Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Pi/π (1998) - Aronofsky's mystical thriller shows wild promise

8/19/2021

Pi/π (1998) - Aronofsky's mystical thriller shows wild promise

♥♥♥♥♥

+ Best B/W Movie of the Year + Best Debut of the Year + Best Low-Budget Movie of the Year + Best Thriller of the Year

A mysterious poster that seems to promise a demanding watch here for Darren Aronofsky's Pi

Max Cohen is a mathematical genius and a pill addict. He is working on mapping out the mathematical pattern that may lie behind everything in the world but instead uncovers a number with 216 ciphers, which may be God.

Pi is written and directed by debuting New-Yorker master filmmaker Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler (2008)) with co-writer/star Sean Gullette (Traitors (2013)) and Eric Watson (It Snows All the Time (2016)) contributing story elements.

Cohen, acted truly incredibly by the unknown Gullette, gets hunted by Jewish mystics and capitalists and by his own nightmares.

Pi is an extraordinary film in more ways than one, preceding Aronofsky's horrifying drug movie masterpiece Requiem for a Dream. His unique visual talent is already wide awake here with cinematographer Matthew Libatique (Chi-Raq (2015)) handling the film's gritty B/W images, which finds patterns in everything. Pi is a beautiful film.

Related posts:

Darren Aronofsky: mother! (2017) - Bring a flask with you to this one!
Black Swan (2010) or, Manic Dance

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

The Fountain (2006) - Aronofsky's sensorial meditation on mortality

1998 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 134k $

Box office: 3.2 mil. $ (North America alone)

= Mega-hit (returned at least 23.88 times its cost)

[Pi premiered in January (Sundance Film Festival) and runs 84 minutes. The film's tiny budget was reportedly collected through donations from family and friends. Shooting took place in New York from October - November 1996. The actors were paid 75$ a day, locations, the camera and costumes were loaned, and the production shot without permits in New York and instead used a crew member as a lookout in case police was coming. Post-production costs eventually totaled more than the production costs at 68k $ against 60k $ for the production. The film opened #20 to a 31k $ first weekend in 1 theater in North America. It was also released in several foreign markets and screened at festivals, but regrettably the foreign grosses are not made public. It won 1/3 Independent Spirit award nominations, a National Board of Review award and a prize at Sundance, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3.5/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Aronofsky returned with Requiem for a Dream (2000). Gullette returned in Joe's Day (1998). Pi is certified fresh at 88 % with a 7.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

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William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

William Hurt has passed away

Born in Washington D.C., Hurt's first film role was the lead in Altered States (1980). Later credits include Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he earned his only Oscar as Best Actor; Chilrdren of a Lesser God (1986), for which he was also Oscar-nominated; Broadcast News (1987), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; Smoke (1995), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), A History of Violence (2005), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; The Good Shepherd (2006), Into the Wild (2007), Robin Hood (2010) and many more. Hurt passed away at age 71. R.I.P.

Ivan Reitman has passed away

Born in Chechoslovakia, now Slovakia, Reitman's family fled the Soviet regime to Austria, then Toronto, when he was 4 years old. Reitman broke into movies as a director with Foxy Lady (1971). Later credits include Cannibal Girls (1973), Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994), Father's Day (1997), Evolution (1998), No Strings Attached (2011), Draft Day (2014) and more. Reitman's son Jason Reitman is also a great filmmaker. Reitman passed away at age 75. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (6-24)

8/19/2021

Pi/π (1998) - Aronofsky's mystical thriller shows wild promise

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

The Fountain (2006) - Aronofsky's sensorial meditation on mortality

1998 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

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