A Beautiful Mind PDF

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An analysis essay on the movie "A Beautiful Mind" for the Intro to American cinema class....

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A BEAUTIFUL MIND “A Beautiful Mind” is a drama/biography of an extremely intelligent mathematician, John Nash. Even though the movie is longer than an average feature film, all its components keep the plot on track. All scenes are significant, they move the story forward and reveal more and more information. There were many scenes, or even shots which built up the tension. The first scene, which could be regarded as the inciting incident, or the “hook” to the story occurs at 21:25. In this scene John has developed his idea and is presenting it on a paper to his professor at Princeton University. That is when the audience gets really into the story as well as we learn the meaning of the title - John has a beautiful mind. The second scene that builds up the tension happens at 23:55, when he gets a job for the Pentagon cracking the codes, or at least that’s what - audience and John believe at that time. He gets recognized and is respected for his achievements, he is the man with the beautiful mind; one in a billion. From that scene the story nicely keeps moving forward - he is teaching, meets Alicia and the two get married, life smoothly goes on and everything seems to fall in its place - it’s all good. Yet, next part of the story that builds up a tension and definitely is a plot twist is a sequence of scenes during which the viewers learn that John has a schizophrenia. It begins during the mathematical conference when John is caught by the doctor and dragged into the car at 1:04:30. It ends at 1:08:12 with the doctor talking to Alicia about her husband’s condition as she does not want to believe it. “Have you ever met Charles? Have you seen a picture of him?” leaves the poor woman speechless. “According to Princeton records, John lived alone”. He did not even have a roommate! Charles is John’s imaginary friend! This scene was truly shocking. The next scene that builds up the tension occurs at 1:29:14. At that time, John stopped taking his medicine. What is going to happen to the sick man? The scene gets the audience deeper into the story - we want to know more, what will be the consequences of John’s decision. We find out that John sees Parcher, Charles, Marcee and others once again. The tension again builds up when Alicia finds out her husband is working on the “project” again at 1:34:05. The tension keeps building up as at 1:36:10 John knocks out Alicia and their son, protecting them from imaginary Parcher. The climax of the story occurs at 1:37:30, in a scene, or even one shot, as John says the words “Marcee can’t be real, she never gets old”. He finally acknowledges his disease, he finally realizes that these people are not real. Though in the next scene, during the talk with doctor Rosen, he still sees them, we see a definite change in him. After that the story comes to the resolution - Alicia agrees to not sign the documents and therefore lets John to stay at home, with words. John. even though still sees the imaginary characters, slowly learns to live with the disease. Finally, at 2:04:00 John receives the Nobel prize for his outstanding mathematical achievements and the movie comes to an end. Changes in costume, posture, and gait are all essential to create the persona of John Nash. They were all accessories used by Crowe to get into the role and better identify with the internal changes John was going through. At first, John’s posture and gait are a bit awkward - he seems unsure of every step that he takes. He also seems to keep his head down a lot, for example at 14:33 when he catches up with the professor. As a Princeton University student, he is dressed in an elegant way. As he develops and publishes his idea on governing dynamics which gains respect and acknowledgement , and, what he strongly believes, a top secret job of great importance - we see a bust of confidence in his character - his walk is more certain. For example at the office scene at 27:35, his moves are firmer. During the ball which he attends with Alicia, his posture is more straight and he tries to keep his eyes off the floor - at 40:48. His walk stays facile during the uncomfortable situations, for example at 51:45 when he proposes to Alicia after being late for the dinner. After diagnozing him with schizophrenia, the assets of John’s character change - he goes back to limping and waddling every time he walks. He keeps looking around as if someone was stalking him His walk is unsure, and others mock him for it, like at 1:52:40. At 1:53:25, we see John shaking his head in disbelief as he is not sure whether what he is seeing is real or a result of his imagination. Even after he learns to cope with the disease, he still lumbers, for example at 1:57:28. His gestures also go through metamorphosis - from awkward at the beginning, to more stabilized before diagnosis and then again to awkward, for example as he welcomes Sol when he is back home

