All language subtitles for Radioactive.2019-en

Madame?

Madame Curie!

Get an ambulance car!

Madame, what happened?

Hurry. She's very weak.

- This is Madame Curie?
- Yes.

Get your morning paper!

Oh!

Duclaux?

Yes.

Are you interested
in microbiology?

I'm interested in all science

that confronts
prevailing attitudes.

I'm Pierre Curie.

Hello, Monsieur Curie.

Goodbye.

You're with company.

I've intruded.

You have.

Now is your opportunity to tell
us why you may have intruded,

Mademoiselle Sklodowska.

Professor Lippmann,

I want to protest
in the strongest possible terms.

My equipment
was moved again last night.

There's a simple reason
for that.

More than simple. It is
a distinct lack of respect

by those who share
your laboratory with me.

Allow me to posit

an opposing hypothesis,
Mademoiselle Sklodowska.

It might be that your equipment
takes up too much space.

If a scientist's equipment
cannot be kept

in the precise positions
in which it was left...

Then we are savages,
not scientists.

I couldn't agree more.

Then all I need
is your assurance...

And it is for this reason
I must ask you

please to leave my laboratory.

Leave?

We cannot keep you
in the manner you require.

But I have nowhere else to go.

Then you'll have to set up
a laboratory of your own,

Mademoiselle Sklodowska.

I lack the funds.

Then your lack of foresight
in presenting me, constantly,

with demands is something
that will teach all of us

a valuable lesson.

- Maybe it's because I'm Polish.
- Of course not.

Or it's because I'm not a man.

Well, yes, it might be that.
But, Marya...

We are in Paris.
I have taken the name Marie.

- Your child is crying.
- Yes, I am aware of that.

So, shouldn't you assume some
sort of motherly disposition?

- Sorry, madame.
- Thank you.

There. Shh, shh.

Thank you, Lana.

What if you were to visit him?
Apologise?

I came all the way from Poland
to study science.

I can't apologise.
Science is lost to me!

I'm going to have
to become a teacher!

Oh, you are impossibly dramatic.

Your child is dramatic.

Marya...

- Apologise.
- No! Never.

I will find my own way.

No.

No.

Most amazing.

Please don't suppose anything
by me standing beside you.

It's the woman from the street
with the Duclaux. Hello.

I stand beside you

merely because you look
as awkward as I feel.

- And I made the...
- Do I seem awkward?

...I think, correct assumption

that we will look less awkward
standing together...

I don't feel awkward.

...than we might
standing apart.

Well, that's a theory
I can support.

I'm Pierre Curie.

You do like your name,
don't you?

That's the second time
you've told me it.

You're Marya Sklodowska.

I don't believe
I gave you my name.

She's wonderful, isn't she?
The dancer.

Her name is Loie Fuller should
you wish to see her again.

Do you make it your business
to know everybody's names?

She calls it, this dance,
her fire dance.

Why?

I believe it's because
she's interested

in the way flames move.

You're right, you didn't
tell me your name,

but I do know it
for three reasons.

One: you're one
of only 23 female scientists

within the department.

A prime number.

Two: I've heard about your
run-ins with Professor Lippmann.

They've gained you some infamy.

And three: I read your paper

on the magnetic properties
of steel.

It contained
some exceptional science.

Thank you.

And as you've been so kind,

I will admit that I have also
read your paper

- on crystallisation.
- Oh?

Which I enjoyed. Very much.

Hm.

Thank you.

I also heard what Lippmann did,
evicting you from your lab.

I am sorry.

I don't need pity,
Monsieur Curie.

But if I could be
of any assistance...

I will be fine.

Oh!

Just to be clear,
I refuse to be grateful

for a scientist offering
another scientist a room.

I'm more than capable
and my work...

Your ingratitude
is entirely correct.

And also I feel
it's worth pointing out

that I will not
be your mistress.

The thought
hadn't occurred to me.

And I won't tolerate meddling.

I will not be told
how my experiments

- will be optimised better...
- Well, I enjoy sharing science,

and I think that
by working together...

I will not tolerate it.

Well, you'll have to learn
to tolerate it.

I like collaboration.

I will take an interest
in your work

and I'll be interested if
you take an interest in mine.

Mademoiselle Sklodowska?

Before you turn your back
on the only room

anyone is offering you, will
you at least see where I work?

Basic.

Marcel, Andre,
Maurice and Paul,

may I introduce
Mademoiselle Marie Sklodowska.

Such a pleasure to meet you,
Mademoiselle Sklodowska.

- We've heard so much about you.
- You have?

The Académie probably dislike me

almost as much
as they dislike you.

I've been passed over

for every major advancement,
professorship, funding.

Why? Well, I'm not entirely
sure. Maybe I bore them,

maybe I scare them, but they
do me no great favour, either.

But you're a scientist
of some renown.

