Gloria Diaz
Dr. Kaufmann
Genre Study in Film
Pi
Presentation
16 June 2015
I saw this movie when it came out in 1998, but
borrowed it from the library to refresh my memory. It is a remake of the 1917
Paul Wegener film, “der Golem und die Taenzerin” (Wallis). That translates to
the Golem and the Dancer.
I consider the cinematography of this film
particularly striking, because using grainy black and white film for this helps
the viewer sharpen his or her focus of what’s being viewed. What I mean by that
is we can be dazzled by color, as well as distracted by it. I suggest if you
are trying to learn about photography, to first shoot subjects in black and
white. With the absence of color, things like light and shadow and form will
become more apparent. These are pictures of ordinary things, but in black and
white, you’re not as distracted by the color, and you’re probably paying more
attention to the shape of the stop sign and the letters.
(Diaz).
(Diaz).
The fire plug goes from a yellow on green contrast
to a gray on black contrast. The shadows and bolts seem to pop out more.
With this film, the grainy black and white aspect of
it lets us know off the bat this is not going to be the velvety smoothness of
classic films from the golden age of Hollywood. I think that is meant literally
as well as figuratively. New York is a very colorful place, and Chinatown is
certainly colorful, but both the city and the neighborhood are shown in tones
of black, white and gray. The graininess of the film adds to the discord that
is the plot of the film. It will not be a smooth ride visually, yet, much like
a car accident, we don’t want to look away. The graininess also gives a sort of
surveillance camera quality to it, almost as if we are watching something we
aren’t supposed to—a guy who is obsessed with something, and that something
will destroy him.
The use of black and white also helps viewers feel
(although in a limited way, we cannot really “know” how a character feels) the
single-mindedness that Max has towards finding the pattern he is so sure of.
Aranofsky has said filming in color “would have been less expensive” (Wallis).
The black and white serves as sort of a visual tunnel—nothing and nobody else
matters to Max right now. As anyone who struggles with OCD knows, being
obsessed with a problem or issue can take a toll mentally. Max’s headaches are
just one more frustration in a situation that seems to be getting worse.
We can’t get inside Max’s brain, but having a brain
just sitting in a sink or on the steps of a subway station (as is shown in the
film) gives us some insight as to what’s going on. Max is aware he’s pretty
gifted, yet his brain doesn’t quite work right—he has terrible migraines and he
has to take medicine. I think we all have times where we would like to erase
painful memories, or at least rinse off our gray matter with some nice cool
water. If you poke certain areas of the brain, you can get some pretty
interesting reactions. When Max pokes the brain on the subway steps, he hears a
loud train horn. If this brain were attached to a human, the person might kick
his leg. Obviously, Max’s migraines are as big an obsession as finding the
number to unlock the stock market patterns. Here’s a Far Side cartoon illustrating what happens when you mess with gray
matter.
(Jerem6).
The game Max and Saul play is called Go. It’s been
played for thousands of years, and a unique handicapping system allows players
of widely different skills to enjoy an evenly balanced game (“What is Go?”)
Incidentally, the Millennium Force Roller Coaster
theme music and the opening credit music for Pi sound remarkably alike. Very computer-esque, very techno.
Fitting, since Pi was released in
1998 and MF was established in 2000. Listen for yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQ1sZSCz47w (Pi
trailer)
Here is the theme music for Millennium Force:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hG2T_uYDMeM
Pi
won the Director’s Award in 1998 at Sundance. However, critics didn’t like it.
They didn’t like the way the math was used; they said it wasn’t believable
(Wallis).
The film was released by Artisan Entertainment,
which is now owned by Lions Gate, which purchased the company in 2003. Artisan
is probably best known for the 1999 film, The Blair Witch Project (Bates).
Works Cited
Bates, James. “Lions Gate to Buy Artisan Entertainment.” Latimes.com. Los Angeles Times,
28 Oct. 2003. Web. 16
June 2015.
Diaz, Gloria. Fireplugs. 2015.
Photograph.
Diaz, Gloria. Stop Signs.
2015. Photograph.
Cedar Point Fanpage. “Millennium Force [HD] Theme/Station Music.” YouTube. YouTube, 1 Jan. 2010. Web. 16 June 2015.
