Genius

I managed to find this 4 DVD set at my public library. Ten episodes at 50 minutes each, over 8 hours on the life of Einstein.

In college and graduate school I studied Physics, Mathematics, and Chemistry. As a result I became very familiar with the contributions of Einstein and his fellow Physicists during the first half of the 20th century. The reason I enjoyed this series so much is that it put Einstein's whole life in a proper perspective.

Surely there are many "created" situations and conversations as the filmmakers' way of making all this interesting enough to invest 8+ hours in watching it. To me it doesn't matter if everything happened the way depicted here, as long as everything depicted is plausible, and it all is.

Other than that the story told here appears to be very faithful, historically, to Albert Einstein's whole life, his early struggles to get accepted, his marriages and romances, his difficulties with his sons, his being forced to flee Nazi Germany in the 1930s, his being hunted by J Edgar Hoover in the 1940s after Einstein became a USA citizen and professor at Princeton.

Overall a superb series especially for someone who has made a career in the sciences.

After reading other reviews about this show I was hesitant to watch it. But there are e few points I'd like to make after seeing it up until now:

First of all: as anyone should know this is not a documentary. Don't expect a 100% accurate description of Einstein's life or complex explanations of his theories. It's a drama and you should know this while watching it. That being said: The first episode is actually a really bad introduction for the rest of the series: the drama aspect is way too high, they jump back and forward (which they don't in later episodes) and the focus of the episode is all over the place. In later episodes you get a much more structured way of looking at Einstein's life. There is a clear story line which you can understand and empathize with.

In conclusion: don't judge the entire series in the first 20 minutes of the first episode like seemingly a lot of others have done here.

Season 1 does justice to the series' title. Portrays Albert Einstein in an interesting perspective and combines many elements of his scientific work along with his personal life. I rate season 1 as 9/10.

Season 2 portrays Pablo Picasso. I guess the idea was that the "genius" tag should not be solely reserved for STEM people, but artists should also be praised for their revolutionary contributions to their field. Although some same good actors from season 1 were included, this season significantly lacks the spark of the first season. On the other hand, Antonio Banderas adds significantly with his quality. 7/10.

Season 3 portrays Aretha Franklin and really makes you wonder if you have actually changed series without noticing. What an admittedly great voice has to do with "genius" still remains puzzling to me. On top of that, the season rather revolves around the US civil rights movement than actually presenting the character's virtues that stood them apart from the rest. Even the pace has changed and compared to the previous two seasons feels absolutely boring and at times even painful to watch. Dropped watching mid-season. 4/10 and only assuming that this was actually a different series. Nothing to do with the "genius" concept.

Unfortunately, it seems that the series has been a victim of the current trend of the film industry on its anti-racism campaign and promoting diversity which has resulted in it losing its identity. It has been also announced at the time of writing that a season 4 has been developed portraying Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. Note here that Dr King was also briefly portrayed in Season 3 - thus the next season revolves around the same period, the same concepts, the same characters as season 3. Where the genius is on that, remains definitely elusive.

I was so hoping that this series would have continued on the same path as season 1 and showing the lives and achievements of distinguished scientists and how they revolutionized human understanding of nature. In that case I think I'd rate the series as one of my all time favorites. Instead, it is now in my list of the most disappointing ones...

I read one review that said the viewer was disappointed after watching the first episode for its switching between past and present. Interestingly, the first episode was the least enjoyable to watch as it was a little disconcerting. But the production of the show was very well thought-out in the sense that this series (season one) BUILT the story of Einstein. It didn't just TELL a story, but allowed you to "get into Einstein's head" and understand what made the man the way he was.

To watch this series, commit yourself to watching it and stay with it. A few times I thought it was slow and some of the detail written into the script was "fill", but the fact is that at the end of the last episode.. and the end of the last scene.. every part of the filming that made this production ALL came together!

Kudo's to the writers and production team for an EXCELLENT production! Movies nearly always tell a story, but they don't frequently make you feel as though you've been a PART of that story or lived the experiences of the people in that movie. Genius: Einstein successfully did exactly that!

Without giving away anything, it appears to be close to real life (though does take some creative license as you would expect, plus it doesn't completely write out some of the details of his life.. but that's probably because the seasons appear to be a straight 10 episode "adventure). You'll learn about his life from his childhood to his death, his influences, the tragedies, his family, his success, AND his failures (with many in his own personal life). You'll learn that this true genius certainly has his human flaws!

Really worth watching! Entertaining (though don't expect fast-paced, heart-pounding adventure as it's not that type of series and does move slow at times), very informative, and educational as well. Don't let negative reviews influence you to not watch this.. and certainly watch at least two or three episodes before forming an opinion (as at least one reviewer clearly did). If you watch one episode and say "not for me", you won't know what the series is really like. It takes a few.. and you WILL be hooked!

I am amazed that so many people would dismiss the whole series as "all sex and no substance." It was based on a fantastic book (in my view) by Walter Isaacson who paints a portrait of a Jewish man, husband, father and scientist who lives through WWI as a convinced pacifist and "free thinker." He is a ground breaking scientist, respected by his peers who becomes an important element in convincing Roosevelt to begin the process of developing an atom bomb which helps end WWII. He is slow to warm to the idea of a State of Israel but he does help in fund raising for it, advises on the establishment of its first University and was considered for the presidency of this new country. Einstein the proud US citizen could not help but condemn Nazi treatment of Jews and American treatment of black US citizens.

I found the visualization and explanation of some of his insights very helpful.

I found him to be funny, thoughtful, collaborative, religious, political and definitely "an original."

My only criticism was that I found the "time switching" to be confusing at the start - child, student, newly married, teacher, world celebrity scientist and aging scholar at Princeton University.

Read the book if you are interested in "the whole story" of Einstein the man. Be frustrated with the movie if you are looking for a simplified explanation of his scientific studies. Stay away from it, if you see no need for any of the sex scenes or political involvement.

I disagree with 95% of all the reviews submitted.