Well, and I'm asking you
to share my renowned,

yet basic, space with me.

Why are you asking?

I have an instinct about you.

An instinct is not a
particularly scientific reason.

No, but it's still a reason.

Yes.

Yes, this will suit
my needs entirely.

Good.

Good.

You've been frowning
at that all week.

I'm observing.

What are you looking for?

I find it easier to observe
when I'm not talking.

I measure uranium,

and I discover less radiations
than I do in its ore.

The ore is more powerful
than the element?

Exactly.
And I can't quite work...

There must be some anomaly
in the results.

I've run the same test six
times. I get identical results.

My instinct is that
there is another element

that's skewing the results.

You think you've found
an undiscovered element?

- If you're laughing at me...
- No, I'm not laughing at you.

That's exciting.

Your measuring equipment
is useless.

It's worked perfectly fine
for me so far.

If we're to get
the figures you need,

we need something that's
capable of extreme precision.

There is no "we".

You need something
that's capable of measuring

- microscopic aspects of energy.
- No, please. No, no...

Yes. And I have an idea.
Follow me.

Monsieur Curie.

I'm sorry,
I know it's some distance.

The length of our journey
doesn't agitate me,

Monsieur Curie.
The destination does.

This is one of the finest
hospitals in Paris.

There's a piece of equipment...

I choose not to go
into hospitals.

But you're a scientist!

'Marya, are you frightened?'

Of what?

Of my illness?

No.

Good.

Because there's no reason
to be frightened.

Will you die?

Not if you cure me.

How can I cure you?

You can kiss me.

If you kiss me again,
I promise I won't die.

But Bronia says...

Your sister doesn't
know everything.

Hmm? Kiss me.

Did you feel that?

No.

That was the sound of the world
turning in a new direction.

The Marya Sklodowska
direction.

I can't feel it.

Kiss me again.

Now...

...can you feel it?

Yes. Yes...

...I think I did.

You cured me.

Sorry, that took longer
than I thought.

Are you feeling better?

I've decided, my experiments
can cope perfectly well

without your equipment.

When we were
working with crystals,

we needed to be able to measure
microscopic amounts of charge.

And nothing worked

until I built this.

It's a quadrant electrometer.

It's capable of measuring,
precisely,

the tiny amounts of electrical
charge in a material.

It measures
electrical potential?

Your equipment
isn't good enough.

Mine is.

Your science is brilliant,
but so is mine.

You're proposing
a partnership?

That's exactly what I'm doing.

Well, basically, it's just
a question of dissolving.

My husband is looking at me
disapprovingly again.

I'm doing nothing of the sort.

You think I'm asking
stupid questions

to your eminent friends.

Your questions aren't stupid.
Really.

My mother told me,
never marry a brilliant man.

You'll disappoint them
and they'll disappoint you.

And why will I disappoint you?

By failing to avoid
making her feel inadequate,

I would suspect.

This woman can stay.

No, I'll clear.
You're asking questions.

- So, you...
- Thank you.

...you take the ore...
and you dissolve into it...

Well, we take
the pitchblende,

which is a special ore

that comes all the way
from a mine in Bohemia,

and then we use
a scientific process

to remove the elements
we know we can remove

and look at what's left.

And what scientific processes
might you use?

These are very good questions.

We crush it,
which is extremely hard work.

Then we boil it, which results
in the removal of substance.

We add acidic and
alkaline solutions to it...

...until only that
which is pure remains.

And there's a lot
of substance to remove.

- And it will be worth it.
- It's very exciting.

And why are you looking
at uranium in the first place?

Becquerel.

A more than competent
scientist.

Becquerel discovered,
accidentally,

that uranium salts, wrapped in
a black cloth, left in a drawer,

left an impression
on a photographic plate.

And he thought
that the uranium

was having an unusual
chemical reaction

with something
in the atmosphere.

I say it's the element itself.

- A very radical thought.
- I still don't understand.

Imagine a grape. How do you
turn a grape into wine?

- You crush it and ferment it.
- Yes.

So, imagine a grape crushes
itself, ferments itself,

changes its very being.

And what if I told you that as
the grape turns itself into wine

it releases a powerful
surge of energy,

power that can make
things happen.

You'd be excited, am I right?

- I think so. Yes, I would.
- So, science is changing

and the very people
who are running science

are the people who believed
the world was flat.

And I'm going
to prove them wrong.

Just as Newton did.

- We are.
- Thank you.

I see the way
you look at me, Pierre.

How do I look at you?

Like a fermenting grape?

- I enjoyed that analogy.
- It was a good analogy.

But you're right.

I do look at you
in a certain way.

And sometimes

I have the feeling you look
at me the same way back.

When my mother died,
I couldn't speak for a week.

And people thought it was grief.
It wasn't.

It was that I simply
couldn't comprehend

why something so important
had been taken from me.

