The Professor and the Madman (2018)
In London in 1872, William Chester Minor, a retired United States Army surgeon, is found not guilty by reason of insanity for killing an innocent stranger, George Merrett, and is sent to Broadmoor. In Oxford, James Murray interviews for a position as editor of what will become the Oxford English Dictionary. An autodidact, he left school at 14 and has no degree. Some Oxford University Press oversight committee members are contemptuous, but Freddie Furnivall describes their current “abject defeat”, saying that the extraordinary Murray may be what they need.
When Max Müller haughtily asks for qualifications, Murray reels off the long list of ancient and modern languages in which he is proficient and on demand provides a definition—and probable origins—of the word “clever”. Over dinner with the committee, Murray hears opposing views. Müller insists that the book capture English at its current “purest peak” and setting strict rules for correct speech. Furnivall says that “all words are valid in the language. Ancient or new, obsolete or robust on, foreign born or homegrown. The book must inventory every word, every nuance, every twist of etymology and every possible illustrated citation from every English author. All of it or nothing at all.”
Date of download: 2015-11-11T17:22:34+00:00
Cast:  Mel GibsonJames Murray  Sean PennDr. William Chester Minor  Natalie DormerEliza Merrett  Eddie MarsanMr. Muncie  Jennifer EhleAda Murray  Jeremy IrvineCharles Hall  David O'HaraChurch  Steve CooganFrederick James Furnivall  Stephen DillaneDr. Richard Brayn  Ioan GruffuddHenry Bradley  Laurence FoxPhilip Lyttelton Gell |
In London in 1872, William Chester Minor, a retired United States Army surgeon, is found not guilty by reason of insanity for killing an innocent stranger, George Merrett, and is sent to Broadmoor. In Oxford, James Murray interviews for a position as editor of what will become the Oxford English Dictionary. An autodidact, he left school at 14 and has no degree. Some Oxford University Press oversight committee members are contemptuous, but Freddie Furnivall describes their current “abject defeat”, saying that the extraordinary Murray may be what they need.
When Max Müller haughtily asks for qualifications, Murray reels off the long list of ancient and modern languages in which he is proficient and on demand provides a definition—and probable origins—of the word “clever”. Over dinner with the committee, Murray hears opposing views. Müller insists that the book capture English at its current “purest peak” and setting strict rules for correct speech. Furnivall says that “all words are valid in the language. Ancient or new, obsolete or robust on, foreign born or homegrown. The book must inventory every word, every nuance, every twist of etymology and every possible illustrated citation from every English author. All of it or nothing at all.”
