Thematic Concerns and Technical Elements of a Beautiful Mind Movie - Essay Example

? Essay on the movie "A Beautiful Mind" Plot Summary ‘A beautiful mind’ is a really interesting movie about a schizophrenic mathematician, John Nash, who dedicates his all life to find a revolutionary formula that can change life. Ironically, trying to solve like an equation cannot work out. We find our true happiness by letting go and just let life to happen on us. ‘A beautiful mind’ is an exaggerated tale of the life law, and how terrible life can get if we attempt to solve its nonexistent formulas. John Nash is a really awkward person, poor in social situations, but astonishingly talented mathematician. He is always finding a revolutionary discovery to change life or rather a life formula. About halfway of the movie John Nash suffers from a severe form of schizophrenia. Half of places and situation existing in his life are only part of his beautiful mind. Nash gets along very well with roommate, Charles, making the audience suspicious from the start picturing that Nash does not get well with anybody else (Ebert 56). There is also Parcher who works out well with everybody and is working on a conspiracy of an atomic bomb threat against the U.S. when the conspiracy saga messes up in Nash’s head, that is when he is actually in need of mental help. He can no longer think right, feel or act right. Suddenly, he stops using medicating and his schizophrenia situation worsens. He starts to battle against hallucinations of his own instead of going back to hospital. This is the turning point in the movie were Nash gets to learn on how to really live his own life. Nash comes to learn that life is more than making discoveries: there is love involved emotions and love involved, a wife, a baby to take care of and daily joys of life. John goes back to teaching classes and shares his experience and knowledge with students instead of focusing his time with himself. At one point Nash says that dreams will gradually vanish, if we do not focus on them, and have constant action towards them. Nightmares will always recur, as long as we feed them our attention. At the end of the movie John Nash wins a Nobel Price, for his contributions in the society. A Beautiful Mind is a movie that explains the benefit of enjoying life and not being caught up in ridiculous theories and discoveries or fantasies for a future that may never be. Embrace life daily but don’t embrace a fantasy world (Ebert 123). A beautiful mind offered the filmmaker some rich visual possibilities, being featured with nourished intrigue, an uncommon love story and time frame spanning several years. In fact, it is one of the dynamic films of Howard’s career so far. Putting our perception of events with John Nash is required a consistent visual accentuation on his perspective, and when Daekins’ camera is often looking out with prowling crane or circling with stead cam shots. Thematic Concerns The producers of the film are trying to highlight the issue of the mind. The mind is the reason for human beings’ ingenuity, humanity and artistic originality. However, the producer is explaining the fact that sometimes, the mind can work against us. The mind is able to alter people’s sense of being and is able to make people believe that the unreal is the real. Therefore, while the mind is a very important aspect of human beings’ lives, it can also be a set back. This is the principle that the producer of the movie, ‘’A Beautiful Mind’’ is passing across to the audience. The story, based on a true story, has noteworthy brains behind its creation (Crowe 45). For starters, we are introduced to John Nash who is a mathematical genius, who only visualizes life through numbers. He is such an avid thinker, that even when pigeons are feeding, he tries to create an algorithm that would characterize their feeding patterns. Even when he witnesses a mugging, he is describes the incident as vectors and then he summarizes it in the form of complicated formulas and theorems. Therefore, John Nash is simply trying to explain that life is all about mathematical proofs. His mind is that of a genius since he is able to come up with theories, formulas and theorems, however, his mind is also a let down to his own life. John’s behavior is depicted as enigmatic; an anti-social being and lone ranger in Princeton University. All he does is scribbling equations in various places and of all that, only about 0.001% are able to comprehend. Even when John tries to seduce a girl, his first words depict a man obsessed with scientific ideas. John’s mind becomes his own downfall as we learn. John is a man who is able to even break cryptic codes, and even the government uses him to break codes for their enemy. Later, he becomes the target of the enemy. Men begin chasing him everywhere. The final twist to the story is when John suffers from schizophrenia, a psychotic conditions that withdraws a patient from reality. This condition with time makes John lose in touch with reality. As a result of this, he is forced to strongly depend on his human side if at all he is to get through his dilemma (Ebert 145). Apart from explaining the concept of the mind, other themes that the producer wishes to pass across are love. We see later that, despite his enigmatic nature, John still develops bonds with women, and he even has a girlfriend in Alicia. The producer is explaining that, despite the hassles and struggles of life, love is necessary as it brings the human side in us. Without love, we are all unable to get along well with colleagues. Another theme that the producer wanted to bring across was the Cold War which grasped the world after the Second World War. The story is set up during the 1940’s, where the issues of spies and codes were common occurrences. As a result of this, the producer has discussed the theme well. Judgment of movie The producers of the movie, A Beautiful Mind, have been able to create a noteworthy artistic piece. The movie triples as a love story, spy flick and bibliography, and this has made it a success. The producer has covered each of these aspects effectively. This movie is very engaging, even though it runs for a very long period of time. Moreover, even though the suspense keeps the viewer guessing, it evokes heartfelt drama. The producer has used the strong bond between Alicia and John, coupled with his mathematical prowess to anchor his story. However, later he introduces John’s personal troubles and struggles to fit into society. We all pity John, but the twists that occur at the end have made this a perfect drama. We see a man, who previously was great by his own means requiring the help of others to survive. Therefore, it lives up to its potential of being a drama movie, based on a true story. Technical elements Apart from its desired effect, the movie has noteworthy technical elements that have further contributed to its commercial success. The lighting is superb, and it keeps varying depending on various scenes. At the start when John was at the peak of his scientific ingenuity, the lighting is bright, but when problems set in, the producers have used a tinge of dark colors to highlight the changes. The producers can also be credited with using proficient camera angles which have ensured that no scene is missed. The acting by the two main characters is excellent. The two leading stars, Russell Crowe (John) and Jennifer Connelly (Alicia) have done a commendable job. All these factors have contributed to its success globally. Works Cited Ebert, Roger. Roger Ebert's Movie Yearbook 2011. New York: Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2011. Print Tim Ewbank, Carlton Books, Stafford Hildred. Russell Crowe. New York: Carlton Books, 2011. Print Read More