I have been selfish
my entire life, Pierre,

and if you hope
to change that...

You're not selfish,
you're just... self-absorbed,

and you don't like anyone
to take what's yours.

I will never be the woman
or the wife you want me to be.

You laugh at me?

I have been presumptuous.

I know, we hardly
know each other.

I'm laughing because

you've denied me the chance
to propose to you.

- Oh yes, I have, haven't I?
- Mm-hmm.

Well, as a matter
of scientific interest,

was proposing
even your intention?

Well, as a matter
of scientific interest,

the thought wasn't fully formed
in my head yet.

As you say,
we hardly know each other.

But yes, I suspect it was.

Marie Sklodowska...

...you are better than any woman
I could have hoped for...

...and I'll never
consider you my woman.

And I would like
to share my life with you.

Thank you very much.

This way, please.

Don't move.

Remind me whenever I forget
that we should leave Paris

as often as humanly possible.

We should experience
all the world has to offer.

Remind me to retrain you

out of that glorious need
to overstate everything.

I thought I was finished
with women.

What?

From what you've told me,
you barely started with women.

I mean, I thought I just wanted
to concentrate on science.

You do love these portentous
phrases, don't you?

But you turned me round.

I think you drugged me
into compliance.

I did no such thing.

You're just extraordinary.

This is entirely ridiculous.

I'm carrying you
over the threshold.

You're blindfolding me
over the threshold

which requires far less effort
on your part than mine.

The Académie has,
in honour of our wedding...

And because
they're excited by our work.

...decided to
furnish us with new lodgings

in which to deal with -
big step -

the pitchblende
at our disposal.

Then why do I need
to be blindfolded?

More exciting.

Ready?

Hello, Paul.

- Welcome to Versailles.
- This is...

It's not quite
what we wished for, but...

- It's a lean-to.
- Wait till you see inside.

This is...

Isn't it?

Come in.

- They've outdone themselves.
- They have, haven't they?

Hello?

I have an order
for Marie Sklodowska?

It's Marie Curie now,
but this is the right place.

I'll put it in the yard,
shall I?

Thanks.

Is it the pitchblende?

- Careful.
- I am careful.

Again.

Irène?

Irène.

- The distil?
- Just finishing.

Yes.

Here.

Shh, Paul.

That's radium.

Radium?

A pinprick of radium.

Gathered from four tonnes
of pitchblende.

There's more to find, but...

Isn't it the most beautiful
thing you've ever seen?

And you're sure?
You're sure of it?

I'm certain.

Yes.

It's the most beautiful thing
I've ever seen.

Well, I guess everything
changes now, doesn't it?

Yes.

Shh!

We thought we would find
a new element.

We were wrong.

It's taken four years,

four tonnes of pitchblende,

40 tonnes
of corrosive chemicals

and 400 tonnes of water.

We are here to present to you
two new elements:

polonium and radium.

We all thought that atoms
were finite and stable.

Well, it turns out
some of them are not,

and in their instability...
they emit rays.

I have called this...
"radioactivity".

We are here to tell you
that you have fundamentally

misunderstood the atom.

Extraordinary.

Keep still.

Well done. Fantastic.

Bravo! Sublime!

Bravo, Madame Curie!

Bravo!

Lady or a man?

A lady, obviously.

She's side-saddle, of course.

- Hello.
- Hello.

- Have you ordered?
- No.

- Champagne.
- Champagne?

Of course, sir.

- What?
- I've got it.

- You've got it? What?
- I'm a Professor.

- You are? Oh, Pierre!
- I am.

Finally they realise
I have something to offer.

- Be careful.
- Oh!

Why?

- No?
- Yes.

I'm Professor Curie and
I'm going to have two children.

Daddy!

Congratulations,
Professor Curie.

Where are we going?

I'm taking you somewhere
I think you're going to like.

But I'm tired, I'm pregnant
and it's freezing.

Loie Fuller has invited us
to a seance.

Loie Fuller? Spiritualism?
Oh, you cannot be serious.

It's a science
like any other.

Don't talk such rot.

There's nothing to see
or analyse.

You can't see
radioactivity.

Yeah, but that's
completely different.

Good evening, Loie.

We live in a world...

...where invisible light

can pass through flesh...

...and expose the bones
beneath it.

Using X-gazes...

...I will call out

the presence of Beethoven
as it becomes clear to me.

X-gazes? As in uranium rays?

Yes.

In a little while, the portrait
of Beethoven will appear...

...on this photographic plate.

And now Beethoven is going
to come back from the dead.

She's using our science
to further her work.

All scientists work
on previous work.

You call this science?

This could change
science forever.

Do you not understand we've
already changed science forever?

Yeah, it's stronger
on the other.

This is definitely
more refined.

We've had another submission.

- What did they want?
- Radioactive smelling salts.

As a cure for baldness.

What did you say?

