristin Dattilo | Joan Feynman Joan Feynman Joan Feynman , the sister of Richard Feynman, is an astrophysicist who made original studies of the interactions between the solar wind and the Earth's magnetosphere. While working at the NASA Ames Research Center in 1971, Feynman showed that coronal mass ejections could be identified by the... |
Sister of Richard Feynman |
| Bill Bolender | Isadore Rabi | |
| Corbitt Smith | Henry |