with some form of a handshake at 1:21:49. He becomes rather dry and unaware of his surroundings. The changes in Crowe’s costume help him to adjust to the new surroundings of John - for example the hospital uniform gets him more into the role. At the same time, he had to greatly prepare for the role mentally - even though he was wearing the suit for most of the movie, he had to stay uncomfortable and out of place as schizophrenic John Nash. There are many really great close up of Crowe as he portrays John Nash throughout the movie. I think that the actor’s work was very well done in each scene. The audience can feel the tension, the confusion and disease that John is going through, together with people that are close to him, especially Alicia. “When characters are unable or unwilling to express their feelings openly, body language can often express them silently” (p. 244). The close ups of Crowe as John Nash definitely prove this sentence truth (and so do the shots of him walking, some of which I listed in the previous paragraph). Great close up of Crowe as John happens at 16:06 as he is using the window to work on his dynamics idea. He is focused, all of his mind stays in the idea. He does not let himself get distracted. He keeps working to the point the audience starts to understand that he is crazy. A close up of John’s focused mind in work occurs at 25:09. He stays unbothered by the events happening behind his back. One of the close ups that portrays Crowe’s feelings as John occurs at 38:47 as Alicia asks him to dinner. His slight confusion, the way he overthinks even such human things and plans for them - the audience can see all that happening on his face. At 56:24 we see different side of John, he is not focused, his mind in work. He is scared, fears the Soviets (which are imaginary). He looks through the window, his finger on the blinds. He is in panic. Another close up on John’s face occurs at 1:04:54 as he is being trapped by the doctor and his helpers. He is in pain. The audience can probably feel his fastened heartbeat, and his fear of the Soviets he believes are kidnapping him. Another great close up occurs at 1:29:30, to which a great soundtrack added more tension. By the few seconds camera stays focused on his face, we see John’s mind working again, furthermore, at that moment we see the comeback of the disease. He just hid the medicine, and the audience grasps “Oh no” as John’s face changes. The next shot of the newspaper and the letters forming a code only assures the audience of their expectations. I think that Jennifer Connelly was absolutely brilliant as Alicia Nash and her winning the Best Supporting Actress award is well-deserved. She was a loyal, positive wife. If it was not for Alicia’s support, John’s recovery might have as well not happened. During the Nobel prize ceremony he thanked her for the dedication. The audience is left wondering whether John would be able to return as a well respected and academically recognized professor if it was not for his wife. Even though Alicia is introduces as an intriguing subplot at 30:00 when she confidently opens the window against professor Nash’s will and convinces the construction workers to work someplace else so that the class can keep the windows open without having to deal with the noise. It is clear she gains John’s respect at that time as he smiles and says “There’s always a number of solutions for any given problem”. He is intrigued by her, and there definitely is chemistry between the two. However, the strong romance that develops and leads to the marriage is also surprising; the two start off as a professor and a student opposing each other. There are so many scenes in which she proves her loyalty, unconditional love and support for John Nash. In the hospital, as she watches John in his room, she asked the doctor, worried “What is wrong with him?”. We can feel the pain she is going through. As John is late to their dinner at 51:45, she cannot stay mad at him. As soon as he tells her what is on his mind, when he proposes to her - she is not able to hold in the big smile on her face. Connelly was so deep in her role - her face expressions, slow and delicate movements make Alicia’s character more realistic and closer to the audience than John Nash himself. The scene at 1:12:17 as Alicia is on the mission of proving whether John is not schizophrenic or not is very well shot, in a cold temperature. She discovers the mail that John left at the mail box - not touched by anyone but him. She slightly comes to realization the doctor is right. This is one of really good scenes that tells a lot about Alicia’s character, her dedication, support and finally disbelief and disappointment as she finds out something she definitely did not want to be proved truth. One of really good frame compositions of the movie happens at 1:24:35. With Alicia on the left and John on the right, separated by the wall. Alicia, worried, busy with cooking dinner. John on the other side

of the wall, sitting by the table, bored and not involved in what is going on. The audience can feel the metaphorical wall, the distance that keeps building up between the two, as a result of John’s disease. Yet, Alicia stays strong, trying to get John to engage in every day activities - “You could take out the trash”. Connelly played Alicia Nash in such a believable way that the award for the Best Supporting Actress is an accurate price for her hard work and dedication....