We don't own radium,
we don't have a patent

and you are free to do
as you will with it.

If we did have a patent,
we'd have a bigger laboratory.

Mmm.

I know, the possibilities
of science are more important...

If we owned it,
then people wouldn't be able

to enjoy the possibilities
of it.

But it's trusting others
to see the possibilities

that I'm not sure of.

Oh, people can see
the possibilities, believe me.

Radioactive matches.

For your radioactive cigarettes.

Radioactive chocolate.

Radioactive toothpaste.

There's a letter in here about
radioactive beauty powder.

Loie Fuller wants us to do

a radioactive jacket
for her dance.

Don't worry, I told her
we don't make jackets.

Have you heard there's
a dance craze on Broadway

based on our work?

"The Piff Paff Pouf".

What have we done?

What's that?

That's nothing.

Henri Danlos,
the dermatologist,

came to me the other day,
very excited.

He put some radium chloride
on a tumour

and it showed
some considerable shrinkage.

Shrinkage?

2,000 years, cancer,
the uncurable illness.

Can you imagine?

They're starting
a study group.

He thinks our radium
could cure cancer?

Danlos is just the start.

I can feel our work
glowing out.

I can feel it
changing the world.

You see
how soft this is?

It's like... bendy.

Mr Warner? I'm Dr Jenkins.

And you must be Peter.

Hello.

Do you know who this guy is?
This guy, he's the doctor.

He's gonna make you
a lot better.

And then, you know what?
We're all gonna go home.

We're gonna use what's called
a linear accelerator.

Linear what?

It's at the forefront
of science, Mr Warner.

But you have used one before?

In this hospital, your son
will be the first to use it.

Around the world, it's
the fifth machine of its kind.

My child is not a monkey
for your research.

Unless we find a way
to make Peter better,

this cancer will grow

and it will infiltrate
all his major organs.

This machine will shrink
his tumour, I guarantee it.

If it will shrink it enough,
I can't say.

But it will
substantially improve

your child's chances
to survive.

I wanna see it.

Of course you do.

It's bigger than I expected.

It's a machine with
an incredible amount of power

inside it.
It needs to be big.

Wait, he... he's gonna be
inside it?

No. No.

He'll be strapped in here.

He'll be strapped.

It's just so he doesn't move.

We need to be very precise
as we use rays.

Will he be in pain?

Mr Warner, this machine
will improve your son's life.

And it may even save it.

Okay.

Stay still, son.

Bad news? Is it bad news?

No, it's not bad news.
It went well.

It... worked?
You mean he's better?

It's a long road, Mr Warner,
but we got off to a good start.

- Would you like to see him?
- Yeah.

I swear, this is
the last time I come here.

Just wait and see.

Pierre?

Shh. She needs silence
for the ectoplasm to appear.

What?

- Is the radium hurting you?
- No, I took it off.

It did prove to heat the flesh.
Turned it grey, look.

- There's a lesion.
- Pierre.

It's fascinating.

She's a complete fraud.

And they have formed some sort
of mysterious friendship.

He has promised to weigh her

before, during and after
the sessions

to see if there is a spirit
that's really... coming in.

- I think you're jealous.
- I am not jealous. I'm...

I'm outraged because I think

he should take what we do
far more seriously.

- Oh, heavens. Come.
- What?

He'll recognise me.

We're on the front
of the newspaper.

He'll recognise me.

People can't believe
that I'm the sister

- of the famous Madame Curie.
- Fame is for idiots.

And look, it seems to have given
Pierre some very strange ideas.

Well, allow him to be strange.

- Enjoy his enjoyment.
- But spiritualism?

- Faith isn't such a bad thing.
- I have faith.

I have faith in humanity,
I have faith in progress,

but faith in an afterlife

has no scientific foundation
whatsoever.

You never think
that Mother might be...

...somewhere better
than this?

I do.

In a hole in the ground,
in Poland.

A place far superior to Paris.

Marya, you are so cynical.

No, my dear, just realistic.

Who are you writing to?

They want to give me
the Legion of Honour

- so I'm responding.
- What's your response?

Well, I've asked them
to thank the minister

but I do not feel the need
to be decorated at all.

I do, however, have the greatest
need for a better laboratory.

- You're coughing a lot.
- Am I?

Marie...

Don't take me to hospital.
I won't go to hospital.

Well, wait here.

Forceps, please.

No!

Now, I need you
to push.

- I can't. I can't.
- Just breathe, madame.

It's almost there.

Baby needs to turn.

Shh.

I thought we'd lost her.

The famous Marie Curie
needed help

and everyone came running.

She should have died.

But they saved her.

And you.

Eve.

Irène.

What are you thinking about?

I don't know.

You're not thinking
about anything?

I don't know.

You must always
be thinking about something.

What are you thinking about?

Things you're too young
to understand.

