A Beautiful Mind – Life isn’t an Equation (Film Analysis)

[chezzy62]

Hey guys, hope you like my film analysis for A Beautiful Mind. It was an excellent movie, filled with great life messages!

A Beautiful Mind is a truly beautiful movie, and it should not be missed by anyone of proper age to appreciate its beauty. It is about a schizophrenic mathematician named “John Nash”, who spends all of his days trying to find a revolutionary discovery/formula that will change life. The irony, is that life doesn’t work out if we try to solve it like an equation. It is only when we let go and let life happen to us, that we will find our true happiness. The Beautiful Mind is an exaggerated tale of this law, and how terrible life can get if you try to solve its nonexistent formula.

John Nash is an awkward man, not good in social situations, but an amazingly talented mathematician. He is so good, in fact, that he spends most of his time trying to find a revolutionary discovery in mathematics. I like to think of it as a “Life formula”, or a discovery that will never happen. The twist of the movie, which happens about halfway through, is that Nash is suffering from a severe form of schizophrenia, and half of the situations/places that exist in his life, are only part of his “beautiful” mind. One imaginary character that he creates is his roommate, Charles. Nash gets along very well with Charles, which makes the audience suspicious from the start, seeing that John Nash doesn’t really get along well with anyone else. The other character that Nash creates is named Parcher, who is working to solve a conspiracy case of an atomic bomb threat towards the U.S. When the conspiracy situation goes wrong in Nash’s head, that is when he is in need of mental help. He is taken into a psychiatric hospital, and receives intense treatment. Upon returning home, the visions are suppressed, but so is every aspect of John Nash’s beautiful mind. He no longer can think right, feel right, or act right. He stops taking the medication, and loses another battle with his schizophrenia. Instead of going back to the hospital, he tries to battle the hallucinations on his own. This is the turning point of the movie, where Nash learns how to really live his life.

Nash learns that life is more than making a discovery, or solving an equation. There is love and emotion involved; A wife, taking care of your baby, and the everyday joys of life. Instead of focusing his time on himself, John decides to go back to teaching classes, and shares his amazing knowledge with his students. All this, while ignoring the characters that took over his mind. This is where an amazing inspirational quote is mentioned by John Nash, which I will mention here:

“Are the hallucinations…gone?”
“No, but I’ve gotten used to ignoring them, and as a result, they’ve kind of given up on me. I think that’s sorta what it’s like with dreams and nightmares. We’ve gotta keep feeding them for them to stay alive”

That is one of the most true and inspirational quotes I have ever heard. Dreams will gradually disappear, if we do not focus on them, and take constant action towards them. Nightmares will continue, as long as we feed them our attention. John Nash wins a Nobel Peace Prize at the end of the movie, for his contributions to society. A Beautiful Mind is a movie about the importance of enjoying every day of life, and not getting caught up in ridiculous theories or fantasies for a future that may never be. If we don’t focus on the present moment, it may be the biggest regret in our life. Embrace life each day, don’t embrace a fantasy world.

Original Source:

A Beautiful Mind

[STARSCREAM]

This is an outstanding movie.

[Rob J in WNY]

The movie beautifully shows how truth is greater than logic, and that lesson is learned by man consumed by logic. I love this movie, and it will be a welcome addition if and when it comes to Blu-ray. Outstanding performances by Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly.

[chezzy62]

Rob J, I completely agree with you! People think that if they can find some logic, and solve some kind of 'living equation', they will learn how to beat life. The truth is that life cannot be solved, because anything can happen to anyone at any time. Know what I mean?

[SchueyF1]

My favourite movie ever. I loved every moment of it. Russell Crowe was just brilliant, he is so damn believable!
So, when's the movie coming to Blu-ray? I really want it!

[tiger roach]

We really liked Beautiful Mind as well. I haven't seen it since the first time in the theater though.

I have to admit

[Show spoiler] that I was completely fooled - when we start finding out his college roomate and other folks aren't real, I was as confused as the main character.

[fatediesel]

I've only seen this movie once, and that was in the theater. I liked the movie and thought the performances were great. I liked it enough to read the book and found a lot of the movie was changed from real life. The book showed that Nash had several affairs, and was allegedly a racist and anti-Semitic. It also failed to include the fact that Nash was arrested after getting caught in a homosexual encounter in a restroom and lost his job. Nash and his wife also divorced in 1963, although they did get back together later and remarried. These omissions are by no means uncommon in movies based on true events though.

[McGarnigal]

the dvd looked really bad upcoverted, cant wait for the blu

[Atreyu]

I absolutely loved the film. It was a blind buy on dvd for me and my eyes were glued to the screen for the entire length of the film. Howard deserved his Oscar.
I read the book too and yes things were changed around as usual for dramatic purposed but the ideas and essence remained intact. If you haven't seen it I higthly recommend it and will be a first day buy when it hits blu.

[McGarnigal]

Originally Posted by Atreyu

I absolutely loved the film. It was a blind buy on dvd for me and my eyes were glued to the screen for the entire length of the film. Howard deserved his Oscar.
I read the book too and yes things were changed around as usual for dramatic purposed but the ideas and essence remained intact. If you haven't seen it I higthly recommend it and will be a first day buy when it hits blu.

Yea its a little depressing, they have video in the special features of his award acceptance. In real life he says thank you for 5 seconds, but in the movie he talks about his wife's support in a legendary speech for 5 minutes.

[Mooch360]

Does anyone know if the 100th Anniversary combo pack for A Beautiful Mind is a flipper disc?

[shawz0311]

Originally Posted by Mooch360

Does anyone know if the 100th Anniversary combo pack for A Beautiful Mind is a flipper disc?

Just opened mine to check, it's not a flipper disc.

[Mooch360]

cool, thanks.

[EricJ]

For most people today, ten years later, an analysis of A Beautiful Mind comes down to one sentence:

"Fellowship of the Ring should have won. "

[pitmosher]

does anyone know if the 100th anniversary combo pack has a digital copy?

[Rinzler]

I truly love this film and I'm glad to see you guys do too. I may watch it tomorrow!

[SevenwithaT]

Did you guys know that visual hallucinations caused by schizophrenia are almost never people? This was made up entirely for the movie. The real John Nash only suffered from auditory hallucinations.

Just sayin

[JimShaw]

Dr. John Nash and his wife were just killed in a car accident yesterday, May 23rd, in New Jersey. From what I understand, they were in a taxi when the driver lost control and hit a guard rail.





JimShaw

[Gamma_Winstead]

Originally Posted by JimShaw

Dr. John Nash and his wife were just killed in a car accident yesterday, May 23rd, in New Jersey. From what I understand, they were in a taxi when the driver lost control and hit a guard rail.





JimShaw

Holy crap! How awful!

[Leonidas King]

It's a pity Universal didnt give a crap about the transfer on this one and only offers mediocre PQ. This could've been a beautiful (no pun intended) Bluray.