56 LISTENER MARCH 14 2020
BOOKS&CULTURE
THE INVISIBLE MAN
directed by Leigh WhannellI
n the 1944 classic Gaslight, starring
Ingrid Bergman, a man tries to
convince his wife that she’s crazy by
incrementally dimming the gas lights
in their house and telling her it’s just
her imagination.
The term “gaslighting” has come to
define the practice of making someone
(usually a woman) feel like they are
losing their sanity or imagining perceived
slights. It serves as the underlying thrust
of Leigh Whannell’s new take on The
Invisible Man, the HG Wells sci-fi novel
first published in 1897 and which has
been a screen regular since James Whale’sclassic 1933 adaptation starring Claude
Rains. Here, architect Cecilia Kass (a
superb Elisabeth Moss, entrapped yet
again) escapes the controlling clutchesof her abusive inventor boyfriend, only
to fear that he will find her and inflict
violent revenge.
On learning he has died, Cecilia getsOut of sight
It's all about Elizabeth
Moss' victim in this
smart and scary rethink
of the classic thriller.
FILM
by Sarah WattTHE CURRENT WAR
directed by Alfonso Gomez-RejonW
e live in an age when domestic
electricity doesn’t just light
our homes but now charges
the vehicles to get us there.
The Current War is an entertainingreminder about how
the Western world first
plugged in. The story of
the battle between Thomas
Edison and George
Westinghouse to establish
their own technology
as the dominant way to
bring electricity into US
households is rendered as
an extremely exciting and
fast-paced historical drama
by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
(making the leap from his
indie flick Me and Earl and
the Dying Girl).
With a top-class cast,
lush costuming and
production design and the unexpected
dispatch of a few supporting characters,
The Current War pulls out all the stops to
make science not only accessible but also
appealingly watchable.Benedict Cumberbatch, yet again
playing a real-life boffin after turns as
Stephen Hawking and Alan Turing,
acquits himself with typical panache
as Edison, a genius whose workaholicBattle of the
bright sparks
A drama about the
rivalry between two
early tech moguls is
more illuminating
than electrifying.
Engrossing tech-history:
Benedict Cumberbatch
as Thomas Edison in
The Current War.