The Man Who Knew Infinity (film)

The Man Who Knew Infinity

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Matthew Brown
Produced by Edward R. Pressman
Jim Young
Joe Thomas
Mark Montgomery
(Executive Producer)
Screenplay by Matthew Brown
Based on The Man Who Knew Infinity 
by Robert Kanigel
Starring Dev Patel
Jeremy Irons
Toby Jones
Stephen Fry
Jeremy Northam
Kevin McNally
Enzo Cilenti
Devika Bhise
Music by Coby Brown
Cinematography Larry Smith
Edited by JC Bond
Production
company
Pressman Film
Xeitgeist Entertainment Group
Cayenne Pepper Productions
Distributed by Warner Bros.
(United Kingdom)
IFC Films[1]
(United States)
Release dates
  • September 17, 2015 (2015-09-17) (TIFF)
  • April 8, 2016 (2016-04-08) (UK)
Running time
 108 min
Country United Kingdom
Language English

The Man Who Knew Infinity is a 2015 British biographical drama film based on the 1991 book of the same name by Robert Kanigel. The film stars Dev Patel as the real-life Srinivasa Ramanujan, a mathematician who after growing up poor in Madras, India, earns admittance to Cambridge University during World War I, where he becomes a pioneer in mathematical theories with the guidance of his professor, G. H. Hardy (played by Jeremy Irons).

Filming began in August 2014 at Trinity College, Cambridge.[2] The film had its world premiere as a gala presentation at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival,[1][3] and was selected as the opening gala of the 2015 Zurich Film Festival.[4] It also played other film festivals including Singapore International Film Festival[5] and Dubai International Film Festival.[6]

Distinguished mathematicians Manjul Bhargava and Ken Ono are Associate Producers of the film.[7] Ono, the mathematics consultant, is a Guggenheim Fellow, and Bhargava is a winner of the Fields Medal.

Cast

Production

Tamil actor R. Madhavan was initially selected to portray the lead role in the film after agreeing terms during January 2012, but the makers eventually decided they wanted an international actor to play Ramanujan.[8]

Reception

After the film's world premiere, Allan Hunter in Screen Daily found the film to be "a well-heeled, sincere production following the memories of Ramanujan’s English mentor and friend... The film tells such a good story that it is hard to resist. The old-fashioned virtues of a well-told tale and a particularly fine performance from Jeremy Irons should endear the film to that supposedly under-served older demographic who like to turn out for a weekday matinee... Mathematics plays a key role in the story, but in a way that is entirely accessible, allowing the viewer to comprehend the advances that Ramanujan made and why his legacy remains so important almost a century after his death." [9] Deborah Young in The Hollywood Reporter found the film to be a "respectable but all too conventional biopic".[10]

Film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 66% of critics gave the film a positive rating, based on 38 reviews with an average score of 5.9/10. The critics' consensus reads: "The Man Who Knew Infinity might be a tad too conventional to truly do its subject justice, but Dev Patel and Jeremy Irons elevate the end result beyond mere biopic formula."[11]

The film has been praised by mathematicians and scientists for its authentic portrayal of theoretical mathematicians. Instead of a perfunctory treatment of mathematics, the film engaged the mathematicians Ken Ono and Manjul Bhargava to get the mathematics right. George E. Andrews, former President of the American Mathematical Society praised the film for its moving portrayal of the deep relationship between Ramanujan and Hardy.[12] The London Mathematical Society proclaimed that the film "outshines Good Will Hunting in almost every way".[13] Reviewing the film for Nature, Andrew Robinson wrote that "...the film took more than ten years to create. It is worth the wait."[14]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Matt Brennan (14 October 2015). "IFC Films Acquires Math Genius Biopic 'The Man Who Knew Infinity,' with Jeremy Irons and Dev Patel". Indiewire / Thompson on Hollywood!. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  2. ↑ "Dev Patel's 'The Man Who Knew Infinity' Moves to Production After 8 Years in Development". Variety. Retrieved 2016-01-07.
  3. ↑ "The Man Who Knew Infinity [programme note]". TIFF.net. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  4. ↑ Zack Sharf (25 August 2015). "'The Man Who Knew Infinity' Selected as Zurich Film Festival Opening Night Film". Indiewire. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  5. ↑ "The Man Who Knew Infinity". SGIFF. 2015. Retrieved 2016-04-07.
  6. ↑ "The Man Who Knew Infinity". DIFF. 2016. Retrieved 2016-04-07.
  7. ↑ Desikan, Shubashree (2015-09-18). "A fresh insight into Ramanujan". The Hindu. Retrieved 2016-04-07.
  8. ↑ Warrier, Shobha (2012-01-24). "Madhavan as Ramanujan, the Mathematical genius". Rediff. Retrieved 2016-04-07.
  9. ↑ Allan Hunter (15 September 2015). "`The Man Who Knew Infinity': Review". Screen Daily. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  10. ↑ Deborah Young (14 September 2015). "'The Man Who Knew Infinity': TIFF Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 24 February 2016. Brown’s screenplay brings math into the dialogue often and without embarrassment.
  11. ↑ "The Man Who Knew Infinity (2016)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  12. ↑ George Andrews (February 2016). "Film Review: 'The Man Who Knew Infinity'" (PDF). Notices of the American Mathematical Society.
  13. ↑ Armando Martino and David Singerman (March 2016). "'The Man Who Knew Infinity: film review':". London Mathematical Society Newsletter.
  14. ↑ Andrew Robinson (March 31, 2016). "'Film: In search of Ramanujan':". Nature.

External links

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