The Zero Theorem
Short description
The Zero Theorem is a science fiction drama set in a future London where a shadowy corporation known as Management watches over everyday life through surveillance devices called ManCams. Qohen Leth, an eccentric computer genius, has chosen to live as a recluse inside a ruined chapel so he can devote himself to a secret assignment: a strange theorem that may reveal whether human existence has any purpose at all. Management disrupts his isolation by sending two people into his life, the mysterious Bainsley and Bob, a gifted young man whose inventions allow Qohen to look inward in ways he never expected. The project itself is controlled by forces with their own interest in the answer.
Terry Gilliam directed the film from a screenplay by Pat Rushin, with Christoph Waltz leading a cast that includes David Thewlis, Mélanie Thierry, Lucas Hedges, Matt Damon and Ben Whishaw. It is the thirteenth of the fourteen features Gilliam has directed, arriving between The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.
Made for about 9 million dollars, the film returned roughly 1 million worldwide. On IMDb it holds 6 out of 10 from 52,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.1 out of 10 from 1,391 votes. A critics' rating of 5.6 out of 10 from 126 reviews places it slightly below the audience scores, which cluster around the same middling level.
What's left behind the scenes
- While scouting locations, director Terry Gilliam used the Google Earth project and only made his first trip to Romania after making his selections.
- When filming in the UK was initially planned, the film's budget was $20 million. Then it was decided to move to Bucharest, Romania, where filming cost only $8.5 million.
- As Terry Gilliam later recalled, some actors were on set for only one day – for example, Tilda Swinton, Ben Whishaw, Peter Stormare; Matt Damon was on set for 4 days, and David Thewlis for a whole week.
- Screenwriter Pat Rushin and his wife can be seen in one scene. They are sitting in the background on a park bench. His wife is reading a newspaper, and Pat is writing something. In reality, at that moment he was writing the words from the messages displayed throughout the film in the "Mancom Motivational" ticker.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
