There have been a few films exploring the lives of genius mathematicians – from the Oscar winning A Beautiful Mind, a biopic about bipolar mathematician John Nash and his inner turmoil, through to The Imitation Game, a drama about Alan Turing, who helped crack Germany’s unbreakable Enigma Code thus turning the tide of WWII. Turing is regarded as the father of the modern computer. Those films were compelling dramas driven by some superb central performances.
And then there is the fictitious Good Will Hunting, the Oscar winning drama about a maths prodigy struggling to find his place in the world. That film has some thematic connections with The Man Who Knew Infinity, a biopic of Srinivasa Ramanujan, a self-educated lowly clerk from India who achieved several startling breakthroughs in mathematical formulae in his brief life. Ramanujan tragically died from tuberculosis at the young age of 32, but his work changed the face of maths forever.
But despite the inspiring story it wants to tell, The Man Who Knew Infinity is a slightly dull and ironically uninspiring yarn.
We first meet Ramanujan (played by Dev Patel, from Slumdog Millionaire) as he tries to find a job in his hometown of Chennai in India. He eventually finds work in a shipping company under the auspices of Sir Francis Spring (a brief appearance from an underused Stephen Fry) who is impressed by his innate ability with numbers. His employer sends a letter of recommendation to renowned mathematician G H Hardy at Trinity College in England, accompanied by several of his notebook filled with complex formulae. Eventually Ramanujan is invited to Cambridge University in England to work under the tutelage of Hardy (Jeremy Irons).
Ramanujan is something of a fish out of water amongst the hallowed and fusty halls of academia. He is frustrated by what he perceives as Hardy’s reluctance to publish his work, and is also subjected to the casual racism of fellow students and inbuilt prejudices of many of the professors at Trinity College who see him only as an uneducated Indian. Hardy himself finds it hard to comprehend how this uneducated Indian from an impoverished background can develop such complex formula seemingly at ease.
At the crux of the film though is the strong friendship and bond of respect that gradually develops between Hardy and Ramanujan, two men from different generations and cultures who form an understanding based around their shared love of numbers.
A subplot deals with Ramanujan’s wife Janika (newcomer Devika Bhise) back home in India, anxiously awaiting word that he is bringing her across to England. But Ramanujan’s selfish mother (Arundhati Nag) hides the correspondence fearing that if she goes to England then her son will never return home. Although this subplot adds a poignant quality to the material, it adds little to the drama of Ramanujan’s struggles for acceptance, which should be the main thrust of the story.
The Man Who Knew Infinity is the sophomore feature film for writer/director Matt Brown, whose only other feature was 2000’s Ropewalk, an ensemble romantic comedy and coming of age story set on the island of Nantucket. The film based on the biography of Ramanujan written by Robert Kanigel. Set against the backdrop of World War One, we get a sense of that tragic waste of young lives and promising leaders of the future, and we meet such real life characters as Bertrand Russell (Jeremy Northam), an outspoken advocate for peace. This is the first feature film granted permission to shoot on the grounds of Cambridge itself, and this lends authenticity to the material.
Pure mathematics itself is a fairly dry subject for a feature film, and Brown’s prosaic approach to the material hardly brings a sense of urgency to the project. But it is the central performances that enrich the film, and both Patel and Irons share a prickly chemistry. Patel brings his usual energy, exuberance and charisma to the central role of Ramanujan, and he totally immerses himself into the character. Irons is perfectly aloof and distant as Hardy, but he brings his usual gravitas and dignity to the role. Toby Jones plays Professor Littlewood, and he provides a comic foil to the more serious Hardy.
Director: Matt Brown
Cast: Jeremy Irons, Dev Patel, Stephen Fry
Release Date: 5 May 2016
Rating: PG – Mild themes
Greg King
David Edwards is the editor of The Blurb and a contributor on film and television
