The Aeronauts
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BFI London Film Festival Education THE AERONAUTS This resource focuses on film representation and production, plus National Curriculum Key Stage 3 Science and History and GCSE Science and History (in particular AQA Expansion & Empire) THE AERONAUTS Director Tom Harper Main cast Felicity Jones (Amelia Wren), Eddie Redmayne (James Glaisher), Himesh Patel (John Trew), Anne Reid (Ethel Glaisher), Tom Courtenay (Arthur Glaisher), Phoebe Fox (Antonia), Tim McInnerny (George Airy) Screenplay Tom Harper and Jack Thorne, based in part on Richard Holmes’ Falling Upwards: How We Took to the Air (Harper Collins, 2013) Cinematography George Steel Production Design David Hindle, Christian Huband Art Direction Alice Sutton Costume Design Alexandra Byrne Hair & Make Up Design Jenny Shircore Synopsis In 1860s London, James Glaisher is a young scientist. Surrounded by huge crowds of spectators in Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens and supported by his friend, John, he has filled the wicker basket under a huge balloon, ‘The Mammoth’, with new-fangled ‘meteorological’ instruments, as well as notebooks and carrier pigeons; he’s ready for the attempt to collect scientific evidence for his new theories on the earth’s atmosphere. He is joined by Amelia Wren, who arrives in circus costume standing on top of a carriage which zooms into the Gardens at speed; the balloon is hers and she is the pilot. This flight is the first she has made since the death of her husband and co-showbiz balloonist. Despite James’ reticence and concerns re weather conditions that day, she puts on a daredevil show for the crowd, cuts the balloon’s guide ropes and, as a final flourish, throws her small dog out of the basket in order for it to land safely with a parachute. As Amelia and James ascend and reach altitudes never experienced by humans before, their journey goes from wonder at nature and excitement at the scientific evidence being gathered to fear for their lives, and the film becomes less a period drama and more an action adventure. In parallel with their journey, which lasts the real-time length of the film and is measured on screen by a distance-time graph and notes of altitude, the film offers multiple flashbacks for each character. In James’ case, they show how his parents and scientific peers have in turn supported and laughed at his pioneering ideas; he believes that if weather patterns could be predicted it could transform lives, from public health to the farming industry. In Amelia’s case, we see how she has struggled with the loss of her husband and subsequent dismissal by the scientific community as unfit to participate in scientific research owing to her showbiz career but, more significantly, her gender. Once safely back on earth, their combination of human endeavour, recklessness and vision feels to have been worth it, after all. The film ends by noting that the actual Mammoth flight in 1862 made by ‘aeronauts’ James Glaisher with Henry Coxwell broke human-manned balloon flight altitude records and was key to advancing human knowledge of weather systems and the new science of meteorology. THE AERONAUTS: Historical Fact and Fiction The historical starting point The story is based on a real exploratory hydrogen balloon flight made on 5 September 1862 by a scientist and a balloonist: James Glaisher (1809-1903) was an aeronaut, astronomer and amongst the first ever ‘meteorologists’, and Henry Coxwell (1819-1900) was an aeronaut and balloon display showman. The flight was arranged by the British Association for the Advancement of Science: the ‘Mammoth’ took off from Wolverhampton and landed 18 miles away near Ludlow, having ascended 7 miles. It was the greatest height reached by a human to date and, had it not been for Coxwell’s skills as a balloonist, they would have died. Adaptation and embellishment for the screen • Story: The writers took Glaisher and Coxwell’s flight as the core of their story and developed it with elements from other real stories from early aeronautical exploration. • Characters: Henry Coxwell is ‘replaced’ by a woman, the fictional Amelia Wren inspired largely by the French aeronaut and first female professional balloonist Sophie Blanchard (1778-1819), widow of pioneering balloonist Jean-Pierre Blanchard. Glaisher’s father may or may not have been a watchmaker but his failing mental health is created for the film. Glaisher’s main antagonist at the Royal Society is embodied in George Airy, the very eminent Astronomer Royal for much of the C19th, whom in real life Glaisher assisted for more than 40 years in a working relationship which did not always run smoothly. James’ friend, the fictional character ‘John Trew’, takes on the balloon research of a later French astronomer Nicholas Camille Flammarion on atmospheric bands of pressure, in one of which he was surrounded by butterflies. • Location: The launching ground for the Mammoth’s flight is not Wolverhampton but Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens in south London, which were a centre of spectacle and amusement for large audiences c.1650-1850. James Glaisher, Henry Coxwell Sophie Blanchard ‘John Trew’ Does THE AERONAUTS help us understand women’s contribution to history? 