The Zero Theorem is a 2013 science fiction film directed by Terry Gilliam, written by
Pat Rushin, and starring Christoph Waltz, Lucas Hedges, Mélanie Thierry, and David
Thewlis.
The story centres on Qohen Leth, a reclusive computer genius working on a formula to determine
whether life holds any meaning.
Gilliam has called it the final part of a dystopian satire trilogy or "Orwellian triptych"
begun with 1985's Brazil and continued with 1995's 12 Monkeys.
The film began production in October 2012.
Plot Qohen Leth is an eccentric and reclusive computer
genius who lives in an Orwellian corporate world and suffers from existential angst.
He waits for a phone call explaining the meaning of life.
Under the instruction of a shadowy figure known only as "Management", Qohen works to
solve the "Zero Theorem", a mathematical formula derived from Big Crunch theory.
The fate of the universe as a black hole singularity is purported to show that life has no purpose.
Qohen's work in the burnt-out chapel that serves as his home is interrupted by visits
from Bainsley, a seductive woman, and Bob, the teenage son of Management.
Cast Christoph Waltz as Qohen Leth:
A computer programmer searching for the meaning of life.
The script called for Qohen to be bald; Gilliam insisted that Waltz also shave his eyebrows,
both to challenge his acting and visually differentiate Qohen from Waltz's previous
roles.
Ewan McGregor and Billy Bob Thornton were previously cast.
Mélanie Thierry as Bainsley: A femme fatale who enters Qohen's life.
Gilliam resisted pressure to cast an established American actress, wanting someone whom few
viewers had seen.
The director stated that "the difference is, in particular the American actresses, they
all look similar, they're all the same shape, they're all trimmed down.
I want somebody's who's real and beautiful at the same time.
She had a kid a couple of years ago, so she has a real body as opposed to these manufactured
bodies."
Thierry had previously played "reserved, beautiful characters"; Gilliam instructed her to think
of Bainsley as "Marilyn Monroe and Judy Holliday combined".
Jessica Biel was originally attached to the role.
David Thewlis as Joby Lucas Hedges as Bob
Matt Damon as Management.
Al Pacino was previously attached to the role.
Tilda Swinton as Dr Shrink-Rom Sanjeev Bhaskar as Doctor 1
Peter Stormare as Doctor 2 Ben Whishaw as Doctor 3
Dana Rogoz as pizza girl Emil Hostina as Clone 1
Pavlic Nemes as Clone 2 Gwendoline Christie, Rupert Friend, Ray Cooper
and Lily Cole as street commercials Production
Development Pat Rushin was inspired to write the film
by the book of Ecclesiastes, which he felt suggested such questions as "What is the value
of life?
What is the meaning of existence?
What's the use?"
Rushin wrote the 145-page first draft in ten days, with "no idea what [he] was doing".
He checked several screenwriting books and screenplays out from the UCF library, including
Terry Gilliam's Brazil.
Producer Richard D. Zanuck originally signed Ewan McGregor to play Qohen Leth, but the
actor dropped out.
A later iteration of the project, starring Billy Bob Thornton, Jessica Biel and Al Pacino
and directed by Terry Gilliam, was set to begin production in 2009, but Thornton vetoed
filming in London because of his phobia of antiques.
Production was next set to begin in Vancouver, but Gilliam pulled out to work on The Imaginarium
of Doctor Parnassus following the death of its star, Heath Ledger.
In 2012, the project was restarted.
Christoph Waltz replaced Thornton in the lead role, and the late Zanuck's son Dean replaced
him as producer.
Filming Principal photography was scheduled to run
from October 22 to December 3, 2012.
It eventually required one more day, meaning that the shoot has actually lasted 37 days.
Since Gilliam faced frustrations over the correct aspect ratio on home video releases
of his earlier film Tideland, The Zero Theorem was shot in the Maxivision format with an
1:1.85 aspect ratio, with 16:9 matting and telecine in mind, so Gilliam could be certain
that every viewer in the world would see exactly what he had intended them to see in a premeditated
16:9 framing, no matter what device they would use; what Gilliam additionally liked about
this technique, which he calls "the first one-size-fits-all, full-frame, semi-vinyl
motion picture", was that it resulted in round edges on frame corners which he found resembled
a vintage 1920s movie-going experience when projectors were not yet fitted to hide the
camera gate's round edges.
On the production process, Gilliam stated: "It's been one year from start to finish.
Most of my movies take three years but this was a fast shoot and it was good to be in
Bucharest.
I loved the crews and Romanians work very hard and they're very skilled.
Because we had limited funds we were flying people in for the day and back out again.
I was knackered by the end of it."
The director commented on the difficulty of producing such a film in the current industry
climate: "This was a more modest budget than some of the big effects movies I've worked
on but it's going to look so good on the screen.
What's happened is the industry has become very much like society – there are the rich
[films] and the cheap ones and the middle-budget films have been squeezed out of existence.
You've got to get clever and take advantage of your friends who work for scale and work
in great places with great crews where you get a bigger bang for your buck."
Production design In an e-mail sent to production designer Dave
Warren, director Terry Gilliam concisely stated the look he intended for the film: "Neo Rauch
+ Ukelele Ike = The Zero Theorem".
Music The film's score was provided by British composer
George Fenton.
Gilliam described it as being "like a ghost, this other character we never see."
Release The Zero Theorem premiered at the 70th Venice
International Film Festival on 2 September 2013.
Critical response Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes
gives the film a score of 54% based on reviews from 48 critics.
Harry Knowles, who saw the film before August 2013, gave a very positive review of The Zero
Theorem, stating it was "perfect", and Gilliam's best film since Brazil, describing Waltz's
performance as "amazing" and that the actor deserved to win the Academy Award for Best
Actor.
He also hoped that the final version of the movie will be the one he saw, stating "There’s
not a frame needing to be lost".
Commenting on the film's misrepresentation by critics, Terry Gilliam stated on his official
Facebook page that one of the few critics to note that The Zero Theorem was not a comedy
– but actually a tragedy – was Dave Lancaster of Cinemas Online in his analysis of the film.
References
External links Official website
The Zero Theorem at the Internet Movie Database