film
One for something and all for nothing
‘The Zero Theorem’ and divinity
by Michael J. Casey
T
erry Gilliam’s outlook of the future is bleak. It always has been. The director of Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas, 12 Monkeys and The Fisher King made a name for himself as a director par excellence with 1986’s dystopian and paranoid Brazil, a movie that many count as one of the best around. Now, Gilliam is back with a Brazil-ian companion piece of sorts, another entry into that bizarre and surreal future cluttered with endless information and purposeless existence, The Zero Theorem. Set in a non-descript country in the near future, Zero Theorem focuses on Qohen Leth (Christoph Waltz), a man lacking both hair and individuality. Leth refers to himself in the plural — always “we,” never “I” — and “they” like to be left alone. Leth is an Entity Cruncher — he works with esoteric data — for ManCom, an all-seeing overlord company that either does everything or nothing. Leth is one of their top crunchers and is given the special assignment: prove the zero theorem. The zero theorem is a formula where zero must equal 100 percent, or as his wunderkind assistant, Bob (Lucas
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Hedges) jokes, his ments that pursue customers job is to prove that as they walk down the everything adds up streets, the constant cacophto nothing. ony of noise that accompaMaking Leth the nies every aspect of our man responsible for lives, the obsession of multithis task is one of tasking and how that drives several cosmic jokes us further away from people in Zero Theorem. and common experience. Leth is a man of Those three in particular get faith, possibly the right at the heart of where only one left. He our culture is headed, and lives a monastic life maybe Gilliam takes that in an abandoned for granted. Instead, Zero church where he Theorem — like most artistic waits endlessly for a The Zero Theorem is a return to the dystopian future landscape for director endeavors — is about man’s phone call. The obsessive search for the conTerry Gilliam. omniscient caller cept of design. Leth will not called once before apocalyptic checklist: lack of human rest until the second calling, and promised to reveal the purpose of interaction, constant surveillance from but his desire to know the purpose of his life, but in his excitement, Leth dropped Big Brother, disconnection between the life has caused him to miss out on the the receiver and the connection was lost. personal, the accessibility of Internet experience. Now, Leth waits day and night for the pornography, virtual reality and so on. The Zero Theorem will screen at The caller to return and illuminate his purHerein lies the problem with Zero Boedecker Theatre Sept. 19 to 21 and at pose. Theorem: it is too rambunctious to sit CU’s International Film Series on But Leth’s wait for meaning while still and focus on any one thing. Zero Friday, Sept. 19. A talkback, hosted by being forced to disprove it is not the Theorem is full of ideas, but most remain this reporter, will follow The Boe’s only thing Zero Theorem is about, not by undigested by the end of the run time. A screening of the movie on Sunday, Sept. a long shot. Gilliam chocks his movie shame considering that a vast majority of 21. Tickets and information is available full of ideas and dystopian eventualities, the really interesting ones are left by the can be found at thedairy.org. each one acting like a tick off the postwayside. Ideas like relentless advertiseRespond: letters@boulderweekly.com
BOULDER COUNTY AUDUBON SOCIETY: BOULDER RIGHTS OF NATURE FILM FESTIVAL
journey of discovery and connection as they make their own passage west. At Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater
This Festival celebrates our place within nature by showcasing films that honor the inalienable rights of ecosystems, native wildlife and traditional cultures to exist and flourish. The rights of nature movement gained momentum when hundreds of thousands of Ecuador’s indigenous peoples marched on the capital requesting that natural beings be given the same rights as corporations. With the enactment of a 2008 constitutional amendment, Ecuador became the first country in the world to codify the rights of nature. Bolivia, Nepal and several dozen municipalities in the United States including Lafayette, also have adopted specific laws. This first annual festival will honor acclaimed filmmaker Les Blank, whose timeless documentaries poetically portrayed authentic beings in their natural surroundings. Films include: Puamana; Heart of Sky, Heart of Earth; The Condor’s Shadow; Horn; Qapirangajuq: Inuit Knowledge and Climate Change; DamNation; Cry Rock; Micronesia Sanctuary; The Legend of Pale Male; Green; Burden of Dreams. At Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater
FRANK
THE DISCOVERERS
Washed-up history professor Lewis Birch (Oscar and Emmy nominated Griffin Dunne) takes his begrudging teenage kids — Zoe (Madeleine Martin, Californication) and Jack (Devon Graye, American Horror Story) — on a road trip to a conference in hopes of putting his career back on track. But when Lewis’s estranged father Stanley (Emmy Award-winning Stuart Margolin) goes AWOL on a Lewis and Clark historical reenactment trek, Lewis is forced to make a family detour. The Birch family members find themselves on a
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See full review on page 51. At Boedecker.
GOD HELP THE GIRL Set in Glasgow, Scotland, this pop-musical is about a girl called Eve who deals with her emotional problems through songwriting. She finds herself in the city, where she meets James and Cassie, two musicians each at crossroads of their own. What follows is a story of renaissance over the course of a long, dream-like summer. Written, directed and scored by the lead singer/ songwriter of Belle and Sebastian. At Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater
K2: SIREN OF THE HIMALAYAS This film follows world-class alpinists Fabrizio Zangrilli and Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner with veteran climbers Jake Meyer and Chris Szymiec in a breathtaking high-altitude mountaineering experience. Director Dave Ohlson joins this group’s epic K2 journey on the 100-year anniversary of the Duke of Abruzzi’s landmark expedition in 1909. The documentary also examines the history and geography of the Karakoram mountains while contemplating the risks, rewards and personal nature of exploration in an age when there are few blank spots left on the map. At Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater
SANS SOUCI FESTIVAL OF DANCE CINEMA The Dairy Center is pleased to once again host the Sans Souci festival col-
lections, dance within a cinematic aesthetic — an integration of the forms. In this, their 11th year, they offer a rich program of short art films from North America and Europe. At Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater
SCIENCE ON SCREEN: THE SOCIAL NETWORK Public social data conveyed on social networks has changed how society interacts with itself, and it has also changed the computing landscape. We will pick apart some of the more fascinating technical implications of “Big Data” via social networks and connect them to The Social Network, the movie. We’ll explore some of the computing infrastructure necessary to handle the astounding amount of human expression that transpires every second on social networks. The Social Network tells the story of Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg who created the site that would become known as Facebook, but was later sued by two brothers who claimed he stole their idea, and the co-founder who was later squeezed out of the business. At Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater
THE ZERO THEOREM See full review above. At Boedecker and at IFS Munzinger Auditorium.
INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL The following films are showing at CU’s International Film Festival this week: please go to https://internationalfilmseries.com for full descriptions, times and locations: Mood Indigo; All About Eve; The Zero Theorem; Life Itself; The Last Day of Summer; Je T’aime Je T’aime. Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com
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