Measuring the World
Germany, 2011/12, color, 119 min., German with English subtitles, Director: Detlev Buck
Two of the greatest minds of the 19th century, scientist Alexander von Humboldt and mathematician Carl Friederich Gauss, dedicate their studies to measuring and comprehending the world they live in. Based on Daniel Kehlmann's best-selling novel of the same name, this visually stunning epic is a re-imagining of the great men’s lives. Humboldt, a man with a passion for global exploration, is contrasted with Gauss, a man who experiences his world through mathematical theories and figures. Humboldt, aided by his colleague, Aimé Bonpland, travels the globe physically engaging the world he wishes to understand, applying modern, scientific thinking to comparatively unknown regions. Though he remains in the same destitute community for much of his life, Gauss’ interior journey of mathematical discovery proves to be just as rich and visually stunning as Humboldt’s adventures in remote areas of the world. Fact and fiction are mixed to chronicle the findings of two very different men who nevertheless sought the same answers.
For the film-adaptation of this international bestseller the novelist Daniel Kehlmann was personally involved in the writing of the script.
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