Film Review: "The Zero Theorem" (2013).

"Nothing is everything" in The Zero Theorem. This science fiction film directed by Terry Gilliam, and written by Pat Rushin. Hired to crack a theorem, reclusive computer genius Qohen Leth begins to make headway until his controlled world is interrupted by seductive Bainsley and turbulent Bob.

Rushin was inspired by vanitas of Ecclesiastes 1:2; 12:8 to write the film, which he felt suggested such questions as "What is the value of life? What is the meaning of existence? What's the use?" Rushin wrote the 145-page first draft in ten days, with "no idea what [he] was doing". He checked several screenwriting books and screenplays out of the UCF library, including Gilliam's Brazil (1985). Producer Richard D. Zanuck originally signed Ewan McGregor to play the lead role, but he dropped out. A later iteration of the project, with Billy Bob Thornton, Jessica Biel, and Al Pacino to star, was set to begin production in 2009. Production was next set to begin in Vancouver, but Gilliam pulled out to work on The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009) following the death of its star, Heath Ledger. In 2012, the project was restarted. Christoph Waltz replaced Thornton in the lead role, and the late Zanuck's son Dean replaced him as producer. In pre-production, Gilliam suggested that his team should study the work of contemporary German painter Neo Rauch, whose surreal works contain a rich blend of colour. n an e-mail sent to production designer Dave Warren, Gilliam concisely stated the look he intended for the film: "Neo Rauch + Ukulele Ike = The Zero Theorem". By late October 2012, Mélanie Thierry, David Thewlis, Lucas Hedges, Matt Damon, Tilda Swinton, Peter Stormare, Ben Whishaw, Gwendoline Christie, and Lily Cole rounded out the film's cast. At the same time, with a budget of $8.5 million, principal photography commenced, and wrapped in early December. Filming took place in Bucharest, Romania. The film was shot on film, rather than digitally, in the 16:9 aspect ratio instead of the usual 1.85:1 or 2.35:1 to ensure that it would look exactly the same on the screen of any device.

Solidly Gilliamesque performances were given by the cast, especially Waltz, whose character moves into a dark and mechanical room and finds himself engaged in a philosophical debate with a computer. I was almost reminded of Matrix Reloaded (2003), in that man and a machine engage in a intriguing verbal back and forth, even if the dialogue did border into pretentiousness.

The Zero Theorem, Terry Gilliam's visionary science-fiction fantasy, is an audacious dark comedy, filled with strange, imaginative visuals. It is the most potent piece of fantastical science fiction cinema since Gilliam's 1985 classic Brazil. Gilliam's film, a jaunty, wittily observed vision of an extremely bleak future, is a superb example of the power of comedy to underscore serious ideas, even solemn ones. Though the film lacks a confident grasp on its characters' roles in a story awash in elaborate special effects, sensational sets, apocalyptic scenes of destruction and a general lack of discipline.

Simon says The Zero Theorem receives: