Galileo | |
---|---|
Directed by | Joseph Losey |
Written by | Joseph Losey Barbara Bray |
Based on | Galileo by Bertolt Brecht with Charles Laughton (trans.) |
Produced by | Ely Landau |
Starring | Topol Georgia Brown Edward Fox John Gielgud Margaret Leighton |
Cinematography | Michael Reed |
Edited by | Reginald Beck |
Music by | Hanns Eisler Richard Hartley |
Distributed by | American Film Theatre |
Release date |
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Running time | 145 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Box office | $1,185,607 (gross)[1] |
Galileo is a 1975 biographical film about the 16th- and 17th-century scientist Galileo Galilei, whose astronomical observations with the newly invented telescope led to a profound conflict with the Roman Catholic Church. The film is an adaptation of Bertolt Brecht's 1943 play of the same name. The film was produced by Ely Landau for the American Film Theatre, which presented thirteen film adaptations of plays in the United States from 1973 to 1975. Brecht's play was recently called a "masterpiece" by veteran theater critic Michael Billington, as Martin Esslin had in 1960.[2][3][4] The film's director, Joseph Losey, had also directed the first performances of the play in 1947 in the US — with Brecht's active participation. The film is fairly true to those first performances, and is thus of historical significance as well.
The real joy lies in seeing Brecht's timeless debate about scientific morality rendered with such pellucid swiftness.
Most critics agree that 'This is one of Brecht's best plays, perhaps his greatest'.