Man Who Knew Infinity (2015) [Blu-ray]
Biography | Drama

Tagline: The true story of a limitless mind

The true story of friendship that forever changed mathematics. In 1913, Srinivasa Ramanujan (Dev Patel), a self-taught Indian mathematics genius, traveled to Trinity College, Cambridge, where over the course of five years, forged a bond with his mentor, the brilliant and eccentric professor, G.H. Hardy (Jeremy Irons), and fought against prejudice to reveal his mathematic genius to the world. The film also stars Devika Bhise, Stephen Fry and Toby Jones. This is Ramanujan's story as seen through Hardy's eyes.

Storyline: In the 1910s, Srinivasa Ramanujan is a man of boundless intelligence that even the abject poverty of his home in Madras, India, cannot crush. Eventually, his stellar intelligence in mathematics and his boundless confidence in both attract the attention of the noted British mathematics professor, G.H. Hardy, who invites him to further develop his computations at Trinity College at Cambridge. Forced to leave his young wife, Janaki, behind, Ramanujan finds himself in a land where both his largely intuitive mathematical theories and his cultural values run headlong into both the stringent academic requirements of his school and mentor and the prejudiced realities of a Britain heading into World War One. Facing this with a family back home determined to keep him from his wife and his own declining health, Ramanujan joins with Hardy in a mutual struggle that would define Ramanujan as one of India's greatest modern scholars who broke more than one barrier in his worlds. Written by Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com)

Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Martin Liebman, August 9, 2016 The pursuit of mathematics -- busily scribbling out formulas and sorting out large masses of figures -- doesn't necessarily translate well to the screen, at least not in the same way other, more visually driven and easily understandable pursuits can light up a movie. Mathematical heroes are likewise less enticing, at least from the outside looking in, than other heroes in movies where heroic actions are more immediately praiseworthy and, perhaps more important, understandable by the general audience, even considering other graceful and artistic pursuits such as music composition or painting. That's why the "Mathematical Genius" mini-genre tends to focus almost exclusively on the people behind the formulas rather than the number crunching itself. Films like A Beautiful Mind and Good Will Hunting are now joined by the less dynamic but equally touching The Man Who Knew Infinity, a title that doesn't roll off the tongue as well as its peers but that aptly describes the subject's seemingly limitless mathematics knowledge that impresses his peers, though not before prejudice interferes with genius. The film, from Director Matthew Brown, capably paints its picture, lacking real novelty but offering a genuine insight into one of math's most gifted minds and how the mathematics world responded to it.

Srinivasa Ramanujan (Dev Patel) is a mathematical genius. But that doesn't get him anywhere. He's self-taught and doesn't understand all of the how's or why's of mathematics. He just knows. Without a degree, he cannot land a job. Without a job, he cannot support his wife (Devika Bhise). When he sends evidence of his mathematical genius to Cambridge University, work which appears to disprove complex work done by Mathematician G. H. Hardy (Jeremy Irons), he's invited to the school but is not particularly welcome. His heritage and presence angers those around him. His inability to precisely prove his findings frustrates Hardy. But the two forge a bond, which becomes a friendship. As Ramanujan's work begins to earn him the respect of others, a new adversity will challenge him far more deeply than any he's faced before.

Understanding the intricacies of the mathematics which propels Ramanujan to Cambridge is not in the least bit critical to either enjoying the movie or discovering its greater purpose. The math sounds good, rolling off character tongues in graceful and learnedly literate ways. It looks enticing in shots revealing Ramanujan's notes and formulas, but all of it is merely a driving force to a greater story, support details that set the stage but don't define the narrative. Indeed, The Man Who Knew Infinity is less a story about purely mathematical minds -- certainly those concepts are what draw the men together, a shared passion for, and intimate understanding of, numbers -- and more a tale of discovery, friendship, and common pursuits overcoming common prejudice. In that way, the movie is hardly novel. Many before it have explored similar themes and ideas. The Man Who Knew Infinity does it capably and does it justice, though, with an honest, sincere, and heartfelt exploration of the relationship between Hardy and Ramanujan and the latter's contributions to his field but also his contributions to the hearts of his colleagues.

The movie is well assembled, nicely saturated in its time period which is important to its historical accuracy but of secondary importance to the central, human-value details that drive it and create through it a timeless tale of friendship. Brown's direction is steady and unobtrusive, allowing his cast to emote and define the movie more so than any cinematic techniques which do enhance, but in no way supplant, the performances. The film is made by those performances, including terrific efforts from both Dev Patel and Jeremy Irons as mathematical geniuses and, as the film progresses, colleagues and friends. The performances, like the movie's structure and themes, make use of the language of mathematics and the actors effortlessly and believably integrate their knowledge thereof into the film, but it's beyond the numbers where their work shines. Both leads demonstrate a deeper command of the relationship the characters build, and of the place and time, which is critical to the way it begins and evolves. They also reveal the more intimate understandings that extend beyond the externalities of the world around them, understandings that are nurtured in the heart. The film enjoys several fine key support efforts, notably from Toby Jones as Hardy's closest colleague at Cambridge.

The Man Who Knew Infinity doesn't bring anything new to its genre or, really, the larger world of stories centered on exceptional people who face hardships for qualities beyond their control and overcome artificial adversities, but it's very well done, smart, and sincere. The story beyond the math is easy to grasp, and a smart script makes it easy to appreciate the film as a human bonding and interest story. Performances are excellent and production values impress. Paramount's Blu-ray is unfortunately featureless, but video and audio are up to format standards. Recommended.

[CSW] -4.4- This reviewer said it better than I could:
This is a wonderful biopic!!! It's about the famed Srinivasa Ramanujan who was a mathematical genius who could have been lost to obscurity had he not made the trip to Cambridge University. Under the tutelage of Hardy (Irons) he learned the importance of "proving" his intuitive knowledge of higher mathematics by putting in writing how he arrived as he many creative conclusions. Do not worry about the mathematics, you don't need to know it to understand the enormity of his genius. Patel and Irons were simply wonderful in their respective roles. The cinematography was wonderful, the screenplay exquisite. Did you know that the Indian Government declared December 22nd (Ramanujan's birthday) as National Mathematics Day in his honor? Don't miss this one!

[V4.0-A4.0] MPEG-4 AVC - No D-Box


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