A Beautiful Mind (2001)

1. Title of the film: A Beautiful Mind

2. Why did you pick this film? I looked up a couple of the film titles that were on the list and most of them were pretty old movies. I don’t really dig those kind of movies, so when I saw A Beautiful Mind was kind of recent, I decided to watch it. Also, the brief description I read reminded me of the movie The Theory of Everything, which I really enjoyed watching.

3. Name the 3 most important characters in the movie.

Describe these characters thoroughly. The main character is obviously John Nash. He is a maths student at Princeton University and has schizophrenia, but he doesn’t know that yet. People find him weird and don’t like him. John is not very social and is obsessively focussed on his ‘work’. This work is actually one big hallucination of John. At the end of the story, he finds peace with is schizophrenia.

The second important person is Johns wife Alicia. Alicia was a student of John before they started dating and eventually got married. During Johns extremely delusional and stressed phase, Alicia cared for him and she supported him throughout the whole story.

The last important character is Parcher. Parcher is part of Johns work-hallucination. He gives John the assignment to crack a certain code from the Russians, and soon Johns whole life turns around this assignment, which isn’t even real. Parcher is very intimidating towards John and keeps following him everywhere.

4. Name the 3 most important scenes from the film and explain in at least 30 words per scene why they are so important. The first important scene is the scene where John is inside the Pentagon. After he finished cracking a code, he sees a man on the balcony, but the others don’t see him. I think this is an important scene, because this is the first time Parcher comes around. (48 words)

Secondly, there is the scene where Parcher approaches John and gives him the assignment. This is an important scene, because this assignment and this person are going to control Johns life for the next years. (35 words)

The third most important scene is when Alicia lays the envelopes John has been putting in a secret mailbox on the table. This is when John realises for the first time that the assignment isn’t real. In the next scene he cuts his arm open to see if his microchip is still there, and it isn’t. (56 words)

5. What is the message/theme of the film do you think? Why do you think so? Explain and give examples, use at least 150 words. I think the message the story tells is that people can improve themselves and get better, if they only believe in themselves. In the story, nothing seems to be wrong with John. That is until his obsession for his ‘work’ grows too strong and it all goes downwards for him and Alicia. John gets hospitalized and diagnosed with schizophrenia, something he finds hard to believe and accept. When he gets out, he seems to be alright. But soon Alicia finds out that John is obsessed with his ‘work’ again and so has relapsed. Alicia is simply hopeless and questions whether John is ever going to get better and if she’s going to be able to regain her trust in him. He still convinces Alicia to stay with him and they invite Dr. Rosen for a conversation. From there on, John starts to believe in himself and that the hallucinations aren’t real. Everything gets better, and ultimately John teaches again at Princeton University. (162 words)

Creative exercises

7. If you were a film critic, how would you describe the film? Describe in at least 150 words

A Beautiful Mind is an autobiographical film about John Nash, who suffers from schizophrenia. He goes from struggling really bad with his disease to almost fully accepting it and learning how to deal with it.

It’s a very special movie, because the main character is not being portrayed as a sad, helpless person with schizophrenia. Instead, he does not let himself get dragged down by it and fights to become better and save his marriage, in which he succeeds.

Russell Crowe played his role very believable and convincing. It is noticeable that he was very well prepared for the role of John Nash.

Even though there are very little exciting scenes in the film, it is a very intriguing and unusual story, which makes you want to continue watching and see how the characters develop. Therefore I would recommend this movie above sixteen, since it can be a little difficult to understand the storyline at times. (156 words)