Irish Film Institute -Pi

Pi

Director: Darren Aronofsky


To coincide with the release of his brilliant new film,Requiem for a Dream, here is another opportunity to see Darren Aronofsky’s ambitious debut, which is a disturbing study of the relationship between mathematics, numerology and cabbalistic mysticism. A reclusive mathematical genius, Max Cohen (Sean Gullette) becomes fixated with the pattern he believes is hidden within the seemingly random numbers generated by the U.S. Stock Market. Locked in his room with a powerful, customised computer, Max searches for the key that will allow him to predict the rise and fall of individual stocks.

When your mind becomes obsessed with anything, warns Max’s ex-teacher and mentor, Sol (Mark Margolis), you will filter everything else out and find that thing everywhere. But a chance encounter with Lenny (Ben Shenkman), a Hassidic Jew, suggests links between Max’s theories and those of Lenny’s cabbalistic sect, which believes that the Tora contains religious secrets written in numerical code. Strikingly shot in high contrast black and white, Aronofsky’s film is driven by ideas and energised by a pulsing electronic score.

U.S.A., 1997.
Black and white.
Dolby stereo SR.
85 min.

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