10 Films That Actually Got Biology Right

Being a 1978 film centred around a nefarious plot to clone Hitler, The Boys From Brazil somehow manages to give an excellent account of biology and biologists alike.

Let's start with the science. Featuring a concise, easy to understand explanation of how organisms can be cloned, the film was remarkably faithful to the state of the field at the time of release. It also wasn't overused; only a few scenes were needed to give context to the ethical questions the story was exploring. Of course, these became even more pertinent 18 years later with the successful cloning of Dolly The Sheep.

In those scenes, Bruno Ganz's portrayal of Professor Bruckner must have been a delight for scientists. Countless times, they've been made to watch lazy, stereotypic depictions of messily-haired old men who are experts in everything and have a wacky disposition or nefarious intentions.

But not here. The above paper also praises Ganz's turn as being a faithful depiction of how most scientists are really like, with a calm demeanour (he even drinks tea!) and a healthy dose of enthusiasm. His excitement in explaining his research and where it can go will resonate with every scientist in a performance that, dispiritingly, feels like an anomaly.