I want to express my admiration for the drama “The Man Who Knew Infinity,” about a genius and a great man. It is a magnificent biopic about a self-taught Indian mathematician named Ramanujan. The film is based on the book of the same name by Robert Kanigel, published in 1991.
What is the film about?
An amazing and moving story about a unique man, one that touches the very heart.
From early childhood Ramanujan was passionate about mathematics, writing formulas and calculations. He never graduated from any specialized educational institution, but he breathed, lived and thought in numbers. When asked where his formulas came from, he answered confidently that all of this was a gift of the goddess, and that knowledge came to him in meditations and dreams.
His path from an unemployed man sleeping on the street to a Fellow of the Royal Society in England was dramatic and thorny.
Leaving his mother and young wife in India, he goes to Cambridge at the invitation of the famous Cambridge University professor G. H. Hardy, where he devotes himself to research.
The stiffness of the English scientific community, entrenched stereotypes and dogmas, plain envy, loneliness in a foreign land, separation from his beloved wife, betrayal, emotional humiliation and physical violence, war, cold and poor food — all of this led to illness in the prime of his life.
It is a film about strength of spirit, about love and devotion, about the life of a young Indian genius who came from the Brahmin caste (scholars, priests), those who come into this world to know the truth and bring it to people.
His achievements became a starting point in the study of the Universe.
The film is very beautifully shot. It is not overloaded with mathematics or religious themes. The main focus is the destiny of a human being with his talent, thoughts and feelings.
A film to reflect on. Don’t put it off; watch it with your family, because this film deserves the attention of viewers and the highest awards.
Tatyana Zhiltsova