{"id":15477,"date":"2013-08-12T18:12:58","date_gmt":"2013-08-12T17:12:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/?p=15477"},"modified":"2013-08-12T18:13:31","modified_gmt":"2013-08-12T17:13:31","slug":"blu-ray-pi-aronofsky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/2013\/08\/12\/blu-ray-pi-aronofsky\/","title":{"rendered":"Blu-ray: Pi"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Sean<\/a><\/p>\n

Darren Aronofsky\u2019s debut feature about a troubled mathematician is a reminder of his precocious gifts as a writer-director.<\/p>\n

Shot in black and white on location in New York, it made a big impact at the Sundance Film Festival in 1998 and fifteen years on still holds up very well.<\/p>\n

When the obsessive maths genius Max Cohen (Sean Gullette) becomes involved with a numerical pattern which may or may not explain the patterns of the stock market, he soon attracts the attention of a shady Wall Street firm and a Kabbalah sect, both of whom take an interest in his work.<\/p>\n

But his frequent headaches, obsessive nature and paranoia all conspire to drive him to the brink of madness despite the best efforts of his former professor (Mark Margolis) to reign him back.<\/p>\n

Made for just $60,000, it heralded the arrival of a precocious talent, who would go on to direct Requiem for a Dream (2000), The Fountain (2006), The Wrestler (2008) and Black Swan (2010).<\/p>\n

But there is something special about Pi in the way it completely rejects indie movie clich\u00e9s to create something distinct and memorable as the protagonist pursues the meaning of an elusive number rather than a one dimensional villain.<\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t everyday you see a film featuring the Fibonacci sequence<\/a>\u00a0and the board game Go<\/a>, but whilst the subject matter is unusual the film is successful blend of genres (Wikipedia describes it as a \u201csurrealist psychological thriller\u201d) which Aronofsky somehow ties together.<\/p>\n

Mixing black and white film stocks, unorthodox angles and camera rigs, as well as an excellent sound design by Brian Emrich, we are plunged into Max\u2019s neurotic world of migraines, computers and numbers.<\/p>\n

The urgency of Clint Mansell\u2019s high-tempo electronic score is also brilliantly effective and would mark the start of a long collaboration with the director.<\/p>\n

As for the acting, it is on par with the fine work behind the camera: Sean Gullette manages to capture the magnificently tortured soul of Max – a man whose brilliance is only equalled by his mental and physical torment.<\/p>\n