Young Einstein
Encyclopedia
Young Einstein is an Australia
n comedy
film
directed by and starring Yahoo Serious
, released in 1988.
, the son of an apple farmer in Tasmania
in the early 1900s, splits a beer atom with a chisel in order to add bubbles to beer, discovers the theory of relativity
and travels to Sydney to patent it. While there, he invents the electric guitar
and surfing
while romancing Marie Curie
. He invents rock and roll
and uses it to save the world from being destroyed due to misuse of a nuclear reactor
under the watchful eye of Charles Darwin
.
called it a "one-joke movie, and I didn't laugh much the first time." He postulated that the possible lack of appeal to an American audience was because "By moving Einstein to Australia, he was able to set up comic situations that appeal to the vast and inexhaustible fascination the Australians have about their own isolation and gawky charm. But the jokes don't travel very well." The reviewers at the Washington Post were unimpressed: Rita Kempley called the film "dumber-than-a-bowling-ball" and questioned its mass appeal; Desson Howe noted that distributor Warner Bros. had made it a "pre-processed legend" regardless of merit. The New York Times was more tempered, noting that though the film was "an uneven series of sketches strung along an extended joke", that the first time director Serious "is a much more adept film maker than his loony plot suggests."
The Los Angeles Times
gave a favorable review, saying the film would appeal to younger audiences and that "it's just about impossible to dislike a movie in which examples of the hero's pacifism include his risking his life to save kitties from being baked to death inside a pie." Similarly, critic/historian Leonard Maltin
felt that "...Any movie with 'cat-pies' can't be all bad." Neil Jillett of Australia's The Age
reviewed the film positively, noting that despite some "directorial slackness", the film was "a lively work that is sophisticated and innocent, witty and farcical, satirical and unmalicious, intelligent but not condescending, full of concern with big issues but not arrogantly didactic, thoroughly Australian but not nationalistic."
The film has not yet been released in Australia on Region 4 DVD.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
directed by and starring Yahoo Serious
Yahoo Serious
Yahoo Serious , born Greg Pead , is an Australian film actor, director and score composer. He is best known for his 1988 comedy Young Einstein. He also created Reckless Kelly in 1993 and Mr. Accident in 2000...
, released in 1988.
Plot
Albert EinsteinAlbert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
, the son of an apple farmer in Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
in the early 1900s, splits a beer atom with a chisel in order to add bubbles to beer, discovers the theory of relativity
Theory of relativity
The theory of relativity, or simply relativity, encompasses two theories of Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity. However, the word relativity is sometimes used in reference to Galilean invariance....
and travels to Sydney to patent it. While there, he invents the electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
and surfing
Surfing
Surfing' is a surface water sport in which the surfer rides a surfboard on the crest and face of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore...
while romancing Marie Curie
Marie Curie
Marie Skłodowska-Curie was a physicist and chemist famous for her pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first person honored with two Nobel Prizes—in physics and chemistry...
. He invents rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
and uses it to save the world from being destroyed due to misuse of a nuclear reactor
Nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...
under the watchful eye of Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
.
Reception
The film overall received poor reviews. In giving it one star out of four, Roger EbertRoger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
called it a "one-joke movie, and I didn't laugh much the first time." He postulated that the possible lack of appeal to an American audience was because "By moving Einstein to Australia, he was able to set up comic situations that appeal to the vast and inexhaustible fascination the Australians have about their own isolation and gawky charm. But the jokes don't travel very well." The reviewers at the Washington Post were unimpressed: Rita Kempley called the film "dumber-than-a-bowling-ball" and questioned its mass appeal; Desson Howe noted that distributor Warner Bros. had made it a "pre-processed legend" regardless of merit. The New York Times was more tempered, noting that though the film was "an uneven series of sketches strung along an extended joke", that the first time director Serious "is a much more adept film maker than his loony plot suggests."
The Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
gave a favorable review, saying the film would appeal to younger audiences and that "it's just about impossible to dislike a movie in which examples of the hero's pacifism include his risking his life to save kitties from being baked to death inside a pie." Similarly, critic/historian Leonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin is an American film and animated film critic and historian, author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives.-Personal life:...
felt that "...Any movie with 'cat-pies' can't be all bad." Neil Jillett of Australia's The Age
The Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
reviewed the film positively, noting that despite some "directorial slackness", the film was "a lively work that is sophisticated and innocent, witty and farcical, satirical and unmalicious, intelligent but not condescending, full of concern with big issues but not arrogantly didactic, thoroughly Australian but not nationalistic."
The film has not yet been released in Australia on Region 4 DVD.
Cast
- Yahoo SeriousYahoo SeriousYahoo Serious , born Greg Pead , is an Australian film actor, director and score composer. He is best known for his 1988 comedy Young Einstein. He also created Reckless Kelly in 1993 and Mr. Accident in 2000...
- Albert EinsteinAlbert EinsteinAlbert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history... - Odile Le Clezio - Marie CurieMarie CurieMarie Skłodowska-Curie was a physicist and chemist famous for her pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first person honored with two Nobel Prizes—in physics and chemistry...
- John HowardJohn Howard (Australian actor)John Howard is an Australian stage and screen actor. Howard is best known for his appearances in the film The Club, and the television series SeaChange, Always Greener, All Saints and Packed To The Rafters.-Film:Howard's first role was in 1978's My Boys Are Good Boys, in a minor role...
- Preston Preston - Peewee Wilson - Mr. Einstein
- Su CruickshankSu CruickshankSusan "Su" Cruikshank was an Australian jazz singer, actress and writer.-Film:*Somewhere in the Darkness *Young Einstein *Those Dear Departed *Playing Beatie Bow...
- Mrs. Einstein - Lulu PinkusLulu PinkusLulu Pinkus is an Australian screenwriter, producer, stage, film and television actress. She made appearances on numerous television crime and police dramas during the 1970s and early 80s, including a nine episode stint on Prisoner, as well as supporting roles in a number of feature films...
- The Blonde - Kaarin FairfaxKaarin FairfaxKaarin Fairfax is an Australian actress who played the role of 'Dolour Darcy' in two TV miniseries The Harp in the South and Poor Man's Orange based on books of the same names by Ruth Park. She has also acted in other Australian television series throughout the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, and...
- The Brunette - Michael Lake - Manager
- Jonathan Coleman - Wolfgang Bavarian
- Johnny McCall - Rudy Bavarian / Tasmanian Devil
- Michael Blaxland - Desk Clerk
- Ray Fogo - Bright Clerk
- Paul Jurisic - Young Kid
- Zanzi Mann - Young Kid
- Terry Pead - Inventor Couple
- Alice Pead - Inventor Couple
- Frank McDonaldFrank McDonald-Life:He was born in 1950 and educated at Kelly's Private School, Cabra Road; St Vincent’s CBS Glasnevin and University College Dublin, graduating with a BA in 1971...
- Nihilist