A Beautiful Mind - Movie Review
A story of a man, of a schizophrenic mind, of a Nobel Prize winner(1994), of a mathematician who always believed in numbers, In the equations and logics that lead to reason, of a who survived his lifetime with such questions, What truly is a logic? Who decides reason?
In 1947, a brilliant, restless mind named John Nash arrived at the esteemed Princeton University, a co-recipient of the Carnegie Scholarship for Mathematics alongside Martin Hansen. Amidst the vibrant intellectual landscape, he forged connections with fellow graduate students in mathematics and science – Sol, Ainsley, and Bender – and found an unlikely roommate in Charles Herman, a literature student. Fuelled by an intense desire to forge his own original intellectual path, Nash found an unexpected spark of inspiration during a casual discussion with his peers at a bar. As they pondered the dynamics of approaching a group of women, Nash posited that a cooperative strategy would yield greater success. From this seemingly mundane observation, he began to unravel a groundbreaking new concept of governing dynamics, a theory that would later earn him an appointment at MIT, where he chose Sol and Bender to join him over Hansen.
Years later, in 1953, Nash’s intellect was once again sought after, this time by the government. Growing bored with his duties at MIT, he was invited to the Pentagon to decipher encrypted enemy telecommunications. There, he was recruited by the enigmatic William Parcher of the United States Department of Defense, who entrusted him with a classified assignment. Nash's task was to identify hidden patterns within magazines and newspapers, a crucial mission to thwart a looming Soviet plot. To aid him, he was given an implanted diode, providing a passcode to a secret drop spot within a mansion. As Nash plunged deeper into this clandestine world, his work became an all-consuming obsession, slowly giving way to a creeping paranoia that began to consume him. Amidst this growing intensity, he fell in love with a student, Alicia Larde, and they eventually married. The shadows of his secret life soon encroached upon his reality when a shootout erupted between Parcher and Soviet agents. Though Nash desperately sought to relinquish his assignment, he was compelled to continue. The lines between reality and delusion blurred further when, during a guest lecture at Harvard University, Nash became convinced Soviet agents were pursuing him, leading to his forcible sedation. He awoke to the stark reality of a psychiatric facility, under the care of Dr. Rosen.
Dr. Rosen delivered a devastating truth to Alicia: Nash was suffering from schizophrenia, and the figures of Charles, Marcee (Charles's niece), and Parcher were mere figments of his imagination. In a desperate search for answers, Alicia, alongside Sol and Bender, investigated her husband's study, a room filled with various news and magazine clippings. It was there that Alicia uncovered a stack of unopened "classified documents" from his supposed drop point, revealing the chilling unreality of his assignment. Overcome with shock, Nash desperately sliced his arm open, searching for the non-existent diode. Following a course of insulin shock therapy, he was eventually released. However, frustrated by the debilitating side effects of his antipsychotic medication, he secretly ceased taking it. This decision paved the way for a dangerous relapse, triggered by a re-encounter with Parcher, who urged him to resume his assignment in a shed near his home.
The relapse reached a terrifying crescendo in 1956. Alicia returned home to a horrifying scene: Nash had left their infant son in a running bathtub, convinced "Charles" was watching the baby. As Alicia frantically called Dr. Rosen, Nash, believing he was saving them from Parcher, accidentally struck both her and their child. In that moment of terror, as Alicia fled with their baby, Nash experienced a profound realisation: Charles, Marcee, and Parcher had always looked the same, with Marcee perpetually a young girl. This chilling consistency allowed him to conclude that they must be hallucinations. Defying Dr. Rosen’s advice for further hospitalisation, Nash made the courageous choice to confront his symptoms himself, relying on Alicia's steadfast support.
With renewed determination, Nash returned to Princeton, approaching his old rival, Hansen, who was now the head of the mathematics department. Hansen, recognising Nash's enduring genius, permitted him to work out of the library and audit classes. Over the next two decades, Nash painstakingly learned to ignore his persistent hallucinations. By the late 1970s, his resilience and recovery were such that he was allowed to teach once more. The culmination of his extraordinary journey arrived in 1994, when Nash was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his foundational work on game theory. Honoured by his fellow professors, he stood at the Stockholm ceremony, dedicating the prestigious prize to his devoted wife. Even after this crowning achievement, Charles, Marcee, and Parcher reappeared, but Nash, now a master of his own mind, calmly ignored them as he, Alicia, and their son departed, a testament to a life reclaimed through sheer will and unwavering love.
Nash's journey is like a ship caught in a relentless storm: initially navigating with conventional maps (his early genius), then lost in a dense fog where phantoms guide him (his schizophrenia), only to eventually learn to sail by an inner compass, acknowledging the presence of the storm but refusing to be governed by it.
Despite my privileged upbringing, I'm actually quite well-balanced. I have a chip on both shoulders. My first grade teacher, she told me that i was born with two helpings of brain, but only half a helping of heart. - John
Find a truly original idea.
That's the only way I'll ever distinguish myself.
Classes will dull your mind. Destroy the potential for authentic creativity.
These are some dialogues by John which are able to make us understand his thoughts. and he clearly into a flow of his thinking process. A pure quest to the governing dynamics.
A scene, he draw his window art of, a group playing football, a cluster of pigeons fighting over bread crumbs, a woman who is chasing a man who stole her purse. May it symbolizing such meanings respectfully like Life as a game, Life as survival, Life as a moral struggle.