Pi

Rating:
Summary: Had more potential
Review: I was a trifle disappointed with this film. Ocassionally these sorts of arty farty movies are outstanding, occassionaly they are so-so, and sometimes they are a flop. This fits in the middle for me, with the following reasons.

The idea was first class. A mathematical recluse, highly intelligent, with an existential existance, serching for a pattern to the stockmarket, and the natural world at large. He is ever so close to a complex formula he believes is the basis not only for the stockmarket, but for much of nature. The world has patterns, the language of nature is math, or so he believes. He has brief encounters with numerological sects, who somehow find out about him, and corporate thuggery, who want to steal his formulas for the stockmarket. (These experiences incidentally don't do a great deal with his tendancy to paranioa).

But although these ideas are very good, the film never gets off the ground. The encounters with religious sects could have been done with more subtlety, and developed more carefully. People who encounter religious-like sects don't usually do so with all bells ringing, usually one is drawn in deep before the reality manifests itself (eg Eyes Wide Shut). The corporate thugs also aren't stupid, they needed to be portrayed more deceptively, and developed more carefully. The film overall has little structure, even though these ideas themselves are very good.

And where is the escapist music? Where is the dreaming peace of the paraniod recluse? And the film needn't have been all dark; contrast light with dark, and the dark becomes more potent, and more meaningful.

Arty movie, great ideas, but could have been so much better.

Rating:
Summary: David Lynch meets John von Neumann
Review: The good: Gripping, disturbing cinematography, with excellent surrealistic elements and sequences. Also, from purely a production standpoint, the visceral impact delivered for the obviously low budget is quite impressive. Musical score conveys a suitable level of paranoia and is one of the better elements of the film.

The so-so: The limited number of supporting cast members do a reasonably good job here, but nothing to get really excited about. The lead character's role is developed and consequently delivered unevenly, alternating between migraine-suffering introverted genius (really good stuff), and incensed crusader for ultimate knowledge (not-so-good stuff).

The bad: Well, I don't really think the movie has any truly bad elements, but some are lacking. The film makes extensive use of surrealistic scenes, which is fine, as far as it goes. However, the plot itself teeters on believability, blending plausible elements of the story with essentially impossible situations. Some viewers may (and judging from the other reveiws here, do) react positively to this particular amalgamation, but it did nothing for me.

To sum up: In some important ways a 5 star effort, in others more like 2 stars. Definitely glad I decided to see it, and would recommend it to those whose artistic tastes don't run completely to the mainstream.

Rating:
Summary: Dudes this movie is awesome
Review: Yes math is a language of universe and you can see it in everything you look at! This movie is simply awesome

Rating:
Summary: Terrible!
Review: There are no zeroes in the hebrew numerological system. It is not possible to create a specific 216 letter word in Hebrew given a 216 digit number with zeroes in it. This movie is a terrible mess all over.

