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Movies / On DVD / Pi
Pi

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Pi (1997)

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Reviews Counted:49

Fresh:41

Rotten:8

Average Rating:7.1/10

Consensus: Dramatically gripping and frighteningly smart, this Lynchian thriller does wonders with its unlikely subject and shoestring budget.

Runtime: 85 mins

Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy

Synopsis: Low-budget film that won Darren Aronofsky "Best Director" at 1998's Sundance Film Festival. Gritty, inventive black-and-white photography drives this story of genius mathematician Max Cohen who is... Low-budget film that won Darren Aronofsky "Best Director" at 1998's Sundance Film Festival. Gritty, inventive black-and-white photography drives this story of genius mathematician Max Cohen who is exploring the possible existence of discernible patterns in the stock market. With the aid of Euclid, his home grown supercomputer, Max stumbles upon a bug that crashes his system and spits out a seemingly meaningless number. A knowledgeable friend gives him insight using the ancient game of Go and warns of the spiritual ramifications of powerful numbers. A Hasidic cabalistic sect and representatives from an extremely powerful Wall Street firm then attempt to extract the number from him, by whatever means necessary, for their own ill-gotten gains. [More]

Starring: Sean Gullette, Ben Shenkman, Mark Margolis, Pamela Hart

Starring: Sean Gullette, Ben Shenkman, Mark Margolis, Pamela Hart, Lauren Fox, Ajay Naidu, Clint Mansell, Samia Shoaib, Kristyn Anne-Marie Lao, Espher Lao Nieves, Joanne Gordon, Stanley Herman, Stephen Pearlman

Director: Darren Aronofsky

Director: Darren Aronofsky
Screenwriter: Darren Aronofsky
Producer: Eric Watson, Scott Vogel
Composer: Clint Mansell

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Pi

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Disturbing, exhilarating, and sure to send anyone of conservative temperament scuttling from the room.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
03/29/09
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

We share Max's feelings of imminent psychological disintegration as the film probes our own insecurity in the face of the eternal. Maths meets millennial doom in one of the decade's true originals.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
02/29/08
Trevor Johnston
Trevor Johnston
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Pi is a lesson to aspiring film makers everywhere: perfect your skills, be original, be bold. It's a pity young British directors aren't making films as unique and imaginative as this. Startlingly good cinema.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
04/17/01
Martyn Glanville
Martyn Glanville
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Shot in grainy, high-contrast black-and-white with a lot of simple but effective optical and aural tricks to suggest the workings of Max's unusual mind, this is one of the most intimate movies in recent memory.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
01/01/00
Kim Newman
Kim Newman
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Both story and style reveal the calculations of an artist so desperate to get noticed that he forgot to cover his id.

Full Review Source: City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul | comment Comment
08/21/09
Rob Nelson
Rob Nelson
City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul

Pi is certainly about the burden of genius, but it very well may also be about mythical powers and faulty dogma in Judaism.

Full Review Source: Bangitout.com | comment Comment
07/09/09
Jordan Hiller
Jordan Hiller
Bangitout.com

When the Torah is explained in mathematical terms, it's enough to make you want to take up second year trig - like the movie, a deeply flawed idea.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
05/18/09
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

Aronofsky, who has parlayed this movie's Sundance success into two Hollywood deals, is that rare indie filmmaker who doesn't want to make hip romantic sitcoms. He's a genuine experimenter with a spooky visual style.

Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | comment Comment
03/29/09
Richard Corliss
Richard Corliss
TIME Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's remarkable to what extent Aronofsky has rendered the cerebral kinetically intense. The film's imaginative, diverse images create a mind's-eye urban claustrophobia.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
06/06/07
Dennis Harvey
Dennis Harvey
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Clever and creepy as hell.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
06/06/07
Maitland McDonagh
Maitland McDonagh
TV Guide's Movie Guide

...a frustrating and maddeningly confounding piece of work...

Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | comment 4 Comments
11/23/06
David Nusair
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews

Director Darren Aronofsky creates an eerie Eraserhead-like world that keeps the film compelling.

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Tom Meek
Tom Meek
Film Threat

An ambitious, stylish and intriguing first effort by Aronofsky and director of photography Matthew Libatique. If you're of a mind for an offbeat but fascinating film, give it a shot.

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
04/09/05
Robin Clifford
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews

Pi is an interesting film. Not a particularly good one, but interesting nonetheless.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment 6 Comments
05/09/04
Guy MacPherson
Guy MacPherson
Apollo Guide

Embora Aronofsky cometa excessos visuais em alguns momentos (tendência comprovada em seu trabalho seguinte, Réquiem para um Sonho), sua eficiente direção, a ótima edição e o inteligente roteiro transformam Pi em um filme singular.

comment Comment
08/07/03
Pablo Villaca
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena

Shot in blotchy, grimy black-and-white and edited in a style almost reminiscent of the French New Wave, 'Pi' is as jarring to the eye as it is enticing to the mind.

Full Review Source: Kalamazoo Gazette | comment Comment
07/31/03
James Sanford
James Sanford
Kalamazoo Gazette

Destined to pick up a cult following.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
01/17/03
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

Pi is like a Cronenberg film of the mind, where the unsettling images and lusts are driven by a desire for knowledge, not flesh.

Full Review Source: Netflix | comment Comment
11/07/02
James Rocchi
James Rocchi
Netflix

Film fans who long for intellectual muscle have reason to hail Mr. Aronofsky for plunging into the mysteries of knowledge, power and the nature of God.

Full Review Source: Cincinnati Enquirer | comment 1 Comment
10/15/02
Margaret A. McGurk
Margaret A. McGurk
Cincinnati Enquirer

No review available.

comment Comment
09/03/02
Jeffrey Westhoff
Jeffrey Westhoff
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Latest News for Pi

March 28, 2007: Aronofsky to "Fight" with Mark Wahlberg and Matt Damon
Last seen together in Martin Scorsese's "The Departed," Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg will reunite for Paramount's period piece boxing drama "The Fighter,"... More...

November 06, 2006: Aronofsky to Go Biblical for His Next Movie
With "The Fountain" finally finished and ready for consumption, director Darren Aronofsky can turn his attentions toward a new project. And no, it's not that... More...

July 24, 2006: Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz Get Real Close in a New Trailer for "The Fountain"
Armed with a love story taking place at three times over a thousand years, flawless special effects, and more period costumes than you can shake a stick at, the man who brought... More...

November 10, 2005: Trailer Bulletin: The Fountain
OK, so it's more of a Teaser Bulletin than a Trailer, but there's still a promotional clip to be enjoyed, and this time it's for Darren Aronofsky's highly-anticipated sci-fi... More...

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