Pi (π).

Review #1112: Pi.

Cast: 
Sean Gullette (Maximillian "Max" Cohen), Mark Margolis (Sol Robeson), Ben Shenkman (Lenny Meyer), Samia Shoaib (Devi), Pamela Hart (Marcy Dawson), Stephen Pearlman (Rabbi Cohen), Kristyn Mae-Anne Lao (Jenna) Directed by Darren Aronofsky.

Review: 
Simply put, there is nothing like this movie. Pi (stylized on screen as π) is an unsettling yet clever gem of a movie that is an achievement in film-making even after twenty years since its release. This was the feature film debut of Darren Aronofsky, who had attended Harvard University and the AFI Conservatory along with directing a few short films earlier in the decade. It was made on a budget of roughly $60,000, with donations of $100 from friends and family of assisting in funding (with a promise of receiving $150 back if the film was successful - which it was, making $3 million despite having a limited release). The story was written by Aronofsky, Sean Gullette, and Eric Watson, with the former also writing the screenplay - and it is something that comes off as highly original in its concept while working as a thriller in its own right. There is just something about the way that the movie operates with showing paranoia with some interesting imagery. It isn't the kind of film that moves from point A to point B in the standard matter, but it generally is a movie that feels rewarding to sit through without ever falling prey to lingering for the sake of doing so. At 84 minutes, it feels like an acceptable amount of time worth viewing this story through. This is a weird movie, but it is one with an atmosphere worth checking into.

The film moves along on its own terms, offering a main lead in his descent into madness and an obsession beyond numbers itself. Gullette does a fine job in carrying the movie with the right sense of timing in paranoia and anxiety that makes him a brilliant unreliable narrator to go along with, never becoming someone too off the mark that we can't follow with in some capacity, where his detached reality becomes our detached reality (of sorts). Margolis also does a fine job, showing a close parallel to the pursuit that drives the movie, and he lends himself to making interesting scenes whenever he appears, such as when he relates the story of Archimedes and his discovery of density, and why it relates to the current pursuit without feeling contrived. The other members of the cast have brief moments to make an impression, but they do well enough with what they are meant to do for the film's benefit. Of note is the use of Snorri-Cam in certain scenes, where a camera was hooked up to Gullette in order while he was walking, showing some sort of separation between him and the world he moves around him, which certainly seems successful. The way that it is shot by Matthew Libatique (in his movie debut) is also unique, as it was filmed on high-contrast black-and-white reversal film, which creates a look that works well with the intent of the world that Aronofsky wants to show. The music from Clint Mansell (also in his film composing debut) is also fairly top-notch at times. The best way to view the movie is to just watch it with an open mind, where the film will certainly lend itself a good deal of questions worth looking over to the movie's credit, whether during watching it or after.

Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.