Friday, April 14, 2023

The Secret of Nikola Tesla (1980)

IMDb plot summary: Life and times of Nikola Tesla, famous scientist whose inventions were stolen, but whose greatest contribution to mankind remain a mystery to this day.
Directed by Krsto Papic. Starring Petar Bozovic, Orson Welles, and Oja Kodar.

The Secret of Nikola Tesla is a biopic-style depiction of Nikola Tesla's battles to get his method of alternating electric current widely accepted. It focuses primarily on Thomas Edison's attempts to discredit him so he could remain the sole discoverer of electricity. The actual story being told is by far the most interesting part of this movie. Most of it feels cheap and low-budget in a way that is occasionally endearing but usually kind of distracting. The dialogue is clunky and overly expositional and feels more like an educational film than anything intended to be a narrative piece. I was genuinely surprised when Orson Welles showed up because it just didn't seem like the kind of movie that would ever make it into Welles' path. I do think we are overdue for a really good movie about Tesla, especially as he has gained so much popularity as a historical figure in the past decade or so, but this one isn't the one we've been looking for. 

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Secret of Nikola Tesla < The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair (1990)
The Secret of Nikola Tesla > Pepito and the Magic Lamp
The Secret of Nikola Tesla > Adam
The Secret of Nikola Tesla < Take Me Out to the Ball Game
The Secret of Nikola Tesla < The Year Without a Santa Claus
The Secret of Nikola Tesla < Aladdin (1992)
The Secret of Nikola Tesla < Fun Size
The Secret of Nikola Tesla > Call Me By Your Name
The Secret of Nikola Tesla < Tulpan
The Secret of Nikola Tesla > Jezebel
The Secret of Nikola Tesla < The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Secret of Nikola Tesla < Wild Zero
Final spot: #2345 out of 3782, or 38%.

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