PI faith in chaos
a film by Darren Aronofsky

Darren Aronofsky's first feature film PI won him a Sundance film award as well as the attention of several movie companies. This includes Warner Bros who have signed him up to do the next Batman movie. This film, while it has been out sometime, was recently released to DVD, which is the object of this review. It is also the first time I have viewed this film.

Shot under a budget of $60, 000 in high contrast black and white, this film plunges deep within the paranoia of Maximilian Cohen. Cohen, played by Sean Gullette, is a brilliant mathematician who tries to decode the underlying pattern of the Stock market and in doing so begins to see a universe built solely on the foundation of numbers. The revelation shakes him and he begins to enter into the unseen scheme of things seeing the mysticism in numbers which drives him to his mentor, Sol Robertson. Sol, played by veteran actor, Mark Mangolis. Mangolis plays his character soulfully and the rapport he has with Cohen seems to be Cohen's lone temple of sanity. Against his mentor's advice Cohen, despite anxiety attacks and acute migraines, begins to explore deeper into this unseen order and begins to attract attention to himself. Stock Market sharks want his formula and the Jewish community seek his aid in decoding the Torah's secret. Cohen's paranoia deepens isolating himself further from human contact as he interacts with only his computer which he modifies continuously to handle the number crunching that his research demands.

This movie works on many levels, like a Twilight Zone episode with a morality tale woven skillfully into its fabric. The introduction into Jewish mysticism and the Torah bring the tale to a higher spiritual level. The Jewish community begins to see Cohen as the "key" to unlocking what they have been seeking for centuries, the name of God in mathematical formula. Contrasting is the Stock Market wolves wanting the formula for their own greed. The pull of both powers force Cohen to his ultimate decision

Gullette's performance is sympathetically neurotic. I couldn't help but see him as a modern day Howard Phillips Lovecraft that just discovered the Necronomicon. This film should launch him a long career in the movie industry playing characters that are slightly out of kink with the flow of things. The real gem here though is Mark Mangolis, he plays his character with cryptic shrewdness yet maintaining a real affection and concern for Cohen.

Darren Aronofsky shares writing credits as well as directing. In the commentary on the DVD he states that he wanted to do a Sci-fi tale without all the space ships and explosions. In doing so he brought us back to the original theme of classic Sci-fi, man trying to aspire to fly too close to the sun. References to Greek myths as well as subtle imagery builds Cohen's world, drawing us closer to the world of paranoia. It is easy to see why he won at Sundance and that he has promise. There have been comparisons to David Lynch, but I don't see it. Lynch often goes surreal and doesn't seem to care if you have been left behind. Aronofsky takes you down a road and even though distorted it has direction. I see more a Rod Serling influence more than anything. If I had one complaint about the movie is the high contrast black and white, which even though works well and is needed at times, sometimes it is too grainy and distracting. I credit this to the film's modest budget.

The DVD is released through Artisian entertainment and comes with many features including commentaries and behind the scene montage. I highly recommend this one for your library but be warned, this is a cerebral flick and not for everyone.

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