Our work has been nominated
for the Nobel Prize.

For our discovery
of radioactivity.

The commendation
only mentions my name.

- And...
- And?

And I told them if there's
a Nobel Prize to win,

we win it together.

Oh, Paul, I need a chair.

What time is it?

Ten after twelve.

- What time is it in Sweden?
- Ten after twelve.

Are you sure this is
where you want to be?

It seems...

It seems the right place.

Here the question can be raised

whether mankind will benefit...

Whether mankind benefits...

Are you ready, Mr Curie?

No.

It can be thought that radium
may become very dangerous

in criminal hands.

This is Colonel Tibbets
on the Enola Gay.

Do you receive, Washington?
Over.

'Receiving you,
Colonel Tibbets. Over.'

Washington,
Captain Robert Lewis

has just informed me
Little Boy is now live.

Permission to drop. Over.

'Permission granted, Colonel.
Over.'

Here the question
can be raised whether mankind

benefits from knowing
the secrets of nature,

whether it is ready
to profit from them

or whether this knowledge
will not be harmful to it.

On my mark.

Three.

Two.

Mark.

The example of the discoveries
of Nobel is characteristic

as high-power explosives
have enabled man

to perform wonderful work.

They are also a terrible means
of destruction

in the hands
of great criminals

who would lead
the peoples towards war.

I am one of those
who believe, with Nobel,

that mankind will derive
more good than harm

from these new discoveries.

- You're back.
- I am.

And was it everything
you hoped it would be?

Yes.

Did you get all the acclamation
you felt you deserved?

My speech was entirely
about you and your work.

But I'm just the wife,
isn't that right?

When have I ever
treated you like that?

I am the wife of Pierre Curie.

You said you didn't care about
professional accomplishment,

you only cared
about achievement.

I was the one who fought...

And I'm doing
what a wife should do,

giving you children
and keeping your home.

We should get out of Paris.
Paris pollutes us both.

How dare you?
How dare take my brilliance?

How dare you
take their applause?

We should get out
and get some air.

"I am one of those
who believe, with Nobel,

- "that mankind derives..."
- No, I made it clear.

"...more good than harm
from the new discoveries."

I made it absolutely clear
that it was our work!

You stole my brilliance
and you made it your own!

You should never
have gone without me!

You had just given birth.
You were too ill to travel.

And you didn't even
want to go!

What was I supposed to do?

This is bigger
than both of us, Marie.

And someone had to be there
to represent the achievement!

You never did understand!
You were angry

because they didn't want you
as one of their own!

Oh, you fathom me so well.

I was angry
because they were wrong.

But I never wanted
any of this.

I just wanted to do
good science.

And didn't I make you
a better scientist?

Are we not better scientists
together?

Of course we are.

Because you have one of
the finest minds I've ever met.

It just so happens
that my mind is finer.

Ha!

Your main problem, Marie,
is your arrogance.

My main problem is you...

...and the fact
that I love you so utterly.

It's not that I don't understand
what there is between us.

It's because I don't understand
what my life was without you.

Even when I think
of myself as a boy...

...somehow, you're there.

I wish you'd have been
in Sweden with me.

I wish we could have
been together.

I'm sick, Marie.

I'm sick.

When I cough, there's blood.

Let's get out of Paris,
and rest, and get better.

- What about the lab?
- The lab can wait.

- Let's save ourselves.
- There's too much to do.

Please, Marie. Please.

Pierre, don't go too far.

Marya.

Marya. Where are you?

Watch out!

Whoa!

Whoa!

Hello, old friend.

Hello.

Good. And we all
have copies of that?

Welcome, Madame Curie.

I do not know why I'm here.

You're here because the panel
would like to consider you

for Professor Curie's position
at the university.

You wish to give me
Pierre's seat?

We don't want
to give you anything.

We're interviewing
a number of candidates

and we thought due
consideration should be given

to you taking the post.

And if I don't want the post?

Then that is one less
candidate for us to consider.

I'd wish to be considered
on my own merits.

If you wish to give it to me
out of pity, don't.

If you wish to give it to me
to follow some agenda or other,

don't.

- Well, what say you...
- I have nothing else to say.

It is not a job I want
but it is a job I will take.

And if my science
doesn't speak for itself

with regard to my quality

then you have gravely
misunderstood my science.

I apologise, gentlemen.

Characteristic behaviour,
I'm afraid.

It's an achievement, Marie.

First female professor
at the Sorbonne.

A promotion well overdue
for France's, the world's,

first female
Nobel Prize winner.

Nobel Prize. Do you remember,
I wasn't even nominated?

It was Pierre
who fought for me,

who fought for our work
to be recognised.

Without him
I never would have won.

He was everything to me,
and now he's gone,

and I'm...

...I am lost.

- This will pass, Marie.
- No, it won't.

- You're being very strong.
- I'm bored of strong.

