Having Terry Gilliam at the helm of a movie is always a memorable experience of some sort. With his newest film, The Zero Theorem, we get the close of his thematic “Orewellian triptych” alongside Brazil and 12 Monkeys. From Indiewire:
Having premiered at 70th Venice International Film Festival last year, the film is truly an ambitious effort but has so far received mixed reviews. Following eccentric super hacker Qohen Leth (Christoph Waltz), it takes on the existential quandaries of our condition. Waiting for a phone call to explain the meaning the life, Leth attempts to solve what is “unprovable” and overcome the overbearing fact that “everything adds up to nothing.” Having been personally delegated the task by the Management (Matt Damon), he is visited in his seclusion by a select group including the flirtatious Bainsley (Melanie Thierry), his unpredictable supervisor Job (David Thewlis), and would-be digital therapist Dr. Shrink-Rom (Tilda Swinton), that threaten to break his concentration.
You can certainly tell this is a Gilliam movie right from the start. The odd tone is there, mixed in with a lot of big ideas and influences that range from George Orwell to William Gibson. It’s easy to see how critics could misread this film as being a comedy upon their first view.
What this trailer doesn’t answer is where Christoph Waltz’s ass comes into play. Is that where the black hole exists? Is that why the MPAA banned the poster? It’s too much for us to bear, knowing that the entire meaning of life is rolled up into one European’s ass. Deep, deep stuff. The kinda stuff we’ll find out on August 19th on VOD or September 19 for theaters.
(Via Hollywood Streams / Indiewire)