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 eighteenth 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. This movie's main story is that of craftsman John Harrison (Sir Michael Gambon). 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 twentieth century story of Rupert Gould (Jeremy Irons), for whom the restoration of Harrison's clocks to working order became first a hobby, then an obsession that threatened to ...

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Plot Keywords:

tv mini series | period drama | clock | sea | navigation | 

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Genres:

Drama | History

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Jeremy Irons' character, Rupert Gould, is only mentioned in one paragraph of Dava Sobel's book. When he was writing the screenplay, Director Charles Sturridge conceived the idea of telling Gould's story in parallel with Harrison's. This gave modern audiences a more sympathetic and relatable character to follow through the story.

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Goofs

The word "scientist" was not invented until 1840. In the 18th century they were still called "natural philosophers".

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Quotes

Elizabeth Harrison: You've found a way to build this sea-clock, haven't you?
John Harrison: With God's help it might be possible. --I mean, why did He encourage me to build a perfect timepiece in the first place? So the blacksmith might start work 5 seconds earlier or later? Or was it to give us the ability to explore His creation in safety, to move without fear in the space He's given us to inhabit?

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Connections

Referenced in 500 Days of Summer (2009)

User Reviews

Time flew

This film was absolutely stunning, and after watching it we were amazed at how quickly the time flew. Though the entire movie (DVD) was 200 minutes long, we felt as though it had taken less than an hour. The sets and costumes were beautiful, the acting was superb, the meshing together of the two different times worked extremely well, the "timing" was impeccable, the tension built wonderfully, and the climax was powerful. We never dreamed we would feel so strongly about a movie depicting what we originally thought would be a mundane, boring subject. We are grateful to the makers of this film for the attention to detail and the feeling they put into this movie. It came alive for us, and we now feel more appreciative toward those geniuses of former times who persevered against all odds to improve the human condition. Kudos to Michael Gambon and Jeremy Irons for their exquisite performances of complex characters, and for the depth of feeling they both portrayed.

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 January 2000 (UK)

Also Known As:

A hosszúsági fok

Filming Locations:

Brill Windmill, South Hills, Brill, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

A+E Networks, Granada Film Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

250 min (2 parts)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1