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Pi - DVD
Director: Darren AronofskyWriters: Darren Aronofsky, Sean Gullette, Eric Watson Producer: Eric Watson Studio: Artisan Characters: Sean Gullette - Maximillian Cohen Mark Margolis - Sol Robeson Ben Shenkman - Lenny Meyer Features: 85 mins, Rated R, Letterbox (1.66:1), Dolby Digital Sound, Director/Actor Commentary, Lost scenes, Music Video, Behind-The-Scenes Review: Pi won an award for best direction at Sundance, and definitely deserved it. The story itself is pretty interesting but it's consistently upstaged by the camera. Max, an insanely smart scientist, works with numbers all day, whether at home or at a coffee shop. He sees numerical patterns everywhere. He finds one in the stock market -- the day his computer crashes. It spits out some strange 216 digit number along with one or two stock predictions that end up being correct. The movie is the rollercoaster ride Max (and Max's brain) takes en route to the discovery of the meaning of the 216 number. Lots of it made little sense to me. The brain in the subway. The blood in the subway. The subway. Whether these things had an intended meaning, however, does not detract from the impressiveness of the film. At times, it feels very much like a music video (techno music is a large part of the soundtrack). Though shot in black and white, Aronosfky does some very cool things with the camera. In fact, the movie succeeds in large part due to the Snorri-cam. It's the weird body-mounted camera used to create the claustrophobic shots of Max running through chaos. Personally, I'm a big fan of the Snorri-cam. The Wachowski Bros. (The Matrix) make excellent use of it in Bound. I'd hoped to see it in The Matrix as well but no luck. In Pi, it might be slightly overused but in any event it is extremely cool. The movie is, in addition to these other things, about the deconstruction of the genius mind. Max takes pills on a regular basis (using a slick repeated 3 or 4 cut shot sequence) and has the worst headaches I've never felt. It's an interesting thing, really, the film portrayal of a headache. I can't say I've seen it in any other movies. It works well. Eventually Max discovers the meaning of the 216 number and (presumably) the meaning of all things. The ending is.. one way to resolve the issues of the film, but perhaps not the best way. I wasn't dissapointed, but then again I wasn't all that impressed. Overall, however, the movie is a definite winner. Check it out and voice your opinions. -- Trey |
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