The Zero Theorem

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Movie
German title The Zero Theorem
Original title The Zero Theorem
Country of production Great Britain , Romania
original language English
Publishing year 2013
length 107 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Terry Gilliam
script Pat Rushin
production Nicolas Chartier
Dean Zanuck
music George Fenton
camera Nicola Pecorini
cut Mick Audsley
occupation

The Zero Theorem is a dystopian science fiction film by Terry Gilliam from the year 2013 with Christoph Waltz in the lead role. The film premiered at the Venice International Film Festival .

action

The eccentric, bald-headed computer genius Qohen Leth works in a dystopian future in the IT company "Mancom" as an entity cracker . Unsatisfied with his life, Qohen waits for the call to tell him the meaning of life . At a company party, Qohen meets the enigmatic and fascinating Bainsley, who gives him her phone number. Management , the head of “Mancom”, allows him to work from home - a former church - on the “Zero Theorem”, a mathematical formula that should also answer the question about the meaning of life. While Qohen worked unsuccessfully on the "Zero Theorem" at home for months, he gradually fell in love with Bainsley. His health and mental state are rapidly deteriorating; he dreams of a black hole . When, in frustration, he destroys his computer with a hammer, Management sends him his son Bob to fix the computer, explain to Qohen that he is being spied on by his employer, and suggest that Bainsley is only interested in the money she is offering for her services received him. Bainsley brings him a VR suit to interact with on her website. Qohen and Bainsley meet and kiss on a virtual tropical island.

When Bob visits him again, Qohen learns that the “Zero Theorem” is a mathematical proof of the Big Crunch Hypothesis , in which the universe ends up collapsing and disappearing in an inverted Big Bang. At the next virtual meeting with Bainsley, Qohen suggests that the two of them go out together; Bainsley then abruptly exits the VR environment and Qohen's suit is damaged. While Bob is fixing the suit, Qohen connects to Bainsley's website and discovers that she is a camgirl . Later she visits him, apologizes, confesses her love for him and now, in turn, proposes to go out together; disappointed, Qohen rejects her. Bob suffers a physical breakdown in Qohen's apartment. While trying to help, Qohen discovers and destroys all management cameras . He has his son Bob picked up and taken to the hospital.

Management informs him that Bob has been chronically ill for a long time and that Qohen is now part of the "Mancom" computer network; he used it as the antithesis of the "Zero Theorem". When Qohen asks him about the meaning of life, management rejects him and explains that he is no longer needed. Annoyed, Qohen destroys the "Mancom" computer network; behind it appears a huge black hole into which he drops. He wakes up alone on the virtual tropical island. Bainsley can be heard calling for him in the credits.

production

The production of the film was planned for 2009 with Billy Bob Thornton in the lead role and Al Pacino, but did not materialize. The film was finally shot in autumn 2012 in Bucharest with a new cast in just 37 days . According to information from Variety , the film had a budget of 10.3 million euros, Gilliam's lowest budget since the 1970s.

The film was released in theaters on November 27, 2014 in Germany, on December 5, 2014 in Austria and on March 5, 2015 in Switzerland.

reception

The Zero Theorem received mixed reviews in the United States. The Rotten Tomatoes review collection has 108 reviews, a good half of which were positive.

In Germany, the film met with a much more positive response. The film-dienst summed up, for example: "As a critical draft for the future and philosophical reflection, the scenario lacks a bit of bite, nonetheless the film, which is exuberant with quirky equipment details, curious characters and allusions, always succeeds in producing expressive images and touching scenes." The film commission awards 3 out of 5 possible stars.

Frank Arnold from the film magazine epd Film attested the film to have the impressive “opulent images and eccentric figures” typical of Gilliam, but also criticized “the camera that rarely comes to rest, often tilted” and the weaknesses in the story.

The jury of the German Film and Media Assessment awards the rating “valuable” and justifies it as follows: “The story that Gilliam tells here with his special stylistic devices is as old as it is universal. To convey it in this way seems entirely new and special. […] This film has no present and no future, it is not anchored in the here and now, but rather describes its own universe. ”The“ striking handling of Gilliam's décor and costumes is convincing.

According to Josef Schnelle from Deutschlandfunk , one can “enjoy the pure spectacle [,] but also enjoy the longer mental games of the film.” Christoph Waltz resolutely fills “this existentialist comedian role” with life.

The star also praises Waltz's acting performance: “Christoph Waltz embodies [Qohen Leth] with a noticeable desire not to be the bad guy on duty. With subtle irony, he lets the audience become, as it were, accomplices of the protagonist. Which leads to the fact that after a short time you feel totally monitored in the cinema. It is quite possible that some people will throw their mobile phones in the trash after the film is over.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Certificate of Release for The Zero Theorem . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , November 2014 (PDF; test number: 146 274 K).
  2. September 2 . In: www.labiennale.org . Venice International Film Festival . Archived from the original on October 16, 2015. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved August 16, 2013. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.labiennale.org
  3. ^ Charlie Schmidlin: Al Pacino, Jessica Biel & Billy Bob Thornton Among Cast In First Incarnation Of Terry Gilliam's 'The Zero Theorem'; Plus new photos . In: blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist . August 30, 2013. Archived from the original on March 26, 2016. Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved October 21, 2013. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / blogs.indiewire.com
  4. Dreams: The Zero Theorem . Retrieved October 21, 2013.
  5. Venice: Flexible Biz Model Amps Up Voltage . In: Variety .com . August 31, 2013. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  6. The Zero Theorem (2013) - Release Info - IMDb . In: www.imdb.com . Retrieved December 8, 2014.
  7. ^ Film The Zero Theorem. In: cineman.ch. Retrieved May 24, 2015 .
  8. ^ The Zero Theorem (2014). In: Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved May 24, 2015 .
  9. film-dienst , No. 24/2014, p. 36, evaluation of the film commission.
  10. ^ Frank Arnold: Film review for The Zero Theorem on epd-film.de, accessed on November 26, 2014.
  11. The Zero Theorem in the jury statement of the German Film and Media Assessment , accessed on November 26, 2014.
  12. Josef Schnelle: Pure spectacle with long mind games on Deutschlandfunk , accessed on November 25, 2014.
  13. "The Zero Theorem": Bizarre future vision  ( page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. im Stern , accessed November 25, 2014.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.stern.de