I don't want to be strong.
I want to be weak.

Well, Pierre
wouldn't want that.

You think
you can talk for him?

I miss him, too.

Right, here she comes.

Bravo.

I want to tell you
about radium.

A most peculiar
and remarkable element,

because it does not behave
as it should.

Ladies and gentlemen, will
you take your seats, please?

It's very important
that you put your goggles on.

We call this place
the Doom Town.

It seems an extraordinary
amount of work.

The dummies are dressed
by JC Penney.

Better dressed than me,
the boys and I joke.

Do things need
to be this precise?

Pretty cool, huh?

Oh, no, no...

Oh, sorry, everyone.

- It's no problem.
- I do apologise.

Glasses.

There are those that say that
my radium is making them sick.

Are you sick?

No.

You?

Yes.

Anaemia.

But there's no proof.
There's no proof.

There are those that say

that it might be the thing
that weakened my Pierre,

that made him unable
to roll out of the way.

Pierre's skull was crushed.

He wasn't... radium
wouldn't have caused that.

I can't do anything
without him.

- He'd want you to.
- I know.

He'd expect it of you.
I expect it of you, too.

You are the best woman
I've ever met.

The best person.

I know what
you have lost, Marie.

Pierre once said to me

that he couldn't imagine
life without me.

And I never said
anything back.

And I should have.

Do you need feeding?

No.

Well, run along then.

The Polish woman...

Extraordinary how she fancies
she is appearing...

Radioactivity is the spontaneous
emission of radiation

or particles
from the decay of nuclei,

which, due to a particular arrangement

of their internal structure,
are far more unstable.

It refers to particles
which are emitted from nuclei

as a result
of nuclear instability.

That's all. Thank you.

- It's not as bad as it sounds.
- Do we know who's involved?

- There are two.
- Two?

Marcel Demalander
and Maurice Demenitroux.

They were preparing thorium X.

- Thorium X, for who?
- Some factory outside Paris.

Maurice had been ill
for quite some time.

- With what?
- Leukaemia.

And Marcel?

He has anaemia.
Severe anaemia.

And there is a direct link?

Well, of course
there's a direct link.

These are radiation-led
complications.

These cases are appearing with
greater and greater regularity.

We were never unaware.

Well, now we need
to be more aware.

Lost your husband
so thought you'd take mine?

The great Marie Curie.

Reduced to a thief.

Oh!

No.

You're not Marie Curie.

You don't even
deserve that name.

Your name is Marya Sklodowska
and you are Polish.

A dirty Pole.

The dirty Pole
that invented a poison

that the world
thought marvellous!

But I know what you are!

I heard her.

And yet you stayed inside?

You wanted me to join you out
there, and add wood to the fire?

The logical thing was to stay
inside, so I stayed inside.

I'm sorry she said
those things.

Don't be.

- Marie?
- What?

What do we do now?

Four pages in this
piece of nationalist rubbish.

His wife hired
a private detective.

They stole our letters.

She gave them to the papers and
encouraged them to print them.

It was little bits
of advice I gave him,

mainly on denying her pleasure.

The papers seem outraged

by the idea that women might
have pleasure in their lives.

But these intimate pleasures...

- You're talking here of...
- Of sex, yes.

Did she really
just say that?

I've shocked you.

- Marie...
- And everyone else.

You haven't shocked me.

You just shouldn't be writing
about these things.

They're... intimate.

They're not to be written of.

- People are looking.
- They've always looked.

Not like this.
Not with hate.

She shows no remorse.

Typical Pole.

Get out of France,
you filthy immigrant!

Polish scum!

Go back to your own country!

Dirty Pole!

Jews are all the same!

Marie, may I have a word?

- Can't it wait?
- No.

She's told me if I go home
this can all be over.

I'm thoroughly convinced
this will never be over.

I don't want her
to hurt you anymore.

I think the damage to me
is probably permanent

whatever you
persuade her to do.

Marie, you said
you would never love me.

- Pierre wouldn't want me...
- I would say it's a mistake

to cite his name in this
conversation, wouldn't you?

You're not abandoning me.
I'm not a lost dog.

You're just leaving me
to find my own way.

- Now go, be valiant.
- Marie...

Just don't ask me to pity you
as you do so.

They've closed it.

She died...

...so they closed it.

I never thought this place,
I never thought...

...what she did had any merit.

You're a scientist.

She was an artist

or... a something.

I don't know
quite what she was.

She died?

Loie, will you help me?

I didn't understand this place
and you did, and I...

Can you do what she did?

I'd like you to make
my husband appear.

I don't think
even she promised that.

Please will you make
my husband appear?

Please will you make
my husband appear?

Please will you make
my husband appear?

Please will you
make my husband appear?

Please will you make
my husband appear?

Please will you make
my husband appear?

Please will you make
my husband appear?

