Description
Inspired by actual events which have baffled and intrigued historians for years, this Tony Award-winning drama by Michael Frayn (Spies, Noises Off) comes to life in this stirring presentation. At a 1941 meeting, two brilliant physicists and longtime friends, Denmark's Niels Bohr (The Crying Game's Stephen Rea) and Germany's Werner Heisenberg (The Road to Perdition's Daniel Craig), find themselves on opposite sides of World War II. Heisenberg's covert trip at great risk to see Bohr and his wife, Margrethe (Reckless' Francesca Annis), in Copenhagen results in disaster. Why did Heisenberg really go to Denmark, what did the two men discuss, and what happened during this pivotal meeting which became a defining moment of the modern nuclear age? "Among the most exhilarating, challenging and involving two hours you ever spend in a theater!" - The Nation

Amazon.com
This 2002 film, based on the play by Michael Frayn, imagines what might have happened between the physicists Niels Bohr (Stephen Rea, The Crying Game) and Werner Heisenberg (Daniel Craig, The Road to Perdition) on a particular night in September of 1941. Heisenberg was collaborating with Nazis in Germany; Bohr, a Jew, was living in occupied Denmark but had contact with physicists on the Allied side. Something in this meeting destroyed their longstanding friendship; Frayn envisions their ghosts--and that of Bohr's wife, Margrethe (Francesca Annis, Dune)--reliving, arguing, and fantasizing about a conversation in which an innocent topic like skiing could slide into a dangerous discussion of physics and politics. This skillfully woven and well-acted conversation, far from being a static talk-fest, has all the dynamism of a psychological thriller. Our intentions, like the particles at the heart of physics, can never be known for certain. --Bret Fetzer

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 13 reviews)

A stunning combination of science and drama

Superb direction, editing, acting...but most of all, screenwriting: the principles of Uncertainity and of Relativity are the main characters that unfold during this profound and intriguing film.
December 29, 2007

PBS - Copenhagen

I saw this play in London when it was first presented. It was fantastic! The PBS made for TV version is not like the play but still maintains the same poignant tension. The film is well worth viewing.
July 13, 2007

A Perfect Example of Why We Need Public Broadcasting

Directed by Howard Davies for PBS and based on Michael Frayn's prize-winning play by the same name, COPENHAGEN is a perfect example of why we need public broadcasting. The film is a three person drama starring Stephen Rea as Niels Bohr, Francesca Annis as his wife Margrethe and Daniel Craig as Werner Heisenberg. The play/movie is based on an eventful meeting that these two physicists had in Copenhagen in September, 1941. The film asks the question that historians have asked since that meeting of precisely why did Heisenberg, who had at least a working relationship with the Nazis, although the playwright in the preface to the film indicates that no one ever considered Heisenberg to be a Nazi, himself, came to Copenhagen for the ill-fated meeting with his mentor and up to that time good friend. The film does not answer this question. Perhaps Heisenberg came to find out if Bohr had information or was collaborating with the Allies on developing an Atom bomb. Whatever the reason for the meeting, the film is a beautiful commentary on friendship-- even one that becomes embittered when one friend is living in a land occupied by the army of the other-- and the brevity and uncertainty of life. Heisenberg upon his arrival at the Bohr home: "It is as if I had come home after a long journey." And finally, we "settle among all the dust we raised."

These three actors give stellar performances in this film that obviously translates well from stage to screen. It is one that one can watch again and again.

In addition to the commentary by the playwright, there are also interviews with Heisenberg's children and others familiar with the lives of these two very interesting and decent men. Mr. Frayn discusses an unsent letter that Bohr wrote over and over to Heisenberg after their 1941 meeting that he only received knowledge of after his play was first produced. The letter indicates that Bohr was much more bitter and hostile toward his former friend later in his life than the play would indicate. Frayn regrets that he did not have knowledge of this letter-- the Bohr family only produced it after he wrote the play-- when he created this really fine work.
March 03, 2007

A Dreadful Adapatation

Although Copenhagen is among my favorite plays, I have to say, this is a dreadful adaptation. The abstract, almost expressionist staging is stripped away in favor of an unfortunately literal reading of the characters' claim to be ghosts. Much of the meat of the play, including virtuall all of the depictions of the culture of the physicists in Copenhagen is absent. The play's wandering and fruitless searching becomes an overly direct beeline to Frayn's eventual conclusions. These cuts are especially inexcusable considering that Copehagen is far from a long play.

All of which is a huge pity. As I said, I firmly believe Copenhagen to be among the greatest plays of the 20th century. But this is a woefully inadequate adapation, and it's downright criminal that it's the only filmic adaptation we have. One can only hope that a better one will come along some day.
June 25, 2006

Great Play, Great Acting, Great Film

Mr. Frayn's play imagines and explores the motives and view of Physics Nobel Laureates and close friends Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg as their relationship is shattered by Nazi Germany's occupation of Denmark and the subsequent persecution of Denmark's Jewish citizens. The actions are repeated several times, with interior monologue giving several perspectives of what may have happened and the participant's motives and reactions. Each time we go through the events, we gain new insight into the two scientists and Ms. Bohr. Mr. Frayn's commentary adds more understanding to the play's construction and Dr. Heisenberg's family's interview adds more perspective to Heisenberg's life and possible motivation. The staging and wardrobe provide context for the play and the acting. The actors are all superb.
February 23, 2006

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