B2K At The Movies: The Zero Theorem

In the day to day chaos of work and home and work again, Qohen Leth (brilliantly portrayed by the wonderful Christoph Waltz) just wants to be home when his call comes in.  

Set in a futuristic time, director Terry Gilliam (12 Monkeys, Brazil, Monty Python and The Holy Grail) takes us on a visual journey in search for the meaning of life.  Qohen Leth, an anti-social computer hacker wants to know what the purpose of his existence is.  There has to be more than work, and home.  There has to be an escape route to infinity.  But he would like to discover this meaning of life from home because he’s expecting a very important call and he won’t be able to answer that call if he’s at work.  He keeps insisting to see “management” of ManCom – the company he works for – so he can get permission to work from home.  However, The Management is considered god-like and no one speaks directly to The Management, even though they watch every move you make.  

Qohen (pronounced Cowen) is special.  He is unaware that The Management (played by Matt Damon) has been following him because of Qohen’s successful goals.  The Management has a job for Qohen to work on “The Zero Theorem” which would explain the reason for human existence by making zero equal 100%.  Qohen feels absolutely nothing.  No emotion, no joy, no satisfaction.  He wants to be left alone.  But he goes nuts while working at home to tirelessly get the equation of zero=100%.  So The Management sends in tools to distract him.  An internet prostitute named Bainsley (Melanie Thierry) and The Management’s own brainiac son, Bob (excellently played by Lucas Hedges).  Bainsley is supposed to work on bringing out Qohen’s lust, and Bob is supposed to hone Qohen’s intellect.  

While you’re watching this film, you’ll be noticing all the visual beauty going on and not noticing the details that Terry Gilliam throws at you.  Such as: Qohen lives in a burned-out church, which could represent the fall of the traditional church.  In fact, there’s a billboard on the city streets that promotes “The Church of Batman the Redeemer” to show you that even though that might sound silly now…in the future, people just might believe Batman is the Holy One.  Qohen is waiting on a call that, when he answered when it rang last time, filled him up with immense joy.  And he just wants that joy again.  That could be representing his “calling”.  We are all waiting for our call.  In the meantime, Dr. Shrink-Rom (played by Tilda Swinton) is an internet program that interacts with Qohen online.

This movie is about something…or it could be about nothing.  That’s the beauty of it all.  And I really don’t think ANY other actor alive could have pulled off the part of Qohen like Christoph Waltz.  This part was custom made for him.  Christoph is amazing.  If you have 107 minutes to kill and would like to fill it with wonder, wisdom, and wierdness…The Zero Theorem is perfect for you.  This is sure to be a cult hit for years and years to come.