Intriguing indie, somewhat overrated

Rating: 5/10 (9 October 2016)

A tiring, slightly pretentious indie flick which makes up for its lack of budget with plenty of imagination on the part of writer/director Darren Aronofsky, who mingles such diverse topics as Jewish religion, complex mathematics, Greek mathematicians, mental illness, and Wall Street into a quirky and unpredictable whole. Although the film shares some of the same style and hyper-kinetic energy as something like TETSUO, generally it's a watchable enough movie with strong acting from lead Sean Gullette to make it worth sitting through. The heavy subject of complex number theory and advanced mathematics is an off-putting one, but don't be because the maths stuff is explained for those who aren't good with figures and generally skipped over anyway, shown without being too complex.
PI takes in various elements from different genres. The idea that numbers can explain the universe is nothing but straight science fiction (or is it?) whilst there are many surrealist touches like the train station interlude where Gullette chases along a trail of blood only to discover a huge brain - his own - at the end of the line. The various moments in which he experiences horrendous migraines are pretty disturbing to watch, with the soundtrack full of ear-splitting screeches and upsetting visuals on screen (Gullette brains himself, and smashes his head into a wall repeatedly). The intense music used throughout the film adds to the experience and the visual look is made distinctive by some grainy black and white photography.
On the downside, the ending is abrupt and something of a foregone conclusion. I was left thinking "was that it?". PI is a film that is deliberately complex and attempts to lose the viewer at every turn, and I don't think any person would be capable of understanding what everything means throughout. Sure, it's different, about 180 degrees from standard predictable Hollywood fare, but does this necessarily make it a good movie? I think not. It's original and the guys who made it were obviously talented, but this is not the masterpiece some people seem to think it is (all I heard about this were rave reviews for four years until I actually saw it).