As eccentric as he was brilliant, Nikola Tesla was a visionary whose inventions and future-thinking concepts have been largely forgotten over time. However, for some, Tesla was and is still one of the world’s greatest minds. I would count Michael Almereyda solidly among them if his recent biopic “Tesla,” starring Ethan Hawke, is any indication.
“Tesla” is one of those films where I don’t think you’ll find much middle ground. It’s unlike most biopics you’ve ever seen. It blends both historical and contemporary elements to weave together a story that is, for the most part, accurate, but with a surreal feverish dream quality to it. It’s not every day you have historical figures such as Tesla and Thomas Edison (Kyle MacLachlan), titans of the age J.P. Morgan (Donnie Keshawarz) and George Westinghouse (Jim Gaffigan) mixed in with Google searches, iPhones and Macbooks.
The film tells Tesla’s story, a brilliant but mysterious figure whose ideas and concepts were far ahead of their time and his quest to provide elements such as electricity for cheap or even free. It shows that Tesla has little concept of the business side of things by tearing up a contract between himself and Westinghouse that saved the company, but cost the inventor millions if not billions of dollars. Tesla was driven by the quest to get the futuristic concepts from his mind to reality and money was just a means to an end and nothing more.
The film is narrated from Morgan’s daughter Anne’s (Eve Hewson) perspective, who befriended Tesla and served as a sounding board for much of their time together. At one point in the film Anne asks him a series of questions in an attempt to get a response and Tesla just looks at her and tells her she’s finally starting to ask good questions.
The story tells the standard Tesla story of working for Edison, perfecting much of his electrical problems, but ultimately leaving the company when Edison refuses to pay the amount promised. It shows how the two traveled very different paths with Edison making enough money to pursue any endeavor he wished. At the same time, Tesla would spend much of his life going from one titan of industry to another, trying to get funding to bring his ideas to life.
We see Tesla getting multiple chances at bringing his ideas to fruition. Still, his thoughts would be too complicated and needed more time and as we know, time is money. Ultimately, his many financial backers chose to walk away.
What I thought the film excelled at was showing Tesla’s complex mind from his perspective. It’s subtle at times, and only happens a handful of times, but thought Almereyda handled it wonderfully. Some will complain about the contemporary elements being intertwined with the historical story, but I loved it. It feels very different than anything you’ve seen before, but if you strap in for the ride and accept the strangeness of it all, it’s an enjoyable one.
Almereyda takes risks such as consistently having Anne break the fourth wall to make sure the audience is up to speed with the happenings in the film or point out what is fact and fiction. It may feel gimmicky to some, but I loved it. We also see Tesla take the mic and sing a 1980s pop classic. It’s wonderfully strange.
Hawke is brilliant as Tesla commanding the screen with barely more than a whisper. Hawke is always consistently reliable. If his efforts in recent years are any indications, he’s only getting better with time. Hewson is mesmerizing as Anne. Her power rivals that of Hawke’s and you can’t take your eyes off the two when they’re on screen together. MacLachlan and Gaffigan are also excellent in their supporting roles, bringing added weight to the screen.
Almereyda, Hawke and MacLachlan teamed up before in 2000’s “Hamlet” and seeing how strong the trio is in “Tesla” I would love for them to find future projects together.
“Tesla” redefines the biopic in many ways adding a visionary flair that’s as electric as it’s subject matter – almost.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4U-23TOKms[/embed]