Thank goodness that the fall television season has finally kicked off. Like a favorite pair of jeans it was nice to slip back into the comfort of entertainment you know and love. That does not mean the Qwickster movie queue will be neglected - however the Netflix streaming service may soon be cancelled. I am beginning to think that Netflix is having their New Coke moment - what are they thinking?
This week's queue served up a delicious slice of Pi (1998). I remember when this film was first released at the Sundance Movie festival and created such a stir. At the time, I was busy dancing my life away, and just never got around to seeing a small film by an unknown director containing no known actors. That was before the director went on to release the trippy fantastic Requiem for a Dream (2000), The Wrestler (2008) and Black Swan (2010). What is a bit unsettling about this movie is that it is filmed in the harshest contrasting black and white that I can recall seeing in a modern movie. The film's color scape is reminiscent of a silent film, the whites glow, the blacks are the complete absence of light. It struck me about half way through that the color palette is a visual representation of binary computer code - blacks and whites taking the place of one's and zero's. It was a very effective approach to the slightly cerebral story of a math genius and his Dr. Frankenstein computer creation. As the film progresses, however, the viewer has to make their own determination as to whether the main character is a driven genius, or a crazed, paranoid, drug-fueled delusional, or perhaps a combination of them all. Needless to say, I enjoyed this film. I loved both the style and the plot line. I mean where else can you find both Hasidic Jews and Wall Street bankers playing the bad guys?
Rating: 4 oddly large ants out of 5
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