Young Einstein | |
---|---|
Directed by | Yahoo Serious |
Written by | David Roach Yahoo Serious |
Produced by | David Roach Warwick Ross Yahoo Serious |
Starring | Yahoo Serious Odile Le Clezio John Howard Peewee Wilson Su Cruickshank |
Cinematography | Jeff Darling |
Edited by | David Roach Amanda Robson Neil Thumpston Peter Whitmore |
Music by | Martin Armiger Iva Davies William Motzing Maurie Sheldon Tommy Tycho Simon Walker Ken Francis |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release dates | December 1988 (Australia) 4 August 1989 (U.S.) |
Running time | 91 minutes |
Country | Australia |
Language | English |
Budget | $5 million[1] |
Box office | A$13,383,377 (AUS) US$11,536,599 (USA) |
Young Einstein is an Australian comedy film directed by and starring Yahoo Serious, released in 1988. It was based loosely on the life of Albert Einstein, but relocated the theoretical physicist to Australia and had him splitting the atom with a chisel, and invents rock and roll and surfing. Although the film was highly successful in Australia, and won an award from the Australian Film Institute Awards, it was poorly received by critics in America.
Albert Einstein, the son of an apple farmer in Tasmania in the early 1900s, splits a beer atom with a chisel in order to add bubbles to beer, discovers the theory of relativity and travels to Sydney to patent it. While there, he invents the electric guitar and surfing while romancing Marie Curie. He invents rock and roll and uses it to save the world from being destroyed due to misuse of a nuclear reactor under the watchful eye of Charles Darwin.
Serious first became interested in Albert Einstein when he was travelling down the Amazon river and saw a local wearing a t-shirt with a picture of a physicist on it.[2] The image was that of Einstein sticking out his tongue, taken by photographer Arthur Sasse.[3]
On returning from the Amazon, Serious adapted a previous screenplay called The Great Galute which he had written with David Roach. It was a story about an Australian who invents rock and roll. The two developed The Great Galute into Young Einstein.[4]
The film was created on an extremely low budget, so low that Serious sold his car to generate funds, cameras were borrowed,[5] and his Mum cooked for the crew.[6]
Serious managed to get Australian Film Commission support for the movie. By March 1984 an hour of the film had been shot, partly by the AFC and partly by private investment. They approached independent compan[7] Serious was then able to pre-sell the film to an American company, Film Accord, for $2 million. This enabled him to raise the film's original budget of $2.2 million. The movie started filming again late in 1985 and went for seven weeks, taking place in Newcastle and Wollombi, near Cessnock in the Hunter Valley, with second unit at various locations throughout Australia. A 91 minute version of the film was entered in the 1986 AFI Awards where composer William Motzing won Best Music.[1]
In 1986 Film Accord sued the production to recover its distribution guarantee and the rushes, claiming the film delivered was not the one it had contracted to but. The dispute was settled out of court.[7]
Graham Burke from Roadshow saw the film and were enthusiastic about its possibilities. They bought out Film Accord in March 1987, persuaded Warner Bros to take on the film for international distribution outside Australia, and financed re-shooting, re-editing and re-scoring, resulting an hour of new material (including a new ending) and new music score (including the addition of songs by bands such as Mental As Anytthing). This pushed the budget of the film up to $5 million. Warner Bros contributed A$4 million to the full version of the film, and would go on to spend 8 million on marketing the film in the United States alone.[6][8]
Serious refused to consider making a sequel to the film, as he stated in interviews that he was opposed to them in general.[2]
The film overall received mixed reviews in the United States, with Spin describing the release as a "marketing misfire" due to Warner Bros "PR department's penchant for overkill".[9] Roger Ebert called it a "one-joke movie, and I didn't laugh much the first time." He postulated that the possible lack of appeal to an American audience was because "By moving Einstein to Australia, he was able to set up comic situations that appeal to the vast and inexhaustible fascination the Australians have about their own isolation and gawky charm. But the jokes don't travel very well."[10] He gave the film one star out of a possible four.[11] The reviewers at the Washington Post were unimpressed: Rita Kempley called the film "dumber-than-a-bowling-ball" and questioned its mass appeal; Desson Howe noted that distributor Warner Bros. had made it a "pre-processed legend" regardless of merit.[12][13] The New York Times was more tempered, noting that though the film was "an uneven series of sketches strung along an extended joke", that the first time director Serious "is a much more adept film maker than his loony plot suggests."[14]
The Los Angeles Times gave a favorable review, saying the film would appeal to younger audiences and that "it's just about impossible to dislike a movie in which examples of the hero's pacifism include his risking his life to save kitties from being baked to death inside a pie."[15] Neil Jillett of Australia's The Age reviewed the film positively, noting that despite some "directorial slackness", the film was "a lively work that is sophisticated and innocent, witty and farcical, satirical and unmalicious, intelligent but not condescending, full of concern with big issues but not arrogantly didactic, thoroughly Australian but not nationalistic."[16] Variety meanwhile thought that the film relied on the performance of Yahoo Serious, who they described "exhibits a brash and confident sense of humor, endearing personality, and a fondness for sight gags."[17]
In the UK, William Russell for the Glasgow Herald described the film as trying "too hard to be funny for its own good."
Young Einstein grossed A$13,383,377 at the box office in Australia.[18] It grossed over US$11 million in its United States theatrical run.[19] On release in Australia, it became the fifth biggest opening in Australian film history behind "Crocodile" Dundee and its sequel, Rocky IV and Fatal Attraction. It grossed A$1.26 million in the opening weekend, despite being released in only three states.[20] It was only the third film of 1988 to break the A$1 million barrier at the Australian box office.[20] Young Einstein became the tenth most successful film released at the Australian box office,[21] after being the second most successful Australian film ever on release after "Crocodile" Dundee.[22]
The film has been released on DVD in region 1. Although the movie is Australian, it has not yet been released in Australia on Region 4 DVD.
Organization | Award category | Result |
---|---|---|
Australian Film Institute Awards[23] | Best Cinematography | Nominated |
Best Original Music Score | Won | |
Best Original Screenplay | Nominated | |
Best Sound | Nominated |
((cite journal))
: Unknown parameter |month=
ignored (help)
((cite news))
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher=
(help)
((cite book))
: Unknown parameter |coauthor=
ignored (|author=
suggested) (help)