MovieChat Forums > Pi (1998) Discussion > Great movie - the only problem I have is...

Great movie - the only problem I have is this.

posted 13 years ago by TheManInOil
3 replies | jump to latest

I see his obsession, and I see his angst. What I don't see is his genius. We don't see him do any actual work. If the character was an old man, like Sol, and we are told he's spent his life pursuing this, then we'd perceive the effort that goes into research and mathmatical rigour. But with a young man who never seems to actually do any math I'm just not perceiving the genius we're assured that he is. The reason someone becomes a great genius, particularly in an abstract pursuit like mathmatics, is because he has the drive and single-mindedness to put in staggering amounts of work. It just isn't shown here.

"I'll book you. I'll book you on something. I'll find something in the book to book you on."

[–] sid3 13 years ago

Many genuises are born that way & often do their best work when they are young.

Einstein, for example, was only 26 when he published his most groundbreaking scientific papers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annus_Mirabilis_papers

[–] dreamer.ice 12 years ago

You sure see him do "impossible" calculations in his head and are told about his PhD and other academic achievements. You think the movie showing him assemble his computer system or an indepth scene of him coding 'Euclid' would add to it?

[–] KingCobra686 10 years ago

Do you really want to see scenes of him sitting at a desk writing and typing and soldering wires? His actual work wouldnt be any more exciting than that.