THE ZERO THEORUM Director: Terry Gilliam Starring: Christoph Waltz, David Thewlis, Melanie Thierry, Lucas Hedges, Matt Damon Rating: **** 4/5 by Chris Sandles Terry Gilliam could never be accused of lacking imagination, but one suspects that returning to the familiar territory of Orwellian dystopia may be something of safe ground. Indeed, there are many similarities to be found in The Zero Theorum that were witnessed in Twelve Monkeys, or his 1985 masterpiece, Brazil, showing us again a world where society is dominated by a single, all-controlling organisation intent on looking after its citizens, the only problem being, such scrutiny evaporates any possibility of personal freedom. Its the near-future, and ManCom is the dominant organisation, a management company that manages life for everyones benefit as dictated by Management, a white-haired Matt Damon. This future however, is far from the dull grey worlds of Brazil or Airstrip One, instead a technicolor carnival landscape of generally bright and happy people. Under the surface, there are clearly repressed citizens, but everyone does their best to get on with life. That is except our hero, Qohen (pronounced cohen), a bald-headed man who takes for granted the life provided by ManCom, despite the pressures they put on him, believes in the enforced order of society. He lives an isolated existence amongst a thriving city, inconvenienced by the traffic and pedestrians unwittingly intent on making his a misery. He finds his boss (Thewlis) annoying and lives to receive a single telephone call from Management who will explain his purpose in life. His obsessive compulsive life is changed on two counts when he is gifted the impossible mathematical task of calculating the Zero Theorum (where zero apparently equals 100%) leading him to a nervous breakdown, and then an encounter with a beautiful woman (Thierry) who helps him recover using some kinky virtual reality software. Gilliams usual (and therefore unusual) attention to detail lavishly decorates each scene, especially with the humourous mix of mechnical and hi-tech machinery, perfectly sum up the absurdity of this version of the future. For example, Qohens antique telephone is attached to a touch screen terminal, but is always positioned too far away on his desk to conveniently receive calls. Equally, the computer research he completes uses a large plasma tv screen is controlled by a wireless mechanical joypad, but when sections of his research is complete, the information is saved as a green liquid in a test tube which is manually handed to someone to upload to another system! Amongst all the visual and mathematical chaos, we end up with two threads; what happens in the story, and what the story is really about. Certainly the question of the meaning of life, its purpose and its futility is addressed, but with no easy answer, and a very ambiguous ending. Do we live to merely exist, and is it really worth trying given we all die in the end? Or do we exist to live and make the most of it regardless of what happens after? Like many philosophers before him, I doubt Gilliam has an answer, but its nice to have a go in such an imaginative way.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Mar 2014 22:26:09 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015