Bending Light: Two Astronomers, One Eclipse, and Zero Room for Error Vetting Einstein’s Theory

By Kim Hughes

Rating: B

It’s not exactly a breezy watch. And there are sections that will leave non-scientific types (raising my hand here) scratching their skulls.

But the new documentary Bending Light, which explores Canada’s (presumably) rarely considered role in proving Einstein’s theory of general relativity, is fascinating, offering the kind of esoteric pop culture ephemera that will doubtless come in handy at cocktail parties. At least, those attended by astrophysicists.

And it all comes down to Herr Einstein who, at the dawn of the 20th century, posited that — in simplest non-egghead terms — gravity can bend space and light will follow that curve, a formula that would help scientists unlock enduring mysteries about the galaxies and, especially, about our planet. But first, the theory had to be proven correct beyond a shadow of a doubt.

The most gripping part of the film, which uses a mix of animation, archival still photographs, and talking-head interviews to tell its story, charts the total solar eclipse that happened over the Indian Ocean and much of Australia on September 21, 1922.

Though it lasted only five minutes and 11 seconds, that was enough for a team of well-prepared brainiacs wielding heavyweight and sophisticated (for the time) telescopes — notably Canadian astronomer and physicist Clarence Chant and American astronomer William Wallace Campbell, plus various Indian, Australian, and British researchers — to capture images on giant glass slides that tested and verified what had been colloquially deemed the “Einstein problem.”

Getting the teams and the equipment to remote western Australia was unbelievably daunting but as the film shows, it made superstars of the scientists as well as the Aboriginal peoples who expertly navigated the hostile terrain for them. Women also played key roles in the expedition.

The doc then skips forward, somewhat jaggedly, to more contemporary scientists trying to chart and record the sound of gravitational waves, looping back to Einstein’s original theory of how light interacts with gravity. His remarkable theory, put to ever-more-rigorous testing across subsequent decades, remains airtight.

Bending Light is anchored by affable Canadian science journalist Bob McDonald, best known from CBC Radio’s Quirks & Quarks. His style, all wide-eyed wonder and giddy fascination with exceptionally dense concepts, is infectious.

McDonald lightens the mood considerably as all those talking heads — many women and including scientists from all around the globe — unspool their super-smart but also occasionally super-hard-to-conceptualize scientific findings.

But McDonald brings the trivia, too. I had no idea one of the best observatories in the world is in Richmond Hill, ON. And there is an inherently philosophical bent to any film exploring what might be out there among the cosmos, where time is measured by the billions of years. It’s pretty hard to feel significant in comparison. Also, that Einstein fella? Golly.

Bending Light. Directed by Alan Goldman. With Bob McDonald. Special screenings in Vancouver (May 24 at Science World), Toronto (May 27 at Spadina Theatre), and Regina (June 1 at The Kramer IMAX Theatre) before making its Canadian broadcast premiere June 8 on Super Channel. More information here.