MovieChat Forums > Pi (1998) Discussion > I am a mathematician, and ...

I am a mathematician, and ...

posted 11 years ago by TxMike
14 replies | jump to latest

... I watched this movie because I had noticed many favorable comments.

While I don't consider it a waste of my time, I found this movie to be mostly boring and bland. It tries to be hard-hitting but misses the mark most of the time. A 216-digit number that gives the name of God, and meaning of life? Come on, that borders on silliness.

I would not recommend it to any of my friends, but I can imagine its audience. The grainy, high-contrast B&W cinematography is quite good, and interesting, and fits the mood of a man seemingly always on the verge of a massive mental break-down. For those who like startlingly "different" movies, gritty, artistic movies for the sake of being different, gritty, and artistic, it is quite well made.

For most fans of good, enjoyable movies, I'd say very few would enjoy this one.

TxMike
Make a choice, to take a chance, to make a difference.

[–] batuhanenescaglayan 11 years ago

The movie doesn't try to tell us the 216-digit number is the name of God or the meaning of life, It is trying to tell you how someone can get crazy only with numbers.

[–] TxMike 11 years ago

Yes, I appreciate that, and to me part of the reason I consider this a mediocre movie. It all distils down to madness or near madness, regardless of the reason, and the movie is not well-made enough to make that interesting enough. At least that is the way I see it.

TxMike
Make a choice, to take a chance, to make a difference.

[–] bfsfan182-1 11 years ago

Obviously you are totally entitled to your opinion and that's fine, I'm in no way saying you are wrong to not like a movie because of the thin-ness of the plot (which is likely entirely in Marc's head, the 'real' plot simply being a guy who overthinks things to the point of insanity) but I do have to agree with the other poster in that the point of the movie (as I interpreted it) was to show a man's descent into lunacy. A great movie can be about anything, what matters is how it's about it, and myself and many others definitely feel that the movie pulls off the premise exceptionally.

[–] asherrod 9 years ago

My main objection, besides that the entire mathematical bit made little to no sense, was the revival of that Romantic-era nonsense that madness and genius re kissing cousins. Yes, there have been a few geniuses who were a bit unhinged, but there have been a fair number of unhinged dullards as well. And there are quite a few geniuses who are right as rain. But, since Romantics associated "genius" withe excesses of passion, sudden mystical insights of no real origin and the like, I suppose their take makes sense, at least viewing the world on their terms. I just don't think their terms hold up very well when compared to reality.

[–] oobie-1 10 years ago

I agree with the mathematician, this movie is hyped by people who don't get it. Fans can probably ask the director and he'd say, "ya, it's about a guy who is obsessed with certain numbers...that is all." Then people scream indie masterpiece. Or it's just people find it amazing cause he pokes an imaginary brain, utterly brilliant?

[–] Gwasgray 10 years ago

A 216-digit number that gives the name of God, and meaning of life? Come on, that borders on silliness.

Did you really think that was what this film was trying to say? Of course not. Even one of the characters in this film debunked this idea.

[–] j_martin53 10 years ago

"For most fans of good, enjoyable movies, I'd say very few would enjoy this one."

That's quite an odd statement sir, if I may say so. Exactly what criteria must one possess to be considered a fan of "good, enjoyable movies"? Also, was makes a movie "good, [and] enjoyable..."?

Let's put this to rest, shall we?

It's subjective.

That's it. It's quite simple. A good and enjoyable movie is subjective to the viewer. The viewers subjectivity allows them to be a fan of movies they consider good and enjoyable.

What I believe you meant to say was: "To those seeking a more mainstream thriller, this film is not for you. This film is very extreme and a lot of it is up to interpretation, if that is not what you're interested in then I do not recommend this film."

I hope none of this comes off a rude, as that's not my intention. Just trying to enlighten so maybe you and others can be more careful with language in the future; as to not marginalize people into impossible categories such as: "fans of good, enjoyable movies..."

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] fastguy45 10 years ago

For those and a number of other reasons I found this movie to be unwatchable.

The main character was a high functioning idiot, a human calculator with no intelligent direction otherwise and dependent on drugs to keep his messed up brain biochemistry from sabotaging his sanity.

The antagonists were stupid and their 216 digit number was stupid.

The idea that the stock market could be explained by a number is ludicrous. The fact the main character bought this idea made his vocation as a theorist unbelievable to the audience.

[–] dmforeacre 10 years ago

I think that some of these stated views of the movie may be a little simplistic or too literal.

Yes, the actual mathematics shown aren't representative of a 'math genius' and yes, a 216 digit number expressing a forecast of the stock market and the meaning of life is just silly, but there is also the idea that the movie speaks more generally.

I think the greater meaning of the movie is about the millenia-long debate between determinism and chaos (free will.)

Is our world sufficiently deterministic so that mathematical formulas could predict all behavior? For instance, there are a few lingering shots in the movie of coffee creamer, smoke, and water flowing-- all examples of fluid dynamics, which is a notoriously difficult field to study. Yet, if we know all of the possible variables and all of the interactions, could we predict the motion of fluids?

Or is the greater truth that at some level there is a fundamental randomness to the universe that can never be predicted?

So, to me the greater question and meaning of the movie is simply whether our universe is ultimately knowable or whether our futures are unwritten.

[–] ssttyyllee 10 years ago

Movie fails on many levels. If you never finished high school, the ratios will blow your mind once you research them. If you did finish high school, it just reminds you of trigonometry lol