10 Overlooked First Films By Great Directors

4. Pi - Darren Aronofsky

Hard Eight - Philip Baker Hall
Summit Entertainment

Pretty much every single one of Darren Aronofsky's movies is regarded as a classic.

Except for Noah. We don't talk about Noah.

Requiem for a Dream, The Wrestler, Black Swan, The Whale, these movies all have their place in the hearts and minds of cinema fans. One of his most overlooked entries is his directorial debut Pi.

Filmed in black and white (because of course it is), Pi stars Sean Gullette as Max Cohen, a mathematician obsessed with finding order and balance within the world. Yeah, good luck with that one mate.

The whole thing gets very philosophical very quickly. Max meets a Jewish character attempting to decode the Torah as if it were a string of code. There's a number that's meant to represent the true name of God. Big ideas from Mr. Aronofsky, but he absolutely nails them.

As well as making your brain hurt in a good way, Pi will make your eyes happy in a good way too. Beautifully shot, masterfully acted, and cleverly written, Pi is everything you could want from an Aronofsky feature without a tutu or set of spandex tights in sight.

Contributor
Contributor

Jacob Simmons has a great many passions, including rock music, giving acclaimed films three-and-a-half stars, watching random clips from The Simpsons on YouTube at 3am, and writing about himself in the third person.