Pi and Go

Nope, not an instruction to take a pie somewhere and devour it but
rather a film I watched for about the 10th time a few weeks back and
a game contained therein. (The reason why I bring this up is because
in my current game with SkipSlot we briefly talked about Go, the board
game. It made me think of what got me into Go...the film).

Pi is the début film of Dan Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream
followed). It's shot in grainy black and white throughout; set to a
pulsating, noisy soundtrack with contributions from the likes of Orbital
and Leftfield. The plot revolves entirely around a sickly mathematician
with a shock of black hair, aged around 30. His name is Max.

Max, like most mathematicians, is searching. He's not sure exactly
what he is looking for, nor does he know what he will find. He is at
heart, I think, a number theorist, who is trying to look for patterns.
Patterns in nature, patterns in Pi. He bulds a large computer by
himself which occupies most of his small appartment

(Aside: in real life, two Russians, the Chudnovsky brothers lived in a
flat which was dominated by a large supercomputer that they had
built. They are both very old - in fact one might have died recently. It
was said that when he was to die along with him would go
mathematical ideas and proofs that nobody else in the world knew or
knew of).

So, anyway, Max. Word gets out about his work and pretty quicky he
has a large stockbroking firm on his back trying to bribe/seduce/force
him to give them the equation or number that explains Nature and
Everything, and in turn the seemingly infinite, chaotically random
forces that effect the stock market. In other words, a way of being
able to predict what will happen to any stock on any day. At the same
time a group of Orthodox Jews who practise Kaballah are very
interested in his work. Kaballah is the study of numerical patterns in
the Torah, the holy book.

(Aside: According to some, the Bible for instance is in fact in code.
By translating the words using a mathematical code or some formula
(in the film the sect wanted this code or number or formula from Max)
it is claimed that the Bible predicted certain world events like the rise
of Hitler and Nazism, the death of JFK and so on. I believe the most
famous book on this is called The Bible Code. It is, in my opinion,
complete and utter tosh)

Max is not good around people. Nobody in fact except with an elderly
professor. His name is Saul. Saul is Max's mentor and guide. There is
an absolutely masterful scene in the film where Max is adamant that
he has found the number. It is 216 digits long, and this same
number appears everywhere in Max's research. Saul grimaces and
embarks on a stunning speech. He shouts at Max, telling him that if
he wants to see a number badly enough then he will see it
everywhere, take the number 216 for example, you'll find that there
are 216 steps to the nearest shop, 216 seconds waiting for the bus,
216 words in the newspaper article you are reading, and so on. He
accuses Max of losing his mathematical rigour, of dealing in mysticism
and numerical astrology. That scene sends shivers up my spine every
time I watch it.

Anyway, in this scene they are playing Go. For those that don't know
Go is a board game invented by the Chinese. It was first played
between 3,000 and 4,000 years ago and is still played in exactly the
same form today. It is the oldest game game in the world still played
in it's original form. It appears blissfully simple (the small number of
rules (far, far fewer than chess) can be completely understood in less
than half an hour), and involves nothing more than one side having
white stones, one side having black, and then the alternate placing
of one stone of your colour on the intersections in a large grid. The
idea being to encircle or trap your opponent's stones. Unlike
in chess, no two Go games are ever the same, and it is sometimes
used as a metaphor for chaos theory. It is widely regarded as more
challenging than chess and bridge.

Just thought I'd throw up a couple of things. Firstly, to anyone who
wants to see an interesting, different, incredibly powerful film then I
can recommend Pi. Secondly, has anyone seen Dan Aronofsky's
second film, Requiem for a Dream? Also, anyone here play Go and
know anything more about it than the little I have said?

Thanks for reading,

Mark

I also have seen Pi, and agree with you, the film is superb. I didn't
realise that Requiem for a Dream was directed by the same guy. I
have always wanted to watch it, but now you have given me a good
reason to do so.

Mark - as well

Mark

I would really love to watch those films as they sound brilliant.I live in
South Africa though.

I have never heard of Go,but in South A frica it probably has another
name😀

I like movies too.movies that make you think.Movies that gives you
the shivers for reasons only you can explain.

Did you enjoy Goodwill hunting?I enjoyed it because of the story
behind it,so similar to the movie.Not my favourite movie but close.

