A BEAUTIFUL MIND: Inside the Mind of a Genius

Ron Howard’s A Beautiful Mind is a biographical film loosely based on the events in the life of John Nash – a graduate of Princeton University, a researcher at Wheeler Laboratories at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology – the main center of technical thought in the United States, a mathematical genius suffering from schizophrenia, the author of the revolutionary theory of equilibrium, and finally a Nobel Prize laureate. It is an ideal material for making an impressive, emotional film, but not without many pitfalls that American cinema often falls into, such as the threat of pathos and the idolization of the main character. Fortunately, the intuition of the seasoned craftsman – Ron Howard – successfully avoided most of them, resulting in a great film.

The late 1940s, Princeton University. A group of exceptionally talented young mathematicians is preparing for internships at the best universities in the United States. Among them is John Nash (Russell Crowe) – not outstanding in appearance, but a brilliant young scientist. He doesn’t attend classes, doesn’t participate in social gatherings, and avoids people. He believes that learning from books limits his intellectual potential. His only goal is to develop his own, original theory that will secure him a place in history and allow him to work at the most prestigious technical university in the United States. With the help of his roommate – Charles (Paul Bettany), who helps him during moments of doubt, he succeeds. His theory of equilibrium opens the doors to the most coveted and prestigious Wheeler Laboratories at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His brilliant mind does not go unnoticed, resulting in an offer to work for the Department of Defense – the Pentagon, where his supervisor becomes William Parcher (the always excellent Ed Harris). Despite a clear aversion and lack of predisposition, as a doctor, he is forced to also teach students. During one of these lessons, he meets a young student, Alicia (Jennifer Connelly).

Beautiful Mind tells the story of a genius’s struggle with the mental illness that afflicts him – schizophrenia, and as such, it is not particularly exceptional in American cinema. What makes it exceptional is the way the story is told – in a sense, from the inside. Howard takes us – the viewers – inside the brilliant mind, allowing us to see the surroundings through his eyes, to perceive reality in a way that is reserved for mentally ill people, while simultaneously keeping us unaware of the main character’s actual state. This creates a stunning effect when the threads of the story begin to unravel. Howard has created two realities for the audience’