Pi and A Serious Man: Two Films that Challenge the Quest for Meaning

Since I'm done with trying to make sketches for now, I'm going to use this blog to tell you guys about some of my favorite movies. Two of these movies, A Serious Man and Pi, both challenge the need for us to figure out what many consider to be the most important question in existence: What is the meaning of life? Now, by endorsing these films I'm not necessarily advocating their message. In fact, I love thinking about all of the why's in life. Still, these films are very enjoyable and thought provoking. And they don't really criticize the search for meaning, but rather the obsession of searching.

A Serious Man (directed by the always amazing Coen brothers) is an absolutely hilarious film. The story itself is like a modern-day retelling of the book of Job. The film follows Larry Gopnik, a middle-aged father of two, as his life quickly begins to fall apart. Larry reaches out to three rabbis to find out why he is suffering for seemingly no reason. Without spoiling the plot, I'll just say that the key message of the film comes from the third rabbi. When Larry's son Danny is speaking to the rabbi, the rabbi begins repeating the lyrics of the famous Jefferson Airplane song Somebody to Love. This scene is incredibly funny, but it contains an important message towards the end. The rabbi's answer to the question of "'When the truth is found to be lies and all the hope within you dies' then what?" is to "be a good boy". This is a message which I can support. No matter what the meaning of life turns out to be, it can't hurt to try to be a moral individual. The humor coupled with the message makes this one of my top 5 movies I've ever seen.

Pi is on another end of the spectrum. There is nothing funny about it and it will really get your mind working. There is a lot of uncertainty about reality found in Pi. If you like films that aren't as linearly structured as your typical movie, then you would probably really enjoy Pi. The soundtrack from the film is also really enjoyable. The music really goes with the scenes, and it all comes together to form a very stylistic whole. While A Serious Man focuses a lot on finding answers through religion, Pi is more concerned with finding answers through mathematics (There is religion involved, but it plays a lesser role than in A Serious Man). The end result is largely the same as A Serious Man. Again, without giving too much away, the message of the film is to live life rather than spend it lost in the search for meaning. Pi differs slightly in that it exalts the importance of finding pleasure in life rather than being a moral individual, but the basic message is still the same.