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SANDRA OLMSTED’S CINEMATIC SKINNY: ELECTRIFYING AMERICA
‘THE CURRENT WAR: THE DIRECTOR’S CUT’
RE-IMAGINES AMERICAN BUSINESS
BY SANDRA OLMSTED
In The Current War: The Director’s Cut, writer/director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon provides a compelling history lesson that is also a revealing look at how American business culture evolved. The electrification of the United States spawned a battle between the inventor of direct current, Thomas Edison (Benedict Cumberbatch), and the industrialist with the wherewithal to get the job done, George Westinghouse (Michael Shannon), who eventually favored alternating current. While Edison used his celebrity and showmanship to convince the public that direct current was safer by electrocuting animals, Westinghouse made the capitalistic appeal that AC was cheaper while his engineers worked on improving AC. Gomez-Rejon breathes life into the tangled battle between Edison and Westinghouse while making Tesla the footnote to which he has long been relegated and portraying him as both intelligent and naive.
While Edison and Westinghouse vie for the electrification contracts from American cities, Nikolai Tesla (Nicholas Hoult), an immigrant, had worked in obscurity on how to get AC to run motors without causing explosions. Edison, an idea man who was revered by the people, and Westinghouse, who knew how to make things happen by acquiring patents and hiring the right people, each encounter Tesla, a genius who lacked both people and business skills. In their own ways, each man focused his energies on the problem of how to electrify America’s cities and towns of every size.
Edison comes off as the prickly, selfish, and manipulative man he really was despite being prized as America’s star inventor. Although he claims he will not use his inventions to kill people, which is seen as more humane than hanging, his electrocution of so many animals seems hypocritical. Perhaps Edison’s one redeeming quality was his abiding love for his demure wife, Mary (Tuppence Middleton); however, she has no power to influence him when he ignores a promise to meet with Westinghouse. Even Samuel Insull (Tom Holland), Edison’s star-struck assistant, has little influence over the erratic Edison. Eventually, Edison even becomes bored with convincing J.P. Morgan (Matthew Macfadyen) to finance the direct current, and moves on to other inventions which will spawn other industry battles which will also influence American business culture.
Westinghouse comes to life as a more interesting and well-balanced human being whose experience in the civil war provides counterpoints to his battle with Edison. Westinghouse’s wife, Marguerite (Katherine Waterston), his partner and equal in intellect and civic-mindedness, shows how women had power and influence through marriage during this period. When the planners behind the Chicago World’s Fair seek to electrify their 1893 Columbian Exposition, both Edison and Westinghouse compete for the contract which ramps up the battle over direct versus alternating current.
Despite the terrific performances, by Shannon and Waterston especially, Gomez-Rejon makes the look of the film both intriguing and confusing either by overusing odd angles to the point of them becoming meaningless or by indulging production designer Jan Roelfs’ and/or cinematographer Chung-hoon Chung’s use of these odd angles. Whatever The Weinstein Co., the film’s original producer, had in mind, this director’s cut of the film obviously changes the original vision for the film and perhaps diminishes its Oscar bait; however, The Current War: The Director’s Cut provides compelling entertainment, an excellent depiction of the late 1800s, and a fascinating history lesson. Now a 101 Studio production, The Current War: The Director’s Cut is rated PG-13 for some disturbing/violent images and thematic elements, and the film runs a fast-paced 107 minutes. In theaters now, The Current War: The Director’s Cut is well worth the price of a ticket.
