Pi
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Movie Reviews of Pi
Movie Review: Dark. Grainy. Intense. Insane.
Summary: 5 Stars
In other words, I dig the hell out of this one, kiddies.What's not to like? The director gave it a futuristic feel by using the hand held camera with B&W film. Sometimes it looked like a Super 8. There's that Mad Scientist Computer like something outta HR Giger's 'idea book' in the hero's apartment--which, by the way, has at least 4 boltlocks on the door. The Computer gets attacked by real bugs leaving a mucously slime recalling what the Alien designed by HR Giger leaves behind.
This is a wild one, my friends.
The music utilized included the Massive Attack's now ubiquitous masterwork "Angel".(Note to Readers: Pick up Mezzanine by the Massive. It is a masterpiece.) It has a mathematician going into meltdown just like the Hollywood story "A Beautiful Mind" (Is it coincidence that the game Go is featured in each?). And it has the infamous quick sequence of our hero popping the pills ala "All That Jazz", ie,--"It's Show Time".
Starting out intensively dark and creepy, the cinema spirals into a more hallucinogenic, paranoic thing as the protagonist searches for a way to predict what will happen in the stock market via math--Numbers Theory, Chaos Theory, Fractals, God knows what. (A real life mathematician long ago had determined that the stock market is more random as in random Brownian Motion, by the by, using something closer to probability formulae--but, I digress) When he gets close to knowing that code--he's seen the number, he's printed the number and tossed it in the city park trash, he even has this 216 digit number in his subconscienceness--a group of Hassidic Jews who turn out to be a bit Mafia like and contrastly a group from an unnamed Corporation shows up. Further helping our hero to sink deeper into his mania, I might add.
What happens? What?--me tell? See the film. I would tell you this, though. The hero of this movie does *not* end up with a Nobel Prize like John Nash in "A Beautiful Mind"....
Movie Review: Dark. Grainy. Intense. Insane.
Summary: 5 Stars
In other words, I dig the hell out of this one, kiddies.What's not to like? The director gave it a futuristic feel by using the hand held camera with B&W film. Sometimes it looked like a Super 8. There's that Mad Scientist Computer like something outta HR Giger's idea book in the hero's apartment--which, by the way, has at least 4 boltlocks on the door. The Computer gets attacked by real bugs leaving a mucously slime recalling what the Alien designed by HR Giger leaves behind.
This is a wild one, my friends.
The music utilized included the Massive Attack's now ubiquitous masterwork "Angel".(Note to Readers: Pick up Mezzanine by the Massive. It is a masterpiece.) It has a mathematician going into meltdown just like the Hollywood story "A Beautiful Mind" (Is it coincidence that the game Go is featured in each?). And it has the infamous quick sequence of our hero popping the pills ala "All That Jazz", ie,--"It's Show Time".
Starting out intensively dark and creepy, the cinema spirals into a more hallucinogenic, paranoic thing as the protagonist searches for a way to predict what will happen in the stock market via math--Numbers Theory, Chaos Theory, Fractals, God knows what. (A real life mathematician long ago had determined that the stock market is more random as in random Browning Motion, by the by, using something closer to probability formulae--but, I digress) When he gets close to knowing that code--he's seen the number, he's printed the number and tossed it in the city park trash, he even has this 216 digit number in his subconscienceness--a group of Hassidic Jews who turn out to be a bit Mafia like and contrastly a group from an unnamed Corporation shows up. Further helping our hero to sink deeper into his mania, I might add.
What happens? What?--me tell? See the film. I would tell you this, though. The hero of this movie does *not* end up with a Nobel Prize like John Nash in "A Beautiful Mind"....
Movie Review: Pi (1998)-Another film about a paranoid scientist, but a good one.
Summary: 5 Stars
Pi (1998) was another great five star film about a paranoid but brilliant scientist who has a preoccupation with numbers. His paranoia is evident as he has practically barricaded himself into his apartment with several redundant locks (like Jack N. in "As Good as it Gets"), and only ventures out to meet with his old teacher. His prefessor recommends that he slow down. Max, his fameous and best student is trying to computer model the governing dynamics of the stock market, while his mentor and old professor has been looking for patterns in pi (3.14159, etc.). I suppose working on these objectives is enough to drive anyone over the edge, but his professor actually does die mysteriously from something half way through the film.
