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Pi (Faith in Chaos)

by Spencer Ross

In 1998, Real Art Ways or Cinestudio here in Hartford showed this movie but I was unable to see it. The premise of the movie seemed very intriguing to me- a mathematician seeks an answer to the final digit of pi, but becomes entangled in a religious scheme to use math to find the numerical name of G-d. This was also probably the first time I had ever heard of the kabbalistic sect of Judaism which studies Jewish mysticism. After a little research, I found myself more intrigued in this sect, which led to some reading I've done for my thesis and my eventual discovery of what I wanted my thesis to be about- existence. Suffice to say, I finally bought a copy of this movie to see for myself the other day before my trip to Montreal. At about 1145 on Monday night, I started watching this 85 minute long movie.

Pi was released by Artisan Entertainment, company of such independent films such as The Blair Witch Project. I don't know whether or not to give this movie 5 stars or to not rate it or all. This movie must be the most bizarre movie I have ever seen and somewhat scarier than Blair Witch. Sean Gullette plays Maximillian Cohen, a Jewish, paranoid-schizophrenic mathematician who primarily is involved with number theory. Each day, Max makes several mental notes, including his daily "assumptions: 1. Mathematics is the language of nature. 2. Everything around us can be represented and understood through numbers. 3. If you graph these numbers, patterns emerge. Therefore: There are patterns everywhere in nature." With this attitude, Max uses a supercomputer to try and accurately and consistently predict the stock market using a Fibonacci sequence and the Golden Spiral. You must realize that this guy is paranoid-schizophrenic, so his mental frame of mind makes this movie all the bizarrer of a mental thriller. Often, Max's routine of taking medication is used as a means of segueing scenes. In learning about his mission to predict the stocks, a company seeks out Max, eventually wanting to provide him with a microchip in return for his pics. Max also befriends a chasidic Jew, Lenny Meyer (Ben Shenkman), who tries to get Max to lay tefillin and help them use his number theory to find a 216 digit code in torah. He explains that each hebrew letter has a numeric equivalent and when added together, create different words. For example, the value of the word "mother" added to the value of the word "father" adds up to the value of the word "child."

Max is mentored by Sol Robeson (Mark Margolis), an older mathematician who has gone down Max's path, but stopped himself short. Sol is definitely the the teacher, not only in math, but in life as well. ("There will be no order, only chaos.") As the corporation tries to get closer and closer to the secret number that Max has uncovered, they start to show their fakeness. Lenny and several others pick Max up and bring him to a synagogue, where they try to coax him into giving them the number that Max has memorized. The head rabbi explains the story of how, in the time of the Temple, on Yom Kippur, the Coheyn Gadol(High Priest) used to enter the Ark of the Covenant where the Ten Commandments were kept. His task was to recite something and if he came out, the people knew they were inscribed in the book of life for another year. Another year closer to the Messianic Age. What he recited was this 216 code which was the name of G-d. Max now possesses this code.

Max realizes that this is meant for him and not them and tries to escape. In a paranoid-schizophrenic frenzy, he heads back to his apartment, doesn't take his medication and goes bezerk, smashing his computer and starting to recite this string of numbers. There really isn't any definite resolution to this movie, but the concept makes it interesting enough that you want to stick around.

I liked this movie a lot, but was personally disturbed by some of the imagery used, particularly the scenes where he tries to give himself a lobotomy or the brain on the subway platform. To me, this movie was scarier than the Blair Witch project because of those images. The camera work is very rough and sketchy, shakey like Blair Witch, only more. This truly is a high-level indie film that had time and effort put into it. The direction is great, proven by an award for best directing at 1998's Sundance Film Festival and the music truly adds to the bizarreness and scariness of the movie. As far as movies go, I don't think I can say I've seen one quite like this.

4/19/00