Elementos Secretos (2016)

The story of a team of female African-American mathematicians who served a vital role in NASA during the early years of the U.S. space program.

Director:

Theodore Melfi

Writers:

Allison Schroeder (screenplay by), Theodore Melfi (screenplay by)

Stars:

Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 37 wins & 82 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Taraji P. Henson	...	Katherine G. Johnson
Octavia Spencer	...	Dorothy Vaughan
Janelle Monáe	...	Mary Jackson
Kevin Costner	...	Al Harrison
Kirsten Dunst	...	Vivian Mitchell
Jim Parsons	...	Paul Stafford
Mahershala Ali	...	Colonel Jim Johnson
Aldis Hodge	...	Levi Jackson
Glen Powell	...	John Glenn
Kimberly Quinn	...	Ruth
Olek Krupa	...	Karl Zielinski
Kurt Krause	...	Sam Turner
Ken Strunk	...	Jim Webb
Lidya Jewett	...	Young Katherine Coleman
Donna Biscoe	...	Mrs. Joylette Coleman

Storyline

As the United States raced against Russia to put a man in space, NASA found untapped talent in a group of African-American female mathematicians that served as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in U.S. history. Based on the unbelievably true life stories of three of these women, known as "human computers", we follow these women as they quickly rose the ranks of NASA alongside many of history's greatest minds specifically tasked with calculating the momentous launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit, and guaranteeing his safe return. Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, and Katherine Gobels Johnson crossed all gender, race, and professional lines while their brilliance and desire to dream big, beyond anything ever accomplished before by the human race, firmly cemented them in U.S. history as true American heroes.

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Plot Keywords:

space program | nasa | segregation | 1960s | african american | 

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Taglines:

They wanted a chance to change their lives, but they got a chance to change history.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History

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Certificate:

M/12

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 February 2017 (Portugal)

Also Known As:

Elementos Secretos

Filming Locations:

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$515,499, 25 December 2016, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$169,607,287

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$235,956,898

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fox 2000 Pictures,Chernin Entertainment,Levantine Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

127 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS (DTS: X) Auro 11.1 SDDS

Color:

Color Black and White (some sequences)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Screenwriter Allison Schroeder grew up close to Cape Canaveral. Her grandparents worked at NASA, and as a teenager, she interned at NASA herself, and therefore saw the film as an ideal fit for her.

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Goofs

In the captioned version, at one point, the description of a sound that appears in parentheses refers to a car stereo. Car stereos were uncommon and possibly even non-existent in the early 1960s. And even if they did exist, these women likely wouldn't have had one. The correct reference should have been to a "car radio".

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Quotes

Mary Jackson: What the devil are you doing? Are you taking a break?

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Connections

Referenced in The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Michael Shannon/Alison Brie/Jaboukie Young-White (2017)

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Soundtracks

Sticks and Stones
Written by Titus Turner
Performed by Ray Charles
Courtesy of The Ray Charles Foundation

User Reviews

History Dumbed Down

Engineers and adding-machine operators (called "computers") working at NASA in the early 1960's included a few black women. Since the Civil Rights movement was only beginning, and NASA was located in southern regions of the US, these women were subject to legal discrimination. "Hidden Figures" follows the careers of some of these women. But it does this in a heavy-handed, formulaic way.

Ever since "The Ugly Duckling" of Hans Christian Anderson, the formula has been predictable: a member of a despised minority is grudgingly admitted into a previously exclusive activity. Will the minority figure excel in the new position, or will he/she fail miserably, justifying the prejudices of the ruling class? Telling you the answer would be a spoiler, so you'll have to guess it for yourselves, but it's not too difficult.

In "Hidden Figures", all the whites are bigots (except for John Glenn and one department head), and all the blacks are hard-working, clean, patriotic moral wonders. This is history dumbed down to junior high-school level. The heroine, a mathematically gifted black widow has managed to stay chaste and raise three perfect children while handling a difficult job under trying conditions. The other characters are no more believable.

The period detail is mostly well done, with electric typewriters and glass-knobbed coffee percolators. But in the early '60s, all engineers would have carried slide rules, the way doctors wear stethoscopes. There are none to be seen here. Also, any time the heroine wants to work out a mathematical problem, she has to climb a ladder and write it out on a large blackboard. Scrap paper existed in the '60s.

If you want to watch a simple-minded morality play rather than a movie, history reduced to the level of "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer", then "Hidden Figures" is for you.