My favourite movie.....Now there is a thought.I enjoyed Heat.Al
Pacino,Robert de Niro and Val Kilmer.Gladiator was also good.Then
there was a movie no one ever heard of,Less than zero with Robert
Downey Jnr.Oh and St. Elmos Fire hmmmm anyone else wants to
have a go?I will think of more and add it in the morning.

Johan
Sure he hasnt mentioned the ones he really likes.

Oh yes Pulp Fiction I enjoyed too.

I enjoyed Heat.Al Pacino,Robert de Niro and Val Kilmer.

Just thought I'd throw up a couple of things. Firstly, to anyone who
wants to see an interesting, different, incredibly powerful film then I
can recommend Pi. Secondly, has anyone seen Dan Aronofsky's
second film, Requiem for a Dream? Also, anyone here play Go and
know anything more about it than the little I have said?

Thanks for reading,

Mark
[/b]

Mark,

I play and enjoy Go as well, Mark. Did you know that Go is about the
only game which computer's *can't* be programmed to play well?
There is no question that the best Go computer today would loose
quite handily to a strong tournament player.

Rein

someone help me out, 'coz this is doing my nut... describe Go for me.
Please. I know I know it, I probably have a set stored back in
England, but I can't remember it.
Merci en advance
Jon

Originally posted by belgianfreak
someone help me out, 'coz this is doing my nut... describe Go for
me.
Please. I know I know it, I probably have a set stored back in
England, but I can't remember it.
Merci en advance
Jon

Ok, who wants a version of correspondence 'Go'. (I guess I should go
and learn the game rules before I make that offer!)

-Russ

BTW Pi is, indeed, a very fine film. Fight Club still sits there as one
of my fave's - each time I see it, I want to just throw away all my
possesions. Then half an hour later, I calm down, think no more
about it - then go and play with some expensive toy that I could
never live without after all.
(For all those from the UK, Fight Club happens to be on BBC2 Sun.
22nd)

Fight Club still sits there as one
of my fave's - each time I see it, I want to just throw away all my
possesions. Then half an hour later, I calm down, think no more
about it - then go and play with some expensive toy that I could
never live without after all.
(For all those from the UK, Fight Club happens to be on BBC2 Sun.
22nd)
[/b]

Originally posted by latex bishop
Its one of the few films that is better than the book, in a "one flew
over the cooko's nest" way. But, if you read Chuck Palahniuk's second
book "survivor", it is far better than fight club (well in my opinion
anyway🙂)

Andrew

I thought about taking up Go briefly, infact very briefly. I got
intrigued by it from the movie "Beautiful Mind". I play it occasionally
on itsyourturn.com. I prefer the 9x9 or 13x13 board version because
the games eventually finish. A game on a 19x19 board moving every
three days could take years.

There are Go books and Go software, much like chess. The books
mainly go over complicated opening moves and concepts such as life
and death.

I have, I thought it was OK. I thought the central idea of if you save a
life you are responible for it was interesting, but I thought it needed a
few more ideas along the way to make the story special. I found I was
more interested in whether he would get it together with the Doctor
more interesting than the central theme of the book. I never really
empahised with the central character.

For rules of Go, try: http://gobase.org/studying/rules/?id=0&ln=uk (isn't Google wonderful?)

As for Pi, I agree, it's a great film. A must see for those who thought the lead character in
Fight Club was a bit mellow! 😀 (BTW Russ, could you add an 'evil grin' smiley?)

Go is simple but difficult, but I know of an even simpler (though probably not quite as
difficult) game called Hex: You have a grid of hexagons in a rhombus (diamond) shape.
Each player controls one pair of opposite sides. The players take it in turns to place counters
on the hexagons, and the aim is to make an unbroken chain linking 'your' sides together.
Those of you who've seen 'Blockbusters' will be familiar with the concept. Hex has the
advantage that you can play it with a pen and a piece of paper with the board drawn on it,
because the counters are never removed. One thing I find particularly interesting is the
following rule which is sometimes used in Hex:

After the first player makes his first move, the second player may choose either to play on by
making a move himself, or to switch places with his opponent, with the opponent then playing
as if he had gone second. NB: The second player ONLY has this choice on his first move.

The beauty of this rule is that, in theory at least, it neatly cancels out any advantage in going
first. Now this rule could easily be added to chess or Go, but for some reason it isn't. Has
anyone seen this rule in other games?