Jerem6. “Gary Larson on Pinterest.” Pinterest.com.
Pinterest.com, n.d. Web. 18 June
2015.
Visavedlatinv “Pi Trailer.” YouTube.
YouTube, 30 Jul. 2006. Web. 16 June 2015.
Wallis, Frieder. “Analysis of Pi
1997, written and directed by Darren Aronofsky.”
Aranofsky.tripod.com. Aranofsky.tripod.com, 23 Apr. 2001. Web. 17
June 2015.
“What is Go?” usgo.org. American
Go Association, 2014. Web. 18 June 2015.
Unfortunately this movie did not appeal to me. There definitely was a different form of artistry and creativity demonstrated by Aronofsky then any of the other films we have seen thus far. The camera use of footage of the actor from the front view was interesting. I did really appreciate Gloria's perspective on black and white vs color. The story of looking into the sun at a very early age is very relatable. The pain he was demonstrating during the film was very discomforting which I am sure is what Aronofsky wanted us to feel. I was intrigued by those that were after him but I found myself struggling to pay attention to this movie more than any other.
ReplyDeleteThis film was definitely filmed in its own unique way. I didn't particularly hate it but I didn't love it either. I thought the acting was mediocre and it was difficult to see as it was in an unusual black and white style.
ReplyDeleteGloria, I really like your analysis of the color photos versus black and white. As a viewer you really do have to sharpen your focus to get an accurate view of what you are looking at. I never really thought about the graininess representing the "discord" in the plot, but it certainly fits. I also wondered if the black and white choice of cinematography could represent how not everything in life or in Pi is as black and white as we would like it to be. Overall, I didn't really enjoy this film and maybe it was more because of the mediocre acting like James pointed out. Something about it just did not capture me like many of the other indie films did.
ReplyDeleteGlad the photos were a help! I studied photography, and when I was first learning it in high school, we could only shoot in black and white. It really helped us look at the shape of subjects/objects and the light shining off them and the shadows they cast. A so-so color picture can sometimes really pop as a black and white photo.
ReplyDeleteThis is not a favorite movie of mine, yet I can watch it over and over again. I think it's because of the black and white aspect, and the music.
I think the black and white helps us realize Max's quest to find "the number." He's blocked out the "color" in his life: his next-door neighbor, who seems to be interested in him, the little girl who finds math fun, Marcy and Lenny. Everything is set aside in the quest for the number.
And Carrie, I do agree that not everything is as black and white as we would like it to be. I think as humans we think we can control everything, but that doesn't mean people are not going to stop figuring out how stuff works. If we figured it out (whatever "it" is, it might be different for each one of us) would life be as fun, or as meaningful?
I really enjoyed your perspective on the use of black and white. I did not fully think about how artistically it can enhance certain elements, rather than limiting them. Your demonstration of photos was very helpful for me to visualize this point. As you mentioned this film was extremely "grainy". I would have thought that it was made much much earlier than it actually is, if Prof. Kaufmann didn't mention that it was due to the film having a very high contrast. I found the choice to shoot in black and white to be appropriate but non the less distracting.
ReplyDeleteIt also didn't hit me until you mentioned that the black and white aspect really reflect's his hunt for the numbers. It seems that this movie had one of the heaviest centered plots of the films that we have watched.
I have seen Pi a number of times and I've always really liked it. The black and white as well as the contrast is very striking. Also, as someone who gets migraines from time to time, this film has the most realistic representation of the pain of a migraine that I have seen. There were points while he was having one that I had to look away because I felt like it may trigger one. I am also fascinated with theories that can come from some of the most advanced mathmatics. (not enough to be a math major though).
ReplyDeleteI did not have a chance to attend this movie because I was sick but I did watch it on youtube but I missed the analysis at class but at the end I liked how the kid came up to Max and asked him do you know how much is 748 ÷ 238, which is funny because mathematically speaking that is the only equation that is almost equal to Pi. I really liked that at the end.
ReplyDeleteDoes anybody have any detail on how they managed to get the scene where max is standing in front of the mirror and he drills the ride side temple? it was a great scene.
ReplyDelete