If only for a bigger budget ...

Rating: 8/10 (10 August 1998)

This movie had a very good concept, good writing (although a little unclear at times), good direction and good acting. The only thing that held back the overall success of the film in my estimation was the financial constraints the makers must have felt when making this film. By that I don't mean they needed more money for special effects and the like; the simplicity of the film was one of its strong points, allowing the viewers to concentrate on the subject matter at hand instead of silly sub-plots. But lack of finances for things most of the movie-going public take for granted, such as state-of-the-art camera equipment, hampered the film in my estimation. This is not to say low budget films can't work; In the Company of Men and Clerks were huge successes despite having budgets less than what some big studios spend on buffet spreads for their stars. But neither of those films needed more advanced technology for chase scenes or rapid action. Both were essentially pieces where the camera was set up in a corner and events in an almost documentary style. Pi lost much of its power and drama in scenes where it was difficult to comprehend the action because of poor cinematography. It's really a shame considering these faults could most likely could have been ironed out for less than what one chase scene in a lame summer action movie costs. What a Catch-22; you have to get big studio attention to make money, but you have to be able to make money before you get money from big studios.