Despite being on the golden list of ‘the most famous people in the world’, Microsoft founder Bill Gates’s personal life is not something that is splashed across tabloids and social media. American filmmaker Davis Guggenheim’s three-part documentary series on Netflix, Inside Bill’s Brain: Decoding Bill Gates, gives a peep into Gates’s life—his childhood, education, friendship with Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen, marriage to his wife Melinda, and their charitable organisation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. But it fails to deliver what the title promises.
“It is a total chaos,” says Melinda in the documentary, when she is asked about her husband’s brain. But she is quick to explain how he can compartmentalise his thoughts, merge them with a lot of information and execute it systematically. From developing cheap toilets to designing a nuclear plant, the software magnate’s brain is constantly at work, generating both radically distinctive and grossly unconventional ideas.
The first two episodes of the series throw light on Gates’s childhood and adolescence, and his unique bond with Allen. However, the show gets sidetracked with discussions on sanitation and the polio eradication programmes of the charitable foundation occupying the major chunk of screen time.
Episode three goes on to talk about the revival of nuclear energy and the failure of his initial design. Filled with technical jargon, the episode also shows how Microsoft was tagged a monopoly by the US government and the repercussions following the charges, including the bit where Gates gets creamed, literally!
From episode one exploring Gates’s complex, yet, deep relationship with his mother to him dealing with the passing of Allen (in episode two), there are some interesting anecdotes in the series. Episode three is arguably the best among the lot where Melinda steals the show with Gates talking about their love story.
The documentary gives some fleeting insights of the billionaire’s life. However, “What is inside Bill’s brain?” still remains an unanswered question.
INSIDE BILL’S BRAIN: DECODING BILL GATES
Available on Neflix
Rating: 3/5