It’s films like these that challenge the inveterate quipper.
Zero Theorem (2013) is a movie by Terry Gilliam, which is enough for some folks. But for those who wish to soldier on, this story is an imaginative attempt to prove the universe in which we live is a swirling black hole of unintelligible nonsense.
Qohen Leth is a worker-bee mathematician working for an oligarch. He’s been assigned the task of proving 1 = 0. Minutely managed, Leth has long ago mostly lost his mind, but whether this is due to the irrational society in which he lives or the vortex of irrationality that is, metaphorically, next door is entirely unclear.
As he approaches success, his life becomes more irrational and insane, and, in the end, we’re not even sure he lives in a universe, or a computer simulation.
It’s all a madcap attempt to entertain philosophy in a fictional story, and it helps to be in a mood when watching this. I’ll just finish by observing that I have no idea what might be that mood.
