12/31/2022 0 Comments The man who knew infinity movie plotWhen reading the book, it actually felt as if you were with Srinivasa Ramanujan all through his life. This is how I feel, biographies should be written. The author has evidently done a lot of intense research. The greatest lesson to be learnt from this life story of Ramanujan is that to encourage and support a person for their skills and talent instead of insisting that they follow the syllabus and curriculum prepared/decided by the State and Educationists from ear This book is so well written! But The Infinite Man is difficult film to categorise, and a joyously entertaining one to contemplate.This book is so well written! The author has evidently done a lot of intense research. If it were a more straitlaced genre piece, one might be tempted to observe how well-worn tropes have been given a fresh and invigorating treatment. Given a crisp, summery look by cinematographer Marden Dean, The Infinite Man is a delightfully intellectual exercise in escapism. It feels like the film is in a constant state of reinvention, and there is something utterly exhilarating about the way Sullivan finds funny or meaningful moments, contextualises them, re-contextualises them, then finds them again. We watch scenes a second and third time, but from the perspective of a character (or iterations of a character) we never knew was watching in the first place. ![]() ![]() There are moments in which the ordering of The Infinite Man’s plotlines are being calculated inside the film by its own protagonist. Sullivan’s wonderfully assured debut takes Christie’s pinpoint plot manoeuvres and adds a sci-fi playfulness, one part Twilight Zone and two parts Primer. Writer Agatha Christie had construction of narrative edifices down to a fine art: you may not find a trace of emotion in her characters but by God she could hang a plot together. To do this as effectively as Sullivan does requires not just great writing but terrific architecture. Dean A, for example, bumps into Terry B when looking for Lana C who is hiding from Dean B after having a quarrel with Terry A. Pandemonium ensues when they mingle without knowing and attempt to avoid each other. With one setting and three actors (including a small but memorable performance from Alex Dimitriades as Lana’s ex-boyfriend Terry), the real fun beings when multiple versions of the characters arrive from alternate time frames. Sullivan, on the other hand, is a puppet master with a penchant for entangling his strings. There are a lot of variables in this story, but not many he can control. He has an itinerary in his hand: “The blueprint to a perfect weekend.” Lana’s dress, he notes, is “a controllable variable”. The kooky inventor type character, given a slightly aloof, hipstery charm by McConville, presses on. This is the first indication the protagonist’s immaculately detailed plans aren’t going to work, feeding into broader themes about how nobody has the ability to control the emotions of people they love, despite how much they may want to. The fine dining area is no longer a place of dining, fine or otherwise. They arrive to find it a couple of derelict buildings. Trying to impress Lana on their anniversary, the fastidiously organised Dean takes her to a hotel where they had a wonderful romantic weekend the year before. “But does he make you happy?” If the monologue feels almost a little melancholic and needy, it comes with a delicious twist: what if that other person was another version of himself? ![]() ![]() The Infinite Man begins with Dean on a balcony looking out onto water: “I know you’re here with someone else,” his narration begins. The device on the sand is a time travel machine constructed by Dean with the sole purpose of recreating the perfect romantic weekend. Not only are they played by the same actor (McConville) they are also – and here’s where things gets a bit weird – the same character. They’re wearing the same shirt, the same trousers, the same shoes, the same watch and have the same hair cut. However, they share striking similarities. Sullivan’s screenplay, one of the sharpest and most enjoyable to have come out of Australian cinema for many years, makes it clear these three men are driven by different objectives.
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