Pi
For “Requiem for a Dream”, I have looked at Aronofsky’s films with a certain amount of suspicion. Ever since “The Wrestler”, I am convinced that he can make some great movies which are more than style over substance. “Pi” is somewhere in between, and more than anything else, it’s a first movie – simple concept, very good cinematography, low number of characters. Parts of it feel like a film student’s diploma movie, where you show off what you can do with a small budget. For such a film, I thought “Pi” was great and clearly shows the potential which now led to “The Wrestler” and “Black Swan”.
The only thing that seriously annoyed me in the film was the math talk. It’s just downright… bullshit, and I found it painful and almost infuriating to watch. For most people who do this math stuff, there is no deeper meaning to it – it’s just fun, or it’s just a job, okay? The hacker or the mathematician who turned crazy and schizophrenic, that is so last century and so outdated now.
The film has a quite straightforward story, and mostly focuses on its main character and how he slowly descends into craziness. It’s interesting both in terms of the depiction of craziness, amusing to see the outdated hacker romanticism, and finally it’s worth it for Aronofsky’s poignant style. Apart from that, it’s a largely a film for film buffs, not that this is a bad thing.