Artsy Doesn't Mean Interesting

Rating: 4/10 (12 September 2005)

The ideas contained in "Pi" are rather interesting, but unless you're a huge fan of, say, David Lynch's "Eraserhead" or "Blue Velvet," which I am not, you're bound to find this promising film as tedious as I did.
Scenes that are meant only to convey the mood or state of mind of the protagonist seem to go on forever. It is only when the protagonist interacts with other people that "Pi" manages to hold my interest.
It's too bad, really, because I did appreciate the originality of the story being told, and the obvious homage to the surrealist film "Le Chien Andaluse (The Andalusian Dog)". (For example, there's a shot during one of the games of Go of a black stone held in the palm of a hand, which is extremely similar to "Le Chien's" shot of the hand with a hole in the palm with ants crawling out of it. Ants, by the way, also figure prominently in the visuals of "Pi.")