Abstract
Although created as an independent film with less than sixty thousand dollars in the budget, "Pi" exceeded all expectations and even took home the Director's Award from the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. This paper shows that its insightful, intricate plot and unique style make it an excellent movie, and Darren Aronofsky, the director, did an amazing job in bringing his own story to life. The paper examines kabbalistic undertones in the movie and how Aronofsky applied his own experiences to directing this film.

From the Paper
"One might not naturally think of the stock market as part of nature, but Aronofsky also does an excellent job helping to show us how the stock market can in fact be seen as its own living, changing, complex natural pattern of numbers. He tries to demonstrate this by showing us a living ant, one part of a complex colony of many other ants, on the side of a stock ticker as the numbers scroll by quickly to the left in plain sight for Max Choen to read. It is partly these intricately detailed cues Aronofsky uses to help bring us to understand his point of view. Whether or not his Harvard University education helped him to understand the mathematics needed to write and direct the script (Aronofsky also co-authored the movie script with one of his Harvard amigos), it's apparent that he's able to convey these thoughtful insights for the more intellectual viewer to ponder throughout the film."

Tags:Max, Choen, Lenny, Meyer, Torah