Very Effective Filmmaking on a Limited Budget

Rating: 9/10 (27 May 2002)

At first glance, "Pi" appears to be nothing more than another confusing, depressing, supposedly metaphorical independent film. Yes, it is all of those things, but there is more to it than that. It deals with a fascinating concept, one that is not often discussed by anyone but mathematicians and numerologists: the evidence of predictable patterns in nature. And it does an outstanding job of portraying the field of mathematics as an interesting topic. But, as mentioned before, "Pi" is an independent film, and therefore, the filmmakers have intertwined loads of symbolism and artistic cliches into the film, sometimes unnecessarily so. As a result, "Pi" is more of a critic's film than a normal person's film. 4/5