Please will you make
my hus... hus...

Please can you... make...
my... husband appear?

Please can you make
my husband appear?

- Come on!
- Come on, come on.

Get him out! Go, go, go!

Straight ahead.

So, he's leaving you?

He was... not strong enough.

He's certainly not strong
enough for the press.

These so-called nationalists

calling you a dirty Pole,
dirty Jew.

I've tried to tell them
I'm a dirty Catholic,

and a dirty lapsed Catholic
at that, but...

...they won't listen.

Marya...

...I'm going home.

To Poland.

- Will you come with me?
- I belong here.

Well, they don't think so.

France is Irène and Eve's home.

Irène and Eve
would love Poland.

My work is here.

Poland has changed.

You would be venerated,
celebrated.

Pierre is buried here.

They stand outside your house
screaming for you to leave.

When have other people's
opinions ever affected

anything I've done?

- Go home!
- France for the French!

Polish scum!

Rotten Pole!

Dirty Jew!

Your growth is slowing, Eve.

Is it?

And Irène is growing
faster than ever.

Well, I've big teeth.

So you do.

- Telegram, madame.
- Thank you.

Interesting?

The Royal Swedish Academy
of Science has seen fit to...

I have been awarded
the Nobel Prize again.

This time for chemistry.

- For what?
- For my extraction

of the elements
of radium and polonium.

- Congratulations, Mother.
- Congratulations, Mother.

And they have suggested
that I do not come

to avoid unnecessary
controversy.

Well...

Here, let me measure
your head, Eve.

Come here, sweetie.

We were so pleased you were able
to make it to Sweden, Mrs Curie.

- Were you?
- Oh, yes.

The Women's Movement
in Stockholm

supported you with great
strength and conviction.

Have you all that you need?

Yes, I have...
everything I need.

- They don't like you here.
- Nonsense.

They're merely
having a hard time

separating my scientific life
from my personal life.

Why don't they
like your personal life?

What will you talk of,
in your speech?

- Personal things?
- No.

The chemistry
of the imponderable.

- Bravo!
- Bravo.

Bravo, Madame Curie.

Bravo.

Bravo.

Bravo!

Some 15 years ago

the radiation of uranium was
discovered by Henri Becquerel

and two years later
the study of this phenomenon

was extended to other
substances, first by me

and then by Pierre Curie...

...and myself.

'This study rapidly led us
to the discovery of new elements

'the radiation of which,

'while being analogous
to that of uranium,

'was far more intense.

'Thanks to this discovery

'of new, very powerfully
radioactive substances

'the study of radioactivity

'progresses
with marvellous rapidity.'

Irène, where are you taking me?

Wait and see, Mama.

Stop here, driver.

- Irène, I won't...
- I know.

- Then why am I here?
- Because you need to see it.

You think the war
is something separate to you?

Of course it is.

You think you can't help?

Irène, I'm ill. I'm female.

I can't see myself
being much use to anyone.

But give me a gun
and I'll try.

This country is at war.

And the medical services
are a disaster.

I won't go inside
your hospital.

I know, Mother.

So I'm bringing it
outside to you.

- This is Franck.
- Hello, Franck.

He's had both his legs
amputated.

This is Pascal.

Hello, Pascal.

He's had both his arms
amputated.

- Irène...
- And this is Gabriel.

Irène!

I don't want to look at them
like exhibits in a museum.

They are chopping
these boys up.

They don't have the facilities
to do otherwise.

It's tragic. What do you
want me to do about it?

You're Marie Curie.

It's time to make
this war your war.

Please.

As Senior Science Minister
in the Government,

- I must tell you...
- Young boys are dying.

As Senior Scientist Minister...

Science. Science Minister.

My apologies,
Senior Science Minister.

I see your sense of superiority
has stayed with you.

Professor Lippmann,
you have never liked me.

It's not a question
of liking or disliking.

Quite. It's a question
of respect,

and you have respected me now.

With a mobile radiography unit,
we can be X-raying troops

before deciding
whether they need amputation.

Surely you can see...

Madame Curie, all I can see
is an impractical measure

proposed by a woman I know
to be eminently practical.

I need funds,
I need access,

I need the ability
to go out on the battlefields.

You must grant it me.

And why, pray,
must I do that?

Partly because it is right.
Partly because I am needed.

But mostly, mostly
because I am sick and tired.

I cough blood most nights
and this is my last fight.

And I will win it.

We're both tired,
Madame Curie.

Mother, if you could look at him

like he hasn't done you
a personal affront,

- I'd greatly appreciate it.
- I don't mind.

Course you do.

You just won't say
because you're mild-mannered.

But Mother isn't so fierce as
she can't adjust her behaviour.

- You have a PhD?
- This isn't a job interview.

- Do you have a PhD?
- Shut up, Eve!

I do. I do have a PhD.

- And your thesis was on?
- Mother!

