Longitude

Synopsis: The story of how an 18th century English carpenter solved the puzzle of how to calculate longitude and thus made safe navigation at sea possible.

Originally a two-part telefilm, Longitude, based on a book of the same name by Dava Sobel, has been repackaged as a single three-hour movie. It tells the story of how an 18th century carpenter and amateur clockmaker from rural England, John Harrison (Michael Gambon), solved the problem of how to calculate longitude and of a British naval officer, Rupert Gould (Jeremy Irons), who,  in the aftermath of WWII, worked obsessively to save Harrison's work from oblivion by restoring his complex creations.

Longitude is an exquisite production with a top drawer cast that manages to turn the presumably dry subject-matter of clock-making into a gripping thriller, a revealing chapter in maritime history and  a bravura testament to the extraordinary dedication of which some humans are capable. Book-ended by a modern-day narration by a female voice (presumably that of the author) the film is given over to efforts by Harrison and then by his son (Ian Hart) over many decades to solve the problem of how to calculate longitutde, the inability to do which was a major problem for seafarers and the cause not only of shipwrecks but of death at sea due to ships losing their way, In the early 18th century, Queen Anne announced a £20,000 prize to anyone who could devise a "practicable and useful" solution to the problem. Various schemes were proposed most of them hare-brained but amongst them was that of Harrison who had the insight that time was  the key to the solution but needed to build a clock that not only would keep accurate time but do so on the high seas. But not only did Harrison have this problem he had to contend with the Board of Longitude, a body of self-satisfied scientists, mostly astronomers who were convinced that a country bumpkin could not have solved a problem that had defied their confraternity.

Sturridge who also wrote the screenplay deftly cuts between this, the main act and the secondary story of Gould, another amateur horologist who shared Harrison indefatigable obsession. Although Gould’s story is not of the same inspirational calibre as that of Harrison, is indeed even a little sad, it nevertheless broadens our awareness of the underlying qualities that are necessary for common people to do uncommon things and Irons is in his usual solid form as the public school gentleman who has never really wanted to leave Mummy and live in the real world. Taken in a single sitting, Longitude is a lengthy affair but a fascinating, beautifully realized story.

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