Rating:
Summary: No Safety In Numbers
Review: Pi is one of the better independent low-budget films I've seen in the last couple of years. It's a strange, twisted, subversive film, which takes as its thesis the idea that it's possible to know too much, to ask too many questions, for one's own good. A good example is the troubled protagonist of Pi, played to chilling perfection by Sean Gullette, who struggles with both the outside world and himself in his quest for the ultimate knowledge -- an equation which will tie together everything, from the beginnings of the universe to the chaotic ups and downs of the stock market. He is spied upon by unnamed big business interests, hoping to cash in on the latter idea; he is spied upon by Hasidic Jews who hope to cash in on the former idea; both sets of spies add the perfect element of paranoia to the film, and convince you that there is far more going on here than meets the eye, far more going on than is being talked about. The ideas put forth in later scenes bear this out -- boy, do they! -- but I wouldn't want to spoil that for you. The events of Pi, especially in the later scenes, are so surprising that any discussion of the plot would be totally unfair -- like telling someone who hasn't seen Citizen Kane what Rosebud is. So instead I'll confine myself to theme and character, which are sort of intertwined in this film. Gullette's character is a genius mathematician (as you might expect), a child prodigy of sorts who has always, we are told by his narration, courted such dangerous ideas and notions...and has paid the price for his arrogance more than once. He suffers from migranes -- really serious, agonizing ones which give him nosebleeds and vicious hallucinations, and which no painkillers seem able to stop or tame. (In fact the depictions of the migranes are amongst the film's best sequences; I watched it with a friend of mine who suffers from such headaches, and he said that these scenes were pretty close to what he experienced, at least in the feeling those scenes evoked.) It is during or just after the onset of these migranes that Gullette's character seems to receive his greatest revelations and insights -- and here the filmmakers use a technique of showing bright light as the literal image of these insights, a bit of symbolism that is almost, but not quite, clumsy and overdone. I believe it's by their sheer conviction that it works that the filmmakers are able to pull it off at all. In fact, it's through the use of this symbolism (light=knowledge) that Pi does some of its best work. It's used to illustrate the thesis I mentioned earlier, that it's possible to want to know too much for one's own good; Gullette's character relates how as a child, he stared too long into the sun, possibly triggering his migranes and his gift for numbers at the same time...which is why both seem intertwined in his perceptions. The use of light in the migrane sequences, and Gullette's subsequent gifts of insight, not only are symbolic but provide foreshadowing -- is he staring into the sun again? If so, what damage will he do this time? And as the plot slowly reveals where it is going, those questions become not only more difficult to answer, but more unsettling to even ask.

Pi was shot in black and white, which I find entirely appropriate. The harsh images created by the cinematography are a perfect echo for the harsh story, spoken in a language of such harsh rhythms...like the song a puppet sings when it siezes the strings of its own puppeteer. It may take more than one viewing to get everything out of this film, because there's a lot packed into it...but the more you watch it, the more rewarding it is. I would heartily reccommend Pi to any lover of experimental film.

Rating:
Summary: Not really about 3.14159... per se
Review: Pi, I understand, has now been factored to over a billion places. My question: are the digits random? Anybody out there know? This film does not answer that question (nor does it address it). What it asks is, are numbers the language of life? Max Cohen, mathematical genius, believes they are. There is a pattern, and he would like to find it, partly because it's there and partly for use in the stock market. So would some other people. He is thus tormented both within and without.

One of the things that made this a successful commercial film (for an indie venture, of course) is the fine acting by Sean Gullette who plays Max Cohen. He was entirely convincing as a reclusive and paranoid mathematical genius; but he is also a man like Einstein who emanates charisma and something perhaps beyond charm. Also effective was the story by Director Darren Aronofsky, which, unlike some indie films, actually had a plot with clear conflicts. The choice of Pamela Hart, a strong black woman as a kind of hit woman from Wall Street was excellent. Also very good was Mark Margolis as Cohen's mentor, Sol Robeson. Aimed at a popular audience were, alas, some chase scenes; but they were not badly done, and even seemed appropriate, although I think there should be a moratorium placed on subway chase scenes in movies, at least for the next decade or so. Also aimed at a popular audience was some of the violent images, in particular the scene where Cohen places the power drill to his temple, like the barrel of an executioner's handgun, turns it on and presses. Kids love that shtick. (I could hardly watch.)

Much of the detail was completely veracious, the spiral as an example of complexity in nature, or the wonderful re-enactment of the programmer's moment of truth just before he hits the return key and finds out if his creation will run, crash or go into infinite loop; or a group of fundamental religious people (in this case Hasidic Jews) believing that some sort of numerology will miraculously reveal some major truth of their religion; or even the fact that Max Cohen still used five and one-quarter inch floppies for his data. Also wondrously right was the spider/moth sticky cocoon that gummed up his computer, or the little girl who multiplies on her calculator and then asks Max for the answer, delighted when he gets it right. That a stock market bonanza served as the El Dorado of number crunchers was also right on target. And an especially good fit was the techno rock in the background.