1. Consider the changes made for the film noted above in the context of these quotes: • Author Richard Holmes (from the film’s Production Notes): It was a brilliant idea: rather than have another bloke in the basket, let’s have a woman. It’s a wonderful way to combine history and imagination in order to provide a very exciting film. • Producer Todd Liebermann (Production Notes): One of the challenges of the film is that 70% takes place in a confined basket… as filmmakers we needed to make sure that those two people had chemistry. • Costume Designer Alexandra Byrne researched the diaries of C19th female mountaineers and explorers, who took off their hoops and skirts to climb and put them back on again afterwards. Felicity Jones (Production Notes): The team created Amelia’s flight suit from their imagination, as no such thing existed at the time. It’s a combination of flying leather and something a pilot like Amelia Earhart would have worn. • Film critic Tomris Laffly (VARIETY 04.09.19): While the gender swap (still a go-to Hollywood trend) is strange in its dismissal of historical accuracy, it works within the context of THE AERONAUTS that sees both parties of the two-hander as physical and intellectual equals. And to the film’s credit, the chemistry between the leads doesn’t resolve to a predictable case of romance. 2. Make notes in 3 sections: • Evidence for my opinion • Further evidence for my opinion from other parts of the film not included above • Further research into history or the film industry that I could do to strengthen my argument. 3. Present your opinion in class discussion. Finish with a vote: does or doesn’t THE AERONAUTS help us understand women’s contribution to history? Does THE AERONAUTS help us understand science in the Victorian era? In the C19th the icon of 'the scientist' emerged in the steps of the C18th Enlightenment and the ‘Age of Reason’; it pointed to a version of natural history as an orderly procession of progress. Victorian research was very different from research done today, often driven by amateur scientists who were not necessarily trained in scientific observation but were fascinated by the natural world. As the British Empire expanded its influence over the world, sometimes also the motives for scientific research were mixed, crossing over with political intent to control, or supporting a Christian ideal to go from the ‘darkness’ of ignorance to the ‘light’ of knowledge. • In THE AERONAUTS, Glaisher must act alone when not supported by George Airy and the membership of the Royal Society. How is the Society represented on screen (setting, casting, costume, script) as the official spokesman for English science? What do you think are their reasons for not supporting him? • What is the Royal Society? Research its founding, role and impact in the context of the Enlightenment and in the growth of the British Empire: how in the 1830s were its membership, motives and scientific practice challenged by the founding of the British Association for the Advancement of Science? How are scientists and their work represented in film? Select two scientist characters (ideally compare one fictional and one based on a real person) from films you have seen and describe how they are represented on screen. • What kind of film is it – period drama, comedy, sci fi? Write a synopsis of the film story, including at least one key scenes in which they perform as scientists • Describe their character and costume and make up, including how they look compared to other main ‘non-scientist’ characters. • What, if anything, does the audience learn about science in the film? ‘Robert Neville’ (I AM LEGEND) Charles Darwin (CREATION) ‘Ellie Sattler’ (JURASSIC PARK) THE AERONAUTS: Scientific Fact and Fiction Atmospheric pressure and altitude Glaisher and Coxwell’s 1862 flight almost killed them: Glaisher lost consciousness and, finding the ropes tangled, Coxwell used his teeth to open a valve at the top of the balloon and allow the hydrogen gas to escape. The flight still holds the record for the highest ascension level anyone has ever undertaken without the aid of bottled oxygen. Re-creating Coxwell’s actions on screen In the film, it’s Amelia who scales the ropes to the top of the balloon and smashes the frozen valve open with her boot. • In order for the actors to accurately simulate the physical experience of the altitude and cold, they undertook hypoxia training (often used by athletes in endurance training) to simulate the feeling of the brain being deprived of oxygen at high altitude.