O Desafio de Marguerite

It's a truth not quite universally acknowledged that films about hard intellectual or creative work, well, suck. I'm not sure if higher mathematics is particularly prone (all of Good Will Hunting except the Robin Williams bits; the -entirety- of A Beautiful Mind; everything but the facts of that Ramanujan film are at least as far removed as, say, Star Wars is and from astrophysics).

This, though, does not.

The central character is not a transcendent but flawed genius but hardworking and self-denying; the moments of inspiration (which are a real thing) look real and come through sheer effort, not effortless revelation with accompanying sound effects; and the scholarly politicking and casual STEM sexism are, well, true to life.

But - and this is probably burying the lede, sorry - it is also (1) splendid performances by all of the main cast; (2) a very thoughtful reflection on the connection between abstract thought and the human condition; and (3) an actually enjoyable film.

An interesting premise about mathematicians, solutions, experience, and autonomy with a strong lead performance from Ella Rumpf. Concepts about mathematicians and the solutions to solve them aren't something I am very familiar with but the idea of how it process is interesting. Filmmaker Anna Novion does a pretty good job on presenting the direction of the atmosphere, tone, and camerawork as there are some really interesting camera shots and presentations.

With good performances, Rumpf's performance as the main lead is pretty good as she presents an interesting, while at times, noisy, character study that is engaging to observe. Unfortunately, the fault of the movie lies on it's uneven narrative and themes approached. It's narrative explores some interesting concepts about errors and discovery but unfortunately, it lands onto some cliches that are boring and providing some side characters that have little development or engagement to connect with. Creating the movie to lose it's steam.

Nevertheless, for mathematician individuals, this movie will do good for the demographic.

I hate mathematics, I have always hated them, but I love this movie which doesn't need to be a good expert in maths to appreciate it. It is a true authentic character study about a young woman who is an expert in maths and whose world suddenly collapses when she realizes that all her theories don't match anymore. This is not a comedy, a stupid comedy which French film industry has the secret, but a true riveting story, that the French has also the secret of...Never boring and you always wonder what the following scene will be. Nothing predictable. What could we ask for? Not a masterpiece but what for after all?

No pun intended - math was something I loved in school too. But when we got to higher math (that's not a pun, right?) I felt like I lost the thread. I really like how the movie presents itself though. It has so many elements (or variables to stay and stick with the theme of the movie) ... and they all work well together! Be it actors, the story, developments, relationships and so much more.

The good thing is that while the math presented is quite complicated (I assume they double checked and everything is legit in the movie, I can't say for certain though), it is more a byproduct ... so don't worry too much about it. I didn't get it either - but you don't have to. Because this is more about the woman and human finally being able to get a breakthrough .. .or more than one that is. That's why I thought I make this my review 11088 ... I mean I didn't plan the release of the movie in the cinemas ... but since it played right now and I was almost at the number, I was able to pin it down to that.

I did not paint that on a chalkboard (wall) ... while she is thickheaded (our main character), we will love her ... we will feel for and with her ... she is quite gullible, but also weird and stubborn ... and so many other things! Kudos to the actress who probably is nothing like that in real life. A beautiful ... also mind (actually I could have used that as a summary headline - always with my no pun intended trademark of course) ...

I saw this movie about a month ago and had a privet debate with myself weather I should review it. The problem I had was, that as a movie - there's nothing out of the ordinary with it. It's well done the acting is of the highest quality, especially the lead, Ella Rumpf and Jean Pierre Darroussin, who plays her professor. But that's about it. Not amazingly bad not amazingly good, just a well-done movie.

But that's not all there is to a movie. It had one point that for me made it all worth my while. It's a story about a brilliant mathematician that manages to really reach her potential only when she comes to accept her emotional relation to math. We're all used to hear how science must be rational and detached from any sort of emotion. In fact, the idea is repeated a few times in the movie itself. Thing is, Marguerite sees math as the thing that keeps her world together, and as such she's very emotional about it. Without accepting that fact she can't really reach her potential, no matter how brilliant she is. And I just loved the way the movie made this point. For that reason alone, I rated it as I did, and for that reason I think it's a movie worth seeing.