Mr Joliot, do you have
interesting observations

to make about the weather,
about... the political system,

about the transport system?

No.

Do you love science?

Of course I love science.

I love your daughter
and I love science.

He loves your daughter.

Let us take your love
for my daughter as read

and talk of science.

I would love to.

You are impossible.

So, tell me what you have been
working on, Mr Joliot.

I've been working
with Irène, actually.

We've been working
in the belief

that maybe radioactivity can
be taken a few steps further.

Can it now?

Carry on.

In those atoms
where radioactivity

doesn't naturally occur,
maybe it can be induced.

What have you been
working with?

Lighter elements,
boron and aluminium.

We're bombarding them
with alpha particles

and getting a reading
after we stopped.

If we can show the reaction...

Then you have shown
the possibility

of artificial radiation.

This is exciting work.

I think so, too.

I think we like him.

I will get those ambulances.

And I will outfit them
and I will get them ready

but I won't work on them.

And I don't
want you to either.

But, Mother...

No, death is not good
for a young person to see.

And I don't think you should be
involved with Frédéric's work.

As exciting as it seems,
radiation is not safe. And...

In fact, I want you
to stay away from him.

But you've spent
your entire life...

Surrounded by death
and radiation.

Yes. And...

...they've brought me
very little happiness.

I want better for you.

Night-night.

Madame Curie.

Mademoiselle Curie.

What an honour it is for you
to grace me with your presence.

Hm.

Your exploits are a credit
to France, madame.

We are here to ask for funds.

Ah, yes. Professor Lippmann has
explained to me your situation.

I'm afraid your request
for funds cannot be granted.

Consider these as part payment.

Melt them down,
use them for the war effort.

These are your Nobel Prizes,
madame.

And they're made of pure gold.

Which is a start,
don't you think?

Madame Curie, these prizes
are the pride of France,

- I will not...
- These prizes are the result

of pain and they seem
to have caused pain.

And I would rather they be used
for something useful,

like curing others from pain.

Well, I think this is...

Boys are having their legs sawn
off because of sprained ankles.

My X-ray machines, properly
installed, can save lives.

We will also use radon radiation
to cauterise wounds.

It is quick, efficient
and can stop blood loss.

But radon...

Our proposals will give you
more men on your battlefields.

But radon is a gas,
Madame Curie.

I am perfectly aware of that.

And that's why we will
use bulbs. Radon bulbs.

The Minister of War
has made his position clear.

Then let me make
mine clear.

I will go to the press.

I will offer them
my Nobel Prize metal.

I will give them
the same ultimatum.

The press?

I know perfectly well
what the press is capable of.

And I believe that I have learnt
how to use it to my advantage.

Now, will you please give me my
X-ray machines and ambulances?

You're quite a competent driver.
Who taught you?

I learned.

I wasn't much of a mother,
was I?

What does that have to do
with anything right now?

I'm very proud of you.

Thank you.

I'm very proud of you, too.

It must have been
so difficult,

being a woman
and doing all that you did.

Believe me, my love,
I suffered much more

from lack of resources
and funds

than I ever did
from being a woman.

Now, are you still working
with Frédéric

on his artificial
radiation theory?

It's not his theory.

It's ours.

And of course I'm still
working with Frédéric.

Now, can we concentrate
on the matter in hand?

Absolutely.

Mama.

Help me with this.
It's very heavy.

Now, if you check the bulb.
And be careful, it's delicate.

Of course.

Get the water!

There's been a fire.

We need everyone.
Quickly now.

We're just outfitting
this ambulance.

You don't understand.

We need everyone.
Get in the van. Help.

Mother, the time has come.

Morphine here!

A red ribbon for him?

We have to make rational
decisions about who we can save.

They say they can't save him.

- What do you think?
- What?

Irène, you're only 18 years old

but you're the most capable
doctor here. What do you think?

I think we should
take him to hospital.

'Marya, are you frightened?'

Water?

Sorry?

Would you like some water?

I hate hospitals.

I know.

I had to say goodbye
to my mother in a hospital.

I know.

So I found a way
of making people better

from outside a hospital.

You did.

I did, didn't I?

Didn't I?

I think we should
leave here, don't you?

No, there's too much to do.

Well, let's start
by leaving the hospital.

I used to have
such beautiful hands.

The radiation
has crippled your bones.

The things that make us weak are
the things that make us strong.

- I didn't make you weak.
- Of course you did.

But I couldn't have...

Well, we couldn't have done
what we did without each other.

No, you did the extraordinary.

You changed the world.

In the right way?

I'd rather be someone

that hopes the world
is full of light

than fears for the darkness
out there, wouldn't you?

But I...

You threw a stone
in the water.

The ripples,
you can't control.

There are things
to be scared of, but...

...there's so much to celebrate.

I hope you're right.

I hope you're right.