Review of Pi (1998) by Willard M — 14 Aug 2009

"When I was a little kid, my mother told me not to stare into the sun, so when I was six I did?".

So what "A Beautiful Mind" got Academy Awards? I don't trust collegiate societies anyway. Besides, even if it WAS based on a true story, Russel Crowe will never get my vote for acting. His method acting style really, really gives me the creeps. Well, then, where might my curiosity of the mathematics and sciences lead me? What's interesting about arduous code-breaking anyway? It must be Arronofsky's fault that I'm asking so many questions. I have a theory that if you receive an answer, it's kind of like potato chips, you can't stop grabbing for more. Speaking of chips, I'm still confused about his first movie. Either the ming mecca chip was responsible for the atrocities of man, or Max Cohen. Reminding me of the age-old question, what came first; the chicken or the egg?

Questions may seem arbitrary if you don't truly receive any tangible answers. But that doesn't stop physicists from quantifying electrons! And it definitely shouldn't stop your enjoyment of "Pi". From beginning to end. But the scratchy camera-work and ear-popping soundtrack may scare off the newbies, teenyboppers, and elderly. Well, I personally won't be missing them that much. I like my art the way I like sex, hard to get most of the time, and usually fulfilling for only half of us.

If rumors are true, this may be your one chance in cinema history to watch a real live brain be penetrated by a pencil tip. But, goodness gracious, that's not saying much after you see the finale! I have to say, there's been a lot more surprising endings to movies that I've seen, but I'm hard-pressed to think of one more appropriate.

"Eureka, I have found it!".

In all seriousness, "The Blair Witch Project" really did what no other film had done. Made millions with thousands. "Pi" was, too, on a shoestring budget. The similarities don't stop there. As mentioned before, the camera-work is really nerve-wracking. It's scary, and there are very few namebrand actors in the film. By the way, Marcy Dawson, the stock market recruiter, would be my own personal definition of witch. Not to be misleading, however, while the former had us lost deep in the woods? This movie is just DEEP.

Based on a concept that many major thinkers have always suspected and strived to decipher, "Pi" is not afraid to break boundaries of any type. The idea is repeated many, many times through the film, in the exact same consecutive phrases leading to the conclusion that there is a certain code in nature that if broken would lead to enlightenment. Well, alright, I take back what I said earlier about redundancy in code-breaking. Kind of. You see, Max Cohen is trying to find the big one. But he's not the only one. Count the badguys in this film and you'll be left wondering why he even bothers. You'd think that the answer to life itself would be more readily shared with the public in today's age of mass communication. On the contrary, we find that greed does indeed outdo a do-gooder.

Hidden deeper, though, the truth that Max Cohen may actually be the wrong guy to try is inevitable. After all, we had dudes in the past who claimed enlightenment. One was hung to death, one disappeared in a forest, and one, well, reportedly "prayer-dueled" himself to death. Look at the number of digits he seems to be so attached to. 216 = 6x6x_ . I'll let you fill in the blank. Use a calculator if you have to, I won't consider it cheating.

Despite the scratchiness, the camera lens never seems to do anything unnecessary. In fact, this may be the beginning of a new age of film-making and we never even knew it. Matthew Libatique and Darren Arronofsky (who also wrote the of course ingenious script) are claimed to have invented the technique of the "hip hop montage" in cinema. In which the score (brilliantly executed by Clint Mansell) guides the viewer through a series of moving frames. The acting is superb on every count. Even the little girl next door seems to take on some sort of magic, emphasized by her last question to Max as he descends down the stairwell of the project building they share together. 748 divided by 238. Well, it's close, at least.

Hands down one of the most thought-provoking films of all time, "Pi" deserved every Oscar nomination that "A Beautiful Mind" gained later. But it's okay, Russel Crowe may have stolen the University, but Sean Guillette still holds the Universe.

Something's going on. It has to do with that number. There's an answer in that number.

"Pi" (1998) 10/10.