The man who Knew Infinity” is a biographical film
based on the life of renowned Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan. Some
stories are tough to tell, and this is the one of them.
It is a biopic about one of the
most brilliant people in the history of the planet, the renowned mathematician Ramanujan– a
man famous for finding patterns in mathematics in boldly innovative ways – yet
his story is told in the safest and most
conventional method imaginable. “The man who Knew Infinity” is a powerfully
represented, handsomely created film that however feels flat and lacks the
gripping events. It tumbles into the trap that so many biopics do: It hits all
the crucial moments in the life of “Ramanujan” and browses the surface of a
complicated reality without digging deeper, without taking chances. Each person
involved does the whole thing they should, and
the result is just okay. The problem
with this movie is that not a lot happens. Moreover,
it's very slow. The maths is too abstract for the average viewer to
appreciate the groundbreaking nature of
S. Ramanujan's work.
In the hindsight, Ramanujan’s story is inspiring, and details
of his story certainly have the cinematic potential. He was devoted to Hindu
faith and with a stingy mother. As Ramanujan loved mathematics and has
innovated/ formulated many equations by
himself, Ramanujan wanted the opportunity
to present his work to the best in the world,
and same desire drives him to Trinity Collage Cambridge where the tree that
held the apple that fell on Sir Isaac Newton’s head stands in the entrance ground. “
The central plot of the story combines multiple smaller
elements. It is East vs. West mind battle
and few cultural clashes and estranged couple relationship and possessive
mother and dominating and demanding Prof. Hardy. In the story, the love and
support we see from his wife are tireless; as portrayed by a fresh-faced Devika Bhise as a
woman of both grace and strength. The Pain that Ramanujan’s wife through when
he was away in England must have been exhausting, and often discouraging. We
see very little of that here, and probably few more interactions
between them could have helped.
On the acting front, Ramanujan’s character needs a magnificent obsessional and urgency in the
body language, and it was displayed
number of times. A man runs hard and the even restless number of occasions. That is the
hallmark of this character. Thinking mind always runs or walks fast. Apart from these behavior traits,
Ramanujan had enormous self-belief, and
it was captured in the way via dialogues.
Dev Patel had managed to pull out a realistic Ramanujan. Ramanujan’s wife who
has a limited role to play in the film
does her brilliantly. A good part of the
movie is each personality rises above the difference and able to bring out best
in mathematics and it could Prof. Hardy, or Ramanujan or Prof. Littlewood.
In direction, excellent
direction from Matt Brown with incredible sets and locations, the especially location at Trinity College. The
atmosphere of around 1910 has been captured well by the art director. On the dialogues front, I loved few dialogues. Two
dialogizes which I will remember for rest of my life is: “All I do is imagine”
and His wife says one – “I have been told
that you love numbers than human beings.”
This captures the essence of the entire character of Ramanujan.
One of the most important factors of Biopic is it needs to engage the
mind and capture the heart. I think, the movie
wins the heart as Indian Mathematician
and fails to grip the mind. It is informative movie to watch and but fails
short of outstanding film category.
Directed by Matthew Brown
screenplay by Matthew Brown
Based on The Man Who
Knew Infinity by Robert Kanigel
Starring Dev Patel and Jeremy Irons
