The film A Beautiful Mind can be called a cult film, forever included in the world cinema fund and not going to leave it. The film tells about a mathematician who suffers from schizophrenia and tries to get along with this disease. There are many opinions and disputes about the presence of deep meaning in this film. Some believe that the film is about schizophrenia, others think that the film is about boundless love, and others say that the film is about mathematics. Moreover, in addition to positive reviews, many negative ones explain the weaknesses of the plot and direction.
One of the popular opinions says that where there is genius, there is madness. “The film’s message is that the flip side of genius is madness, the reverse of beautiful abstraction, an impenetrable mess in a troglodyte’s den” (Romney, 2018). This comment focuses on the fact that if the film’s main character were not insane, he would not have become a great scientist. Consequently, there is an opinion that schizophrenia is, to some extent, an additional factor on his path to success. The fact is that the manifestation of genius, it often needs a special unstable time, a special unstable place, or some difficult situation that will force a person to look for solutions.
However, the average person will follow the well-trodden path – he will pursue a known way to solve the problem and adapt relatively quickly, for example, to an unstable political or economic situation. But a person who thinks outside the box (a psychopath or a person with some genetic predisposition to bipolar affective disorder or schizophrenia) will find a non-standard path. This review criticizes the opinion that genius is impossible without the presence of any mental illness. Moreover, the critic admires Nash’s madness. Consequently, the review ignores the characteristics that affect success in a particular science: heredity or just interest in the subject.
Ingenious inventors, and engineers often see relationships in things an ordinary person will never know this relationship – this is the result of psychopathic ambivalent thinking, pathological schizoid, or, sometimes, even schizophrenic thinking is clear that such thinking, such states can bring mental anguish. Thus, another characteristic feature of geniuses is the emergence of a super-valuable idea – this is what allows a person to do the same thing around the clock, without thinking about anything else, knocking on the same door. Nevertheless, the question remains controversial: “Are there people among geniuses without mental abnormalities?”.
As for my personal experience, I have not met people without deviations among really talented musicians, or talented writers, or talented artists, and even more among really gifted scientists working on new technologies. Some ordinary people believe that, allegedly, talent gives birth to madness. No, madness gives birth to talent. And talent is a life-saving twig that madmen hold on to preserve their sanity, to stay in this life.
It will also be interesting to consider the opinion about the behavior of the main character in the film. “Unfortunately, Nash’s inability to socialize with any semblance of normalcy makes him a largely unsympathetic, distant outsider” (Massie, 2020). The critic draws the viewer’s attention to the closed character of the main character. The review ignores the fact that Nash plays a mathematician with schizophrenia in the film. Therefore, this behavior is realistic and quite typical for a person of this type. It can also be concluded that the critic would like to see an active and sociable guy, but it was unnatural for his role.
According to the following critic, humor is an important part of the film. “Traces of Nash’s dry West Virginia wit are preserved through the fog of schizophrenia and medication.” (Miller, 2006). The critic focuses on the fact that the ability to perceive reality through the prism of the comic gives a person power over primitive instincts.
It can be concluded that the review praises the role of humor in the film and believes that spirit is deeply rooted in the history and culture of humanity, reflecting the cultural and verbal traditions of peoples and communities that have developed over the centuries. Indeed, it can be argued that humor reflects both the national picture of the world and the individual picture of the joking person. However, in addition to this, the review criticizes the detailed description of schizophrenia in the film. The critic ignores the importance of displaying his illness to understand the movie.
Humor is a characteristic feature of any movie, and its perception by the viewer largely depends on the genre of the film. Wit is a complex psychic ability with its own structure and consists of a combination of simpler properties. In this review, the author draws his attention to how, despite his difficult situation, Nash retains humor. Consequently, such a character attracts the viewer’s attention; he reveals himself from a new angle.
Another significant characteristic of the main character is his ability to restore order and find small details. “Even when there’s no order to be found, his mind keeps searching for one” (Klawans, 2002). In this review, the critic pays attention only to the main character’s illness. He assesses his hallucinations in detail and ignores the love line in the film. Our disease is transmitted very vividly and dynamically, and the critic praises the ability of the directors. However, an important part of the film is given to the main character’s wife, who helped go through all the hardships of the disease with her love and support.
It is worth paying attention to a rather controversial review. Tobias’ review is quite negative as he focuses the audience’s attention on the main shortcomings in his opinion. Firstly, he believes that the film’s plot is absolutely unrealistic, and many facts from the film do not correspond to reality. He criticizes the line of love and the heroine who played the wife of a mathematician. Moreover, the critic considers Russell Crowe an unsuitable actor for the role of a closed mathematician (Tobias, 2001). In the review, Tobias ignores the fact that this is a feature film and then a biographical one.
In conclusion, it is important to note that all the critics listed above are right to some extent. Reviews have many responses, which means that viewers find their opinion about the film A Beautiful Mind and its direction reasonable. It is important to note that despite the presence of negative reviews, the film is still popular, as it tells about a great man of his time. It is impossible to single out a single truthful opinion since each person has a different life experience and perception. Thus, it is important to consider each critic’s thought since it focuses on one of the important criteria of cinema and speaks on behalf of the audience to whom the review responded.
Works Cited
Massie, Mike. “A Beautiful Mind”. G.T., 2020. Web.
Miller, Brayan. “Proof”. Seattle Weekly, 2006. Web.
Klawans, Stuart. “In This Corner…”. The Nation, 2002. Web.
Romney, Jonathan. “A Beautiful Mind”. Independent, 2018. Web.
Tobias, Scott. “A Beautiful Mind”. AV Club, 2001. Web.