4.5/5
Michael Almereyda’s Tesla is an ethereal, idiosyncratic, and otherworldly biopic that explores the life and work – and obsessions – of Nikola Tesla. While the techniques Almereyda employs here might not necessarily be a great fit for every biopic, there is something invigorating about the ways he takes such a usually dry and stale genre and breathes new life into it through such highly theatrical, anachronistic, and metafictional touches. The use of laptops and digital projectors by an onscreen narrator who both tells the story and fact-checks any bits of fictionalization that creep in are lovely touches. And taking an otherwise minor character in Tesla’s life story and giving her the reigns (along with making sure we know about her own hopes and dreams) keeps the film from turning into the rote “great man” narrative that can be so tiresome. Almereyda’s use of rear projection with period photographs for many of the sets gives the film its ethereal quality – and the central performances by Ethan Hawke and Kyle MacLachlan are really stunning. While most Tesla biopics make Edison an unredeemable villain, MacLachlan brings a sadness to the role the arouses our empathy, even as we see his machinations for what they are. And there’s nothing quite like watching Ethan Hawke as Nikola Tesla singing a karaoke version of “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” against a neon pink background while staring directly into the camera. All of these stunning experimental elements work together to highlight Tesla’s inability to connect with others and and his desire to take the visions of the future he saw in his head and make them real.
