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The movie "Proof"
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Island Son
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the film-student type description
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http://www.e.bell.ca/filmfest/2005/films_description.asp?id=216
Principal Cast: Gwyneth Paltrow, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Jake Gyllenhaal, Hope Davis
Set in the rarefied sphere of theoretical mathematics, John Madden’s Proof is the powerful tale of a woman finding a way through her world as it crumbles around her. The film features brilliant performances from Gwyneth Paltrow (whose last collaboration with Madden in Shakespeare in Love won her an Academy Award®), Sir Anthony Hopkins, Jake Gyllenhaal and Hope Davis.
Competition to develop proofs - elegant equations that explain theoretical concepts - is fierce among young math students, whose greatest goal is to come up with an idea so original it turns the discipline on its head. Decades earlier, the genius mathematician and professor Robert (Hopkins) generated such revolutionary work, but over the latter part of his life, he has suffered from extremely frustrating dementia. Catherine (Paltrow), his younger daughter, has cared for him during his years of mental instability and indulged his wish that they collaborate on an elusive proof that will predict prime numbers.
Insecure and something of a loner, Catherine has inherited her father’s head for numbers, but worries she may also follow him down the road to madness. Her prim, precise and practical sister Claire (Davis) shares this fear and, upon Robert’s death, swoops into town to do “what is best” for Catherine. In the midst of the sad bewilderment of mourning, Catherine shares an important secret with Robert’s young protegé Hal (Gyllenhaal). His disbelief of this disclosure leads her to a crucial, life-altering decision.
Paltrow, here reprising the role for which she won acclaim in the West End, carries the film magnificently, detailing Catherine with delicate, nuanced strokes. Opposite her, Hopkins, Gyllenhaal and Davis each provide wonderfully restrained performances that give the film its perfect balance of gravity and levity, hope and fear, clarity and complexity. This is a lovely work that, finally, isn’t about proof at all; rather, it is about making those leaps of faith that allow us to believe in others and, just as importantly, in ourselves.
John Madden was born in Portsmouth, England, and studied at Cambridge University. He has worked extensively in radio drama as well as directing for television and the stage. He made his feature film directing debut with Ethan Frome (92), followed by Golden Gate (94), Mrs. Brown (97), Shakespeare in Love (98), which was nominated for thirteen Academy Awards and won seven, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin (01) and Proof (05).
--------------------------------------------
http://www.e.bell.ca/filmfest/2005/films_description.asp?id=216
Principal Cast: Gwyneth Paltrow, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Jake Gyllenhaal, Hope Davis
Set in the rarefied sphere of theoretical mathematics, John Madden’s Proof is the powerful tale of a woman finding a way through her world as it crumbles around her. The film features brilliant performances from Gwyneth Paltrow (whose last collaboration with Madden in Shakespeare in Love won her an Academy Award®), Sir Anthony Hopkins, Jake Gyllenhaal and Hope Davis.
Competition to develop proofs - elegant equations that explain theoretical concepts - is fierce among young math students, whose greatest goal is to come up with an idea so original it turns the discipline on its head. Decades earlier, the genius mathematician and professor Robert (Hopkins) generated such revolutionary work, but over the latter part of his life, he has suffered from extremely frustrating dementia. Catherine (Paltrow), his younger daughter, has cared for him during his years of mental instability and indulged his wish that they collaborate on an elusive proof that will predict prime numbers.
Insecure and something of a loner, Catherine has inherited her father’s head for numbers, but worries she may also follow him down the road to madness. Her prim, precise and practical sister Claire (Davis) shares this fear and, upon Robert’s death, swoops into town to do “what is best” for Catherine. In the midst of the sad bewilderment of mourning, Catherine shares an important secret with Robert’s young protegé Hal (Gyllenhaal). His disbelief of this disclosure leads her to a crucial, life-altering decision.
Paltrow, here reprising the role for which she won acclaim in the West End, carries the film magnificently, detailing Catherine with delicate, nuanced strokes. Opposite her, Hopkins, Gyllenhaal and Davis each provide wonderfully restrained performances that give the film its perfect balance of gravity and levity, hope and fear, clarity and complexity. This is a lovely work that, finally, isn’t about proof at all; rather, it is about making those leaps of faith that allow us to believe in others and, just as importantly, in ourselves.
John Madden was born in Portsmouth, England, and studied at Cambridge University. He has worked extensively in radio drama as well as directing for television and the stage. He made his feature film directing debut with Ethan Frome (92), followed by Golden Gate (94), Mrs. Brown (97), Shakespeare in Love (98), which was nominated for thirteen Academy Awards and won seven, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin (01) and Proof (05).
