Documentary on the International Math Olympiad

[jedishrfu]

TL;DR Summary

BBC documentary on the IMO following several students around as they compete for spots on the team.

and the associated movie staring Asa Butterfield as Nathan Ellis (Daniel Lightwing in the documentary)



You can find the movie on Amazon Prime Video as a Prime movie.

 

[jedishrfu]

And here's some stuff on the IMO math areas:

https://artofproblemsolving.com/wiki/index.php/International_Mathematical_Olympiad

 

[jedishrfu]

While we're on the topic of math movies, here's my list of favorites:
- Gifted - 7 yr old girl has the gift from her mother and her uncle tries to raise as a normal child
- Good Will Hunting - rebellious teen with the gift gets discovered and must decide his path in life
- Beautiful Mind - John Nash, a brilliant student with the gift suffers from mental illness
- The Man Who Knew Infinity - life of Ramanujan
- Proof - family mystery behind a math proof accredited to father by daughter

of these I like Gifted the most. Its a beautifully told story.

The sadness of brilliance is to be misunderstood and to live of the edge of sanity.

 

[pinball1970]

Summary:: BBC documentary on the IMO following several students around as they compete for spots on the team.



and the associated movie staring Asa Butterfield as Nathan Ellis (Daniel Lightwing in the documentary)



You can find the movie on Amazon Prime Video as a Prime movie.

Quite sad to watch, even if they are not diagnosed with Asperges syndrome some of them to suffer from isolation and bullying.

Daniel could not face going up to received his well-earned Silver medal.

One of the most difficult parts was watching Jos describing the role of his parents in his life.

 

[Klystron]

While we're on the topic of math movies, here's my list of favorites:
- Gifted - 7 yr old girl has the gift from her mother and her uncle tries to raise as a normal child
- Good Will Hunting - rebellious teen with the gift gets discovered and must decide his path in life
- Beautiful Mind - John Nash, a brilliant student with the gift suffers from mental illness
- The Man Who Knew Infinity - life of Ramanujan
- Proof - family mystery behind a math proof accredited to father by daughter

of these I like Gifted the most. Its a beautifully told story.

The sadness of brilliance is to be misunderstood and to live of the edge of sanity.

I can reply to the movies I have seen and discussed.

'Good Will' enjoys an excellent script and acting by Matt Damon and friends. Hollywood loves extremes. Matt's character is not only smart, his brilliance baffles Field medal winners. Love interest Minnie Driver is not only pretty and smart but must move to Palo Alto to attend Stanford U, far away from Boston. Will satisfies every child's revenge fantasy by attacking grade school bullies without warning. As an 'adult'.

The emphasis on childhood abuse and poverty adds realism to an already outstanding plot.

'Beautiful Mind' novel and film are both interesting though the movie far outpaces the novel IMO. The formulae scribbled on glass aptly portray a geometrically inclined mind forced to inscribe deep thoughts via insufficient ephemeral symbols. Ed Harris performs brilliantly as the possibly imaginary secret agent provocateur.

 

[pinball1970]

While we're on the topic of math movies, here's my list of favorites:
- Gifted - 7 yr old girl has the gift from her mother and her uncle tries to raise as a normal child
- Good Will Hunting - rebellious teen with the gift gets discovered and must decide his path in life
- Beautiful Mind - John Nash, a brilliant student with the gift suffers from mental illness
- The Man Who Knew Infinity - life of Ramanujan
- Proof - family mystery behind a math proof accredited to father by daughter

of these I like Gifted the most. Its a beautifully told story.

The sadness of brilliance is to be misunderstood and to live of the edge of sanity.

“The man who knew infinity” I have not seen. One to watch for me.

“Little man Tate” Is about a child prodigy, not based on a real story from memory.

There is also “Rain man” of course which is based on a real character.

One of my favourites though is “Phenomenon” with John Travolta, where a normal guy has an experience that causes exceptional changes to his mind.

Robert Duval is brilliant and Brent Spinor also makes an appearance, worth a watch if you have not seen it.

“Infinity” was a bit disappointing, all the stuff they could have covered but they decided to make a love story instead.

 

[jedishrfu]

I really liked Gifted. The story really resonated with me on so many levels.

 

[jedishrfu]

A TV series I liked was Numb3rs. Every episode introduced some new math although many times it was tacked on and was a stretch to believe.

In one episode called Prime Suspect, a brilliiant grad student Niel Patrick Harris cracked the Reimann Hypothesis. His daughter was kidnapped while he was so preoccupied with his work and he was forced to use it to get her back. However, the main character Charlie Epps finds the flaw in the proof meaning it would never work.

 

[pinball1970]

I really liked Gifted. The story really resonated with me on so many levels.

Seen it once. I can't remember how it ends, I'll have to watch again.