But some of this was definitely wrong. The idea that Sol Robeson would think Max's computer had become or was becoming "conscious" was too much of a leap. Or the notion that the human brain, or any brain for that matter, could predict stock prices as they come out of the ticker is absurd. Complexity theory would argue strongly that such specific data, like the number of rain drops in a storm tomorrow, is in principle impossible to predict. I also didn't like the resolution which allows us to treat whichever of the foregone scenes we like as dream-fantasies. I don't like plots that are resolved by "it was a dream" mechanisms, even, or especially, retrospective ones.

But movies are about images and the image of Cohen's head and his brain and of what hard, metallic things can do to it, is something that lingers long after the lights have come up. Indeed what makes this an engrossing movie is its psychological and visual content. The stark, grainy black and white cinematography actually enhance our appreciation. Indeed, light and dark and other dichotomies are part of the expression of Aronofsky's vision. He juxtaposes contrasting elements of our culture, of the mind and of nature to tease us into seeing that the world is vastly more mysterious than we can imagine. There is order and there is chaos. There is number and there is the organism that is an expression of number. There is rationality and there is insanity. There is the soft, fragile brain and the hard electrodes. There is the game of go, more complex than chess, the wooden board with the simple lines and the black and white pebbles that spring open the door to chaos (the mathematical kind). And there is life, fragile, uncertain, teetering on the edge, and in the fuzzy distance there is the shimmering certainly of a fundamental religion. Aronsky catches all of this and ends up with an electronic poem camouflaged as a movie.

Rating:
Summary: Film School Project?
Review: If you've ever had friends in film school and enjoyed sitting through lots of questionable-quality student screenings, you'll be right at home with this one. By no means terrible, but certainly not professionally done in any sense. Plot, story development, acting, scripting, pacing -- everything is of amateur quality. Basic idea/story is interesting, and deserves better treatment. "Interesting" cinematography is reminiscent of a typical film student going through the "playing with creative new techniques" phase, before she/he eventually learns what really works and what doesn't. I'd give it an A- as a student project, C- as a straight-to-video release (only the basic premise saves it from a big F).

Rating:
Summary: My Faith Is Restored
Review: The many reviews here give ample evidence for the excellence of this film. While the film is very enjoyable in and of itself, the Director's Commentary track on the DVD must not be missed for aspiring film makers and artists. Aronofsky gives insight not only to his inspirations but to production problems and solutions that were encountered within his meagre $60,000 budget.

That a great film can be executed by such a talented director and cast within such restraints renews my faith in the movie arts. Excellent film.

Rating:
Summary: Mmm ... Pi!
Review: Being a genius can give you nasty headaches.

That simple notion, at the heart of Darren Aronofsky's "Pi," defies the complexity of this brilliant little indie thriller. Sean Gullette plays Max Cohen, a mathematics/electronics savant who believes that matter, the world around us - indeed, our very existence - has a pattern to it that can be expressed as a number. Max devotes his life to finding this mysterious 216-digit number.

This has two results. First, Max acts weird. He's paranoid, reclusive, disturbed and vigorously anti-social.

Second, he's pursued by people (presumably those who have more friends and fewer headaches) who might profit from the number: both Hasidic Jews, who think it's the code to the Torah and signals the coming of the messianic age, and Wall Street fat cats.

Is "Pi" profound or just odd? It's some of both, I suppose, but make no mistake: The film is visually stunning, and has a lot to say about the burden of genius, the quest for knowledge - and maybe even about the existence of God. Betcha can't say that about the latest from Adam Sandler.

Health warning: "Pi" has a throbbing score and is filled with grainy, flickering images. A quick finger on the fast-forward button can help viewers avoid Max-like headaches.

Rating:
Summary: 12:50 - press return
Review: pi is probably the most original and thought-provoking movies i've ever seen. it is an incredible viewing experience to say the least. it has some of the most incredible camerawork and visual effects (without a hollywood budget at that) i've ever seen! this movie will have you (at least ME) at the edge of your seat. the mysterious and dark nature of the film is very intense and chilling. the soundtrack is also worth a look because it goes perfectly with the tone of the film (dark techno mostly).

sean gullette is perfect as maximilian cohen. this is one of my all time favorite independent films. i really think this movie is perfect in every way!