7 of 10
Cinematography by Matthew Libatique
Sean Gullette
Mark Margolis
Ben Shenkman
"When I was little my mother told me not to stare into the sun, so when I was six, I did."
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| Pi 7 of 10 |
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| Directed by Darren Aronofsky Cinematography by Matthew Libatique Sean Gullette Mark Margolis Ben Shenkman |
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| I am beginning to suspect that Darren Aronofsky will be viewed in the years to come as a radical, merciless, mesmerizing, and wildly imaginative film maker. Even if his future films are complete disasters, his first two major films will have cemented his place forever. They are very different, Pi and Requiem for a Dream, but there are definite similarities. Both deal with addictions, of sorts, although not everyone thinks of a mental obsession as an addiction. And they both have powerful, even brutal, crescendo-like conclusions, which leave the viewer with a sort of bitter-sweet feeling (at best). But Pi is much more accessible; much easier to watch. (That doesn't mean anyone can watch it, by any means. It is very vivid, and very intense.) Sean Gullette portrays a crazy mathematician, and it is the best example of insanity I have ever seen, (with the possible exception of Crowe's John Nash). And the other three or four actors involved are excellent. But the real show-stopper here is Aronofsky himself. His style, if he can be said to have one, borders on the frenetic. He uses tons of strange camera tricks, and tons of weird angles and perspectives. At times, he even strapped the cameras onto his actors, to achieve exactly the desired effect. And the editing is very choppy, feels very hurried, very scattered�and is somehow perfect. I don't actually understand why I like his style so much, because it is in almost direct contrast to everything I usually enjoy. But he is masterful. A very powerful and extraordinarily gripping film. "When I was little my mother told me not to stare into the sun, so when I was six, I did." |
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