B/W movie about a sick man doing research on numbers then stumbling upon a divine number.

Rating: Null/10 (12 October 2003)

After reading some comments on here I had reservations about watching this black and white movie. It is yet another example of how people have to make their own minds up about movies and not just go on what the others say.
### NB. Below may include some spoilers, but it's impossible to comment without reference to the events. ###
The film has a somewhat spooky/weird atmosphere which gets more intense as the leading character seems to be getting closer to discovering a secret number (similar to in the movie "Warlock") it's supposed to be the key to the universe. The black & white affects the viewer as if they were watching an old movie. The same film would not have had the effect it did in color. They get away with a lot from just having it that way.
The director establishes the character's paranoia very well, with weird occurrences and camera work, however, some of the scenes, like when he is being chased, had the camera wobble so much that one could hardly see what was going on. - Funny & different, in most movies one sees car chases in this one both chases are people running. (Cheaper?)
I love their inclusion of different races and religions in this film, without it being overly obvious, and each character has a plausible reason for being there. The little Chinese girl with the calculator, her mother, the Indian girl next door, the Islamic music in the supermarket, the Jews in full dress at the Synagog, a black lady in charge of the bad guys! Such ethnic diversity is something you don't see in many movies. I wonder if they set out with this in mind? Refreshing, anyway.
The somewhat grainy image often seems to emphasize the weirdness of the action. True there are some scenes that could have been cut, making the film slightly less irritating, like when the character is made to prolong the action by walking in circles while deciding whether or not to press a button on the computer. He was walking in circles WAY too long. They could have have done it with a couple of dissolves to indicate time passes, instead of showing the whole thing!
Also there are a few logic errors like, why didn't the bad guys just break into his home at any point, rather than go out looking for him, It also seems that there are no hospitals or cops in this movie's world. The guy clearly belongs in care!
It started well, interesting number theories and connections with nature and the universe, but, like the hero's health, both movie and hero start to suffer at the same time, and towards the end it's all a bit of a nightmare... but all in all, I'm glad I watched it. 3 out of 5, for me. Could have been slightly better with some useless scenes cut out. - I do understand they were trying to show the character's frustration, but it ends up becoming viewer's frustration instead. Perhaps that's the effect they wanted to promote? Who knows.