Longitude (2000)

In two parallel stories, the clockmaker John Harrison builds the marine chronometer for safe navigation at sea in the 18th Century and the horologist Rupert Gould becomes obsessed with restoring it in the 20th Century.

Director:

Charles Sturridge

Writers:

Dava Sobel (book), Charles Sturridge

Stars:

Jeremy Irons, Anna Chancellor, Emma Kay

7 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jeremy Irons	...	Rupert Gould
Anna Chancellor	...	Muriel Gould
Emma Kay	...	Laura Gurney
Samuel West	...	Nevil Maskelyne
Ian McNeice	...	Dr. Bliss
Michael Gambon	...	John Harrison
Ian Hart	...	William Harrison
Bill Nighy	...	Lord Sandwich
Brian Cox	...	Lord Morton
Barbara Leigh-Hunt	...	Dodo Gould (as Barbara Leigh Hunt)
Gemma Jones	...	Elizabeth Harrison
Peter-Hugo Daly	...	John Jefferies (as Peter Hugo Daly)
John Leeson	...	BBC Producer
Nick Reding	...	Captain Campbell
Peter Penry-Jones	...	Surgeon

Storyline

In the 18th century, the only way to navigate accurately at sea was to follow a coastline all the way, which would not get you from Europe to the West Indies or the Americas. Observing the sun or stars would give you the latitude, but not the longitude unless done in conjunction with a clock that would keep time accurately at sea, and no such clock existed. After one too many maritime disasters due to navigational errors, the British Parliament set up a substantial prize for a way to find the longitude at sea. The film's main story is that of craftsman John Harrison: he built a clock that would do the job, what we would now call a marine chronometer. But the Board of Longitude was biased against this approach and claiming the prize was no simple matter. Told in parallel is the 20th century story of Rupert Gould, for whom the restoration of Harrison's clocks to working order became first a hobby, then an obsession that threatened to wreck his life.

---

Plot Keywords:

tv mini series | clock | sea | navigation | chronometer | 

---

Genres:

Drama | History

---

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 January 2000 (UK)

Also Known As:

A hosszúsági fok

Filming Locations:

Antigua, Antigua and Barbuda

Company Credits

Production Co:

A&E Television Networks, Granada Film Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

250 min (2 parts)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

Harrison describes his clock to George Graham, and the accuracy astounds him. In reality, Harrison invented the "gridiron pendulum" (which made such accuracy possible) in 1726. However, Graham had invented the even more accurate "mercury pendulum" in 1721, so he would not have stated such accuracy "can't be done", when first meeting Harrison in 1730.

---

Quotes

Minister for the Navy: [to Parliament] Honorable Members who mourn with us the recent tragic loss off the Scilly Isles of four of Her Majesty's ships, and 2,000 wretched souls therein, under the command of Admiral Sir Cloudisley Shovell, will be pleased to know that Her Majesty's government is to offer a reward -- a prize of twenty thousand pounds -- to any man offering a practicable and useful solution to the problem of finding longitude at sea. A Board of Longitude will be set up, whose sole business will be to ...

---

Connections

References The Brains Trust (1955)

User Reviews

Great movie for its historical and scientific significance, a definite "10"!

Dec2004 update: I did eventually buy the DVD set, and it is very nice.

"Longitude" is a towering achievement as a movie. Shown in 4 hours on A&E network, I taped it to skip the commercials and was able to watch it in just over 3 hours. I only give ratings of "10" to truly remarkable movies, and this is one. It helps to be a scientist, and to have had a life-long fascination with navigation and timepieces.

The story is historical - the British government passed an act in the early 1700s for a prize of 20,000 Pounds for the first to provide an accurate and practical means of establishing longitude at sea. A Board of Longitude,comprising self-important scientists, would judge when the challenge was met.

John Harrison, a carpenter who understood the sun's apparent movement with the Earth's rotation, figured you could do it with a very accurate clock. He, with help from his son William, did it over a period of about 50 years, and met all conditions with his 4th clock, but the board kept throwing up roadblocks to avoid giving the award to someone who was not a scientist but a mere "carpenter." Finally, when Harrison was 80, ironically in the year 1776, was given the prize by Parliament. He died only two years later.

The ancient story was interwoven with a WWII-era story of a man, played by Jeremy Irons, who undertook to restore all of Harrison's old clocks, and finally succeeded against similar resistance that Harrison had faced.

If you either are not a scientist, or do not appreciate the magnitude of Harrison's effort, and its contribution to modern navigation, then it is possible that you would find this movie somewhat boring. Do yourself a favor - don't waste your time. For me, it remains one of the absolute best movies I have ever seen, both in significance of the story and the mastery of the acting and direction.