thelittleother I'm reviewing the TV adaptation here; other reviewers have pointed out that it differs from the play, and I can't comment on that.The structure of the play, which revisits an event multiple times without ever giving a "final" version, is clever and involving. The setting is stagey but convincing enough and at the play's heart is a fascinating and very serious moral dilemma.The dialogue, however, is toe-curlingly pretentious. We're treated to several conversations in which characters helpfully explain to each other things they already know. Worse, we get interminable voiceovers setting out everything for the audience in minute detail, even during scenes that seem to be intended to build dramatic tension.Portentious references to "uncertainty" and "complementarity" abound, but tell us little about either the science or the characters. The only moment when you're at risk of being exposed to any physics is a rather juvenile explanation of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. Unfortunately this seems to completely miss the point it's trying to illustrate, perhaps because Frayn or the director is worried about scaring the audience or perhaps because one or both of them failed to understand it.There are things to like here, mostly about the large-scale structure and the subject-matter, both of which are genuinely interesting. All three actors do a decent job with what they have to work with, too. That was enough to get me to the end, but only just.

yseban Caught this TV drama on PBS at midnight. Didn't know anything about the play. Thought it would be something a bit starchy and pompous, and in a matter of minutes I was glued to the screen, especially when Stephen Rea (plays Bohr) gets into action...Obviously, people know by now that the play is a masterpiece, but this BBC production in the hands of Howard Davies (director) makes a superb job of conveying something that was and/or might have been. All three characters become fully alive, but again I was hypnotized by Stephen Rea's amazing acting performance. The guy even looked Danish, he probably doesn't look like the real Bohr, but he invented a fully credible character, using eyebrows, stooped shoulders, awkward mannerisms the way a world-class physicist can display. For all aspiring actors, this performance is a must-see. And of course, the huge issue of whether Heisenberg was sincere, duplicitous, suspicious, naive...Frayn gives us all the possibilities. It seems Heisenberg is badly treated by history for having been in charge of the Nazi Atomic program. I re-read this sentence, and I think, well, duh...well it's not that simple, and I have to watch or read the play again. Howard Davies does an amazing job, making a dry a subject something fully engaging, even sensual, with the decor, lighting, costumes/hair/makeup. Camera works are amazing, using a rather contemporary vocabulary of sweeping movements, staccato- like shots, smooth editing, etc...And of course, the issues dealt in the play resonate a long time afterward watching it. I'm pouring over the net to get all kinds of infos. So for example, if the Alllies had not made the Atomic bomb, maybe the Germans wouldn't have either, since they were lacking crucial clues in the physics. But that's a chance the Allies didn't want to take.

paulw7 Ostensibly about a meeting between Niels and Margrethe Bohr and Werner Heisenberg at Bohr's home in Copenhagen in 1941. Physics, relativity and quantum mechanics collide with geopolitics, morality, existentialism, humanity and friendship in a few moments of time, told and re-told as seen from different perspectives.The first part intriguing perspectives on events of history. It builds into a potentially cataclysmic clash of relatives, memories and thought experiments and is ultimately about these few precious moment of life that are grated us and what we choose to do with them.Copenhagen was a brilliant play and is a superb film. I find myself intrigued, engaged and uplifted.

Sentinela A genius scriptwriter takes an ambiguous, un-recorded, wartime conversation, and turns it into a riveting modern-day "Rashomon". Through the exploration of several possible stories, he takes us on an emotional journey into the frontiers of scientific thought, morality and humanity. Bohr and Heisenberg were two of a handful of the greatest intellects ever to walk the face of this planet. The film brings the viewer into an intimate encounter with those two formidable characters, at one of the most evil periods of mankind's history, and lets the viewer in on their most profound personal dilemmas, dilemmas which had the capacity to have a dramatic effect on the lives [and deaths] of millions. Only three actors take part, and they do it very well, especially Rea who plays Bohr. Highly recommended.