Although the much overused theme of a paranoid scientist living in the 90's appears on film once again, this movie was really well done. The film featured some great photography using enhanced contrast B&W film stock, neat shots of multi-ethnick lower Manhattan and New York's fameous subway system with lots of atmosphere, and a really interesting plot guaranteed to drive you insane
A nice, even charming side feature of the film occurs when Max is approached by a very friendly but odd person who asks him if he is Jewish. A few moments later, just like a regular customer of one of New York's fameous Mitvos-Mobiles, Max is praying and learning how to be a good jew. He soon finds out that his good natured host is also using math to study jewish scripture. Hold onto your sanity, now we are really off to the races.
One sign I noticed of a low budget film was the bald skull cap that Max wore after he shaved his head. You could see wrinkles all over the poorly fitted prop. I think you will like this film as it has many subtle touches. I also enjoyed the opening graphics which looked like they were taken from some advanced work in mathematics. This film was really well done and deserved a full five stars.
Movie Review: Brilliant, weird and intense showcase for raw talent
Summary: 5 Stars
This 1998 film certainly is weird. It's brilliant too. And incredibly intense. Written and directed by Darren Aronofsky, the Brooklyn-born, Harvard educated twenty-something young filmmaker, it was shot it black and white on a shoestring budget and has achieved much recognition in the world of independent film.The story is about an obsessed mathematician named Maximillion Cohen who is looking for the secrets of the universe. Sean Gullette is cast in this role. He's skinny, balding and manages to make the audience wonder if he is a misunderstood genius or mentally ill nutjob who's constantly popping medications and injecting himself with various substances just to keep sane. He's a sympathetic character and it is a tribute to his fine acting that it was possible for me to identify with him.
The setting is the rundown area of New York's Chinatown, where our hero lives behind triple locked doors. His computer takes up a whole room and the only resemblance to any computers I've known in my lifetime is the fact that it has a screen and a keyboard. The one person he trusts is his aging mathematics professor who has long ago given up looking for those patterns in numbers which have been searched for by madmen and scholars from the beginning of time. A young Orthodox Jewish man befriends him and gets him interested in the secrets of numbers in the Torah. There's also a high-profile Wall Street firm which wants to use his findings to make millions. The plot might be strange but it moves with the speed of light and there's no time to stop and think about the logic of it all. Before I knew it, I was drawn into the story which included some chase scenes through the New York subway system.
Certainly, this is not a film for everyone. But its an inspired showcase for raw talent in writing, directing and acting. Therefore I give it a high recommendation.
Movie Review: Vintage Noir with the Hip Hop Twist
Summary: 5 Stars
PI - Darren Aronofsky's 1ST Feature Film / U.S. 1998 (4 STARS) November 2003: I truly enjoyed this B&W film - symbolic of Film Noir from the 50's (Touch of Evil and The Trial), but more technically savvy. It is a masterpiece in control, and a director's ability to create mood - in the true spirit of independent cinema style, in display with all it glory (and gratuitousness).
* Mise-en-scene: The figure behavior of Max Cohen appealed to me - strange, erratic and inconsistent - it furthered the narrative to establish a man truly on the edge.
* While I did not feel personally for Cohen's character, I enjoyed being a voyeur and following his track to see where he would end up. My goal was very narrative driven and I don't think the director's aim was for us to empathize with the character - it was more to get us interested in him -which we do quite acutely.
* I did not particularly care for the gangster angle, but I guess it was important to keep the less-artsy crowd hooked on and to drive the narrative forward in a linear fashion.
* Cinematography: The mood was built both by the choice of wide angled lenses used at very close distances to distort the images and give the `crazy world' feel. Camera height is used effectively to convey an impending feeling of something waiting to happen or lurking around the corner.
* Sound & Editing: The director's total skill and control on these two stylistic elements is what makes this film an imperfect masterpiece. I so enjoyed the complimenting of the sound bridges to give the impending feeling of foreboding. Yet the sound was hip and a departure from earlier noir works where it created only mood. The editing was totally maverick and the mixing of superimpositions with quick and flash cuts gave a more music-video feel which was fast and slick - thoroughly enjoyable in the end.