Customer Reviews

American Experience: A Brilliant Madness

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's been about a year since Ron Howard released the film "A Beautiful Mind" based on Sylvia Nasar's biography of the same name.

Some viewers found the film superficial and not a faithful, complete representation of Nash's life. A few readers found the book a little inaccessible with its detail and its extensive footnoting and documentation.

"A Brilliant Madness" allows viewers to examine the life of John Nash with the accessibility of the movie and the credibility of the book.

"A Brilliant Madness" starts with the early boyhood of Nash and chronicles his life to the point where he receives the Nobel Prize. It includes footage narrated by Nash himself, his wife, his sister, fellow mathematicians, and biographer Nassar. It shows both his achievements and his illness. It includes large blocks of his life that the movie leaves out.

I can understand why a feature-type movie could not accurately and completely document a life as complex and multi-faceted as Nash's. It would have to develop too many characters, explain too many complex mathematical formulas, and go in too many directions. The movie does a good job of showing who he is through the art of the film.

The book, on the other hand, goes into much more detail and is very good for a reader who wants to commit some effort to understanding both Nash's accomplishments and his illness. It is very thorough and remarkably accessible for such a thorough treatment.

"A Brilliant Madness," however does a fine job of presenting a credible introduction to Nash's life and work in a relatively short time. Viewers whose interest is peaked can then seek out "A Beautiful Mind" if they so desire.

In this PBS Biographical Documentary,"A Brilliant Madness" tells the story of the Nobel Prize winning mathematical genius and Bluefield West Virginia native "John Forbes Nash" who was the inspiration for the award winning blockbuster movie"A Beautiful Mind" starring Russell Crowe as John Nash.Reknowned as" The most Remarkable Mathmetician Of The Second Half Of The 20th Century".John Nash reflects in this film on his life and tragic illness saying that"Madness" can be an escape,"In Madness,I thought that I was the most important person in the world!!"At age 30,Nash suffered a horrific nervous breakdown.He thought Aliens were sending him messages,became obsesses with secret numbers and saw conspiracies all around him.Diagnosed with Paranoid Schizophrenia,Nash spent a decade in and out of mental hospitals,surviving with the support of his wife Alicia and former Colleagues.During that time,A mathematical proof and theory that he had written became the foundation of modern economics.Somehow he miraculously recovered and transformed himself in the 1980's.Then in 1994,Nash capped his remarkable return from madness by winning the Nobel Prize.This remarkable biographical documentary although somewhat diffferent from the movie"A Beautiful Mind"is a wonderful addition or by itself most informative and very well worth watching!!

If the film A Beautiful Mind left you non-plussed, don't worry. Where Beautiful Mind was strewn with Hollywood concocted implausibilities and only hinted at the real, far more interesting story of John Nash, this *is* the real story and in this case, the real story is about 50 times more interesting than Hollywood's tricked up version. Where I didn't really care for Beautiful Mind, I found this documentary riveting. One of my favorite films, it is a fascinating study of a unique individual, his affliction, and his gift. And if you liked the Holywood version, you will still love having the holes in that story filled. Highest recommendation.

This tape is a remarkable success story on two separate levels. The first is the brilliance of the mathematics that led to John Nash earning a Nobel Prize in economics. In the second case, it is a triumph over an incredibly debilitating mental illness. When he was twenty, Nash did the work that would eventually win him the highest honor of science, and at the age of thirty he began suffering from mental illness. He believed that he was receiving communications from aliens, thought that he had been named Emperor of Antarctica and became obsessed with the idea of secret messages.
This led to him being unable to do any mathematical work or teaching. His colleagues and his wife did what they could to help him and he was hospitalized for mental illness. The scenes of the therapy he received are unnerving. The sight of the patients undergoing insulin therapy and being turned into the human equivalent of a limp sponge is very disturbing. Fortunately, Nash suddenly found the will and strength to rise up from the depths of his illness. It took years, but he finally reached the point where he once again could become a functional member of the mathematical community and personally receive his award.
Nash, his mathematical colleagues and their spouses, and his wife and children are all heavily interviewed on this tape. Nash in particular is brutally honest in his discussions, at one point saying, "Madness can be an escape. In madness, I thought I was the most important person in the world." His wife and child are also very candid, from her words, you know the depth of his wife's frustration as she tried to cope with John as his mind was going elsewhere.
This is one of those tapes that will raise the following question in your mind. "How much distance is there between genius and insanity?" Clearly, at different points in his life, John Nash displayed both and this is an accurate chronicle of his personal journey between them. His life was the genesis for the award winning movie, "A Beautiful Mind", but I consider this tape to be better than the movie. For when you listen to the people who had to deal with Nash in his periods of insanity, it all becomes real to you. I strongly recommend this movie and will show it in my class if I ever again teach a course in the history of mathematics.

This explanation of John Nash's life is better and more inspiring than the movie version (Beautiful Mind).

It displays a wonderful (though apparentlly immensely painful) transformation of a genius, fixated on accolades and self fulfillment, to a truly generous, forthright, and caring person who ultimately got the acclaim he desired.

It is also a poignant and deserved tribute to the endurance of those who loved and cared for him. It brings to mind thoughts of Godly redemption.

Hurray for John Nash and his family and friends.

This is a good work to watch after seeing the Ron Howard film. It gives a fuller picture of John Nash's life and trials. Nash comes off as the typical eccentric professor one encounters in university settings but he's very likable. You don't have to be a math and economics expert to be in awe of Nash's accomplishments. You will also admire his friends and family's dedication during his roughest periods.

My only annoynance was the commentary. The filmmakers seemed to be too caught up in the technical aspects of the film such as lighting, camera work, etc. It just seemed out of place for a documentary.

This documentary is basically a synopsis of Sylvia Nasar's "Beautiful Mind" book, and therefore offers a sensitive and accurate portrayal of John Nash and his remarkable life (remarkable in both uplifting and distressing ways). The narrative of the documentary has a good flow, and we get interview excerpts with his wife, sister, colleagues, wives of colleagues, a childhood friend, Nasar, and Nash himself. The result is that we learn about many things, including the ambition of genius, solidarity in the mathematics community, the impacts of mental illness, the satisfaction of redemption, and the value of hope. We don't learn much about game theory itself, but that's OK, since it's a very technical subject which is probably best learned from other dedicated sources anyway.

I highly recommend watching this documentary, and then following up with the book (or audiobook). But I don't recommend watching the superficial and highly fictionalized "Beautiful Mind" movie, which I consider to be bordering on rubbish.

I showed this documentary to my students after showing "A Beautiful Mind". It was a great way to open up a discussion about how mental illness is depicted in film. I highly recommend this film.

I teach AP Economics and use this video as part of my unit on the application of game theory to oligopolistic market structures. This video is factually accurate, unlike the movie it followed, so it is a way to bring the now famous mathematician to life as well as his contributions to game theory and how they have been applied to various types of economic analysis.

This is the PBS Documentary/Biography"A Brilliant Madness"which is the life story Nobel Prize Winner John Nash which is the Character and inspiration for the Academy award winning movie"A Beautiful Mind"starring Russell Crowe which is an excellent addition to the movie and available in both VHS or DVD.