Product Description

A BRILLIANT MATHEMATICIAN TEETERS ON THE BRINK OF INSANITY AS HESEARCHES FOR AN ELUSIVE NUMERICAL CODE IN THIS CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED SCHIZOPHRENIC THRILLER. SPECIAL FEATURES: COMMENTARYBY DIRECTOR DARREN ARONOFSKY AND ACTOR SEAN GULLETTE, DELETED SCENES, INTERACTIVE MENUS, PRODUCTION NOTES AND MUCH MORE.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11453 in DVD
• Brand: Lions Gate
• Published on: 1999-01-01
• Released on: 1999-01-12
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Dolby, DVD, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 84 minutes

Amazon.com
Patterns exist everywhere: in nature, in science, in religion, in business. Max Cohen (played hauntingly by Sean Gullette) is a mathematician searching for these patterns in everything. Yet, he's not the only one, and everyone from Wall Street investors, looking to break the market, to Hasidic Jews, searching for the 216-digit number that reveals the true name of God, are trying to get their hands on Max. This dark, low-budget film was shot in black and white by director Darren Aronofsky. With eerie music, voice-overs, and overt symbolism enhancing the somber mood, Aronofsky has created a disturbing look at the world. Max is deeply paranoid, holed up in his apartment with his computer Euclid, obsessively studying chaos theory. Blinding headaches and hallucinogenic visions only feed his paranoia as he attempts to remain aloof from the world, venturing out only to meet his mentor, Sol Robeson (Mark Margolis), who for some mysterious reason feels Max should take a break from his research. This movie is complex--occasionally too complex--but the psychological drama and the loose sci-fi elements make this a worthwhile, albeit consuming, watch. Pi won the Director's Award at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. --Jenny Brown

From The New Yorker
This super-low-budget début by Darren Aronofsky is a noir-like metaphysical sci-fi flick, shot in grainy black-and-white, about a mathematical genius who believes he's found a formula that describes the chaos of the stock market. He's pursued by Wall Street thugs and, in true crackpot absurdity, a Cabala sect that believes he's unlocked a secret of the Scriptures. Aronofsky's delirious, Kafkaesque writing and imaginatively distorted camerawork don't quite add up, but it's fascinating, hallucinogenic film work. -Bruce Diones
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker