The Movie Diorama
At the time of this review, this is my first Gilliam film. Having heard how zany 'Brazil' and 'Twelve Monkeys' were, I thought to attempt one of his flicks. So the uninitiated has now become...initiated. And honestly I didn't know what to expect. A recluse computer genius is tasked with cracking The Zero Theorem, a theory set out to prove the meaning of life. "Zero must equal 100%", a line of dialogue that is often referred to throughout the runtime of this zany sci-fi flick. Conceptualising the idea that everything is nothing, Gilliam bravely thematically questions why we live and what purpose we have in the grand scheme of things. Unfortunately though, the themes are sacrificed to make way for his trademark quirks. The flamboyant set designs, vibrant costumes and dystopian production enhances the aesthetic appeal that most Gilliam fans desire. It harks back to classic 80s sci-fi whilst implementing modernised technologies including virtual reality and mathematical equations attached to cubes within a computer simulation that amalgamate to make an impossible theorem. The program that contains the formulae was strangely hypnotising, following floating cubes in a cubic infrastructure was a rather weird experience. Reminded me of a Windows 98 screensaver. The acting was fantastic all round, particularly Waltz who's central performance deftly carries the whole film. Swinton performs a rap song by the way, that's more than enough reasoning to go out and watch this. I appreciated the subtle comedic undertone that the narrative upholds, however beneath the authentic aesthetics is a fictionalised idea that gets lost. It's muddled and unfortunately lacks clarity. The last ten minutes will leave you wondering "what the heck is going on right now?" as you admire Waltz's committed performance. Social themes of loneliness and stress, whilst are casually explored, aren't put to use to develop the characters further. The Zero Theorem certainly isn't getting a zero from me, but it's style over substance.
rodrig58
I watched it without knowing that it was shot in the city where I was born, Bucharest, just near the area where I lived in my childhood and my youth (41 Grigore Cobalcescu Street, Bucharest, Romania) and, the culmination of the absurd, near the communist horror called Carol Park Mausoleum (Carol Park, Bucharest, Romania) and inside the Romanian Athenaeum. I recognized all these places only watching the movie, then I've seen the end credits and after that I checked on IMDb. Many Romanians worked on this film, actors, and the technical team. Great job! But all the glory goes to those four main actors, Christoph Waltz, David Thewlis, Melanie Thierry and Lucas Hedges, all four very good. And to Mr. Director Terry Gilliam, of course. Matt Damon and Tilda Swinton have smaller roles but, no less charming. Very original!
gcsman
Saying that this is a Terry Gilliam film tells you a lot about what to expect: offbeat and sometimes downright weird visuals, nonlinear dialog, an obscure plot (if there even is one). Not to everyone's taste though.Qohen (Christoph Waltz) has been tasked by Management (a barely recognizable Matt Damon, who's certainly an odd choice for a Terry Gilliam script -- he's just too down-to-earth) to prove the Zero Theorem, which means that everything there is will add up ultimately to nothing. Working on the 'proof' seems to consist of a video-game-gone-wild where he must move blocks of preset equations around in a vast landscape of similar blocks. But every one of his attempts just ends in frustration and feeds his natural tendency to spiritual malaise and depression. Or something. It all seems rather aimless, which Management seemed to know all along. Young Bob (Lukas Hedges) drops in occasionally to stimulate Qohen intellectually, and Bainsley (Melanie Thierry) comes by for stimulation on the emotional++ side. But ultimately our hero still seems to prefer isolation.For the sets, think Blade Runner as rendered by a cartoonist on LSD. There's occasional absurdist humor, which is all in the backgrounds -- such as when Bob and Qohen are sitting in a town plaza where a phalanx of 'Forbidden' signs disallows every conceivable kind of activity appropriate for a community park, or even inactivity. And we get some genuinely arresting visuals along the way, such as the Virtual Reality beach of lurid colors where Qohen spends down time, or the giant black hole that haunts his dreams. These lead to a VR-within-VR fantasy scene where Qohen and Bainsley cling naked to each other while falling in to the same black hole.If you want linear storytelling, this isn't it. At the end I was left wondering what the point was -- any kind of point. The supposedly deep philosophical questions raised about life, the universe, human connections don't seems to go beyond sophomoric meandering. For the sake of the visuals though, I give this 5/10.
room102
Terry Gilliam continues his surreal journey. I liked it until "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", but couldn't connect to any of his movies since then and this movie is not much different.The movie has a "Brazil" vibe to it, mixed with modern cyber technology, internet and the lack of personal interaction due to smartphone technology. Nothing profoundly new, really.I watched the whole movie, but did other things in the background. Some of the stuff is stretched to the limit (e.g.: the excessive ads, "The church of Batman"), but the movie itself is pretty minimalist, taking place in only few locations.Terry Gilliam definitely knows surrealism, but like with his former movies, I just didn't connect to it. I'm not even sure you can say there is a plot per se. "Twelve Monkeys" still remains his masterpiece.Tilda Swinton plays the same eccentric character as she did in "Snowpiercer". And it took me an entire movie to recognize Matt Damon.
AD
