"Pi" Review

They say there is a fine line between brilliance and madness. Which, when you think about it, makes a lot of sense. See, as a society we possess standards of thought, actions and social interactions. It is when something goes against these societal norms that we become defensive and start insulting it and attacking it because, whatever it is, it makes us feel inferior or uncomfortable. But once we label it as madness, it no longer is relevant. It devolves into the illogical thought of a lunatic and we feel secure once again in our routine of our lives. “Pi” is a film that is merely about madness and paranoia. It doesn't deal with the concept of an idea changing a person or society, but merely a man who can no longer find a logical answer in the place where beforehand could find only logical answers.

The film follows the story of a brilliant mathematician named Maximilian Cohen. Max believes in three things: (1) that mathematics is a universal language, (2) that nature can be expressed and explained in numbers, and (3) that if you graph the numbers of any system, patterns emerge and you can therefore predict anything. Including something like, say, the stock market? Yes, yes, indeed.

The “code” to predicting this pattern Max discovers, is a 216 digit code. However, Max isn't the only one searching for this elusive code. A group of Jewish scholars believe that the Torah is a complex text in which all the letters represent certain numbers. They also believe somewhere within the text is a 216 letter word which spells the true name of God. He is also be vigorously pursued by a powerful Wall Street firm that wants more than anything else that code he is trying to discover. This, coupled with an ever-advancing madness, drives Max to the brink.

What's interesting in Max as a character is that he doesn't desire the code for any material purposes. Throughout the film he narrates segments and in almost every segment in which he is narrating he restates his beliefs, as if he is trying to remind himself why he is doing what he's doing in the first place. So then, why is he doing this? To simply know. So that he can finally be at ease with the otherwise unpredictable world surrounding him. Max takes solace in the sanity of numbers because he himself cannot seem to find any.

What's so wonderful about most of “Pi” is that Max seems to be caught in a loop: He is afraid of the world because it is unpredictable, so he tries to find a code to make the world predictable, however, he cannot seem to find the code, so then the world is once again unpredictable. If the film would have kept on with the cyclic elusiveness of the code, Max's madness would have made sense. However, Max discovers the code, and at this point he seems to be furthest from reality. Why? If this code is supposed to ground him, why is his mind most scattered once he uncovers it? Perhaps “Pi” thought it would make itself a smarter or more artistic film by letting Max go off the deep end, all it really does though is confound the story. There seems to be some insinuation that Max is mentally sick and that he cures himself somehow. However, the film does not allow itself to develop this idea enough.

On the level of a film, “Pi” ultimately fails due to not allowing itself the room it required to develop its ideas to their best potential and randomly inserting madness where solace should have been found. However, it succeeds in the realm of an experience. Sure, the ending doesn't make sense when you start to think about it, but it terms of a process I sincerely doubt you'll find many other films like "Pi"

The White Ribbon Review

I remember clearly the beginning teachings of my government class last semester. Our professor spoke of the age long issue of “order vs. freedom.” We explored various philosophies and political parties, ranging from libertarianism to totalitarianism. Our teacher never sided with a single one, though he did greatly advise against the extremist philosophies and parties. “The White Ribbon” seems to be doing something similar. It gives no direct answer to the argument its making other than saying what it thinks shouldn’t be done.

“The White Ribbon” opens as a whodunit and closes in ambiguity. Such an approach may seem oxymoronic. However, it works to a certain extent. First presenting us with an accident with the local doctor (that seems more like a well planned and executed attempt at injuring him) and then working its way into more sinister events like the beating and blinding of a mentally retarded child “The White Ribbon” certainly has all the feel of a whodunit. It’s also urgently narrated by its central character, a school teacher. He is recalling events of his past as he is now an old man. He gives us dates and descriptions and recounting of facts and not much else. He narrates with detail and speaks of as many people and events as he can. The effect of this no doubt is a lateral spread of storylines. Things happen, people get hurt, some people get scared, some people feel guilty about some things, and we as an audience get closer to all the characters.

The film has several storylines that do intersect, however, they don’t all feel necessary to the point it’s attempting to convey. Take the perversion of the local doctor. He is secretive, cold, and utterly licentious old man. He takes advantage of a neighbor’s wife and then insults her and calls her “revolting” then terminating their affair and doesn’t even seem beyond sexually abusing his own daughter. However, all of this seems slightly irrelevant. It doesn’t eventually connect to the tragedies throughout the village and only establishes him as an independent monster with no real connection to the events at hand. Granted, most stories do in way convene because the tragedies are nucleus for the events surrounding them. However, there are ones like these that seem outright pointless.

The town in the film is yes, a very strict and very religious German town in the pre-WWI countryside. Its children all live under strict parents (most noticeable is the reverend who beats his children with the hope of instilling discipline) who create within them a fear of God and in turn force them into secrecy. Towards the end the children become one of the primary suspects and this is no doubt where the film could have drawn the most power; however it instead chooses to stop at this point. I find the best way to describe its end is anti-climactic. By the time we reach the conclusion, we as an audience are so eager for answers and motivations that when the film chooses to release us with its ambiguity we feel cheated and confused. Some may argue that “bad things just happen.” And yes, bad things do just happen, but a person doing bad things to other people doesn’t “just happen.” People have reasons for harming each other. Another answer that gets labeled onto this film is “an example of nascent fascism.” This is in a way true. However, by leaving us with no real answer at the end as to who committed the crimes the film in turn never shows the true result of the sort of lifestyle the town leads.

Immediately, what most viewers will notice about the film it that it’s filmed in black-and-white. This was a wise, wise choice by its director. The starkness of color further emphasizes the oppressive nature of the town and in scenes of suspense adds a certain quality that color can’t deliver. If ever it should be seen in color it would be wrong, this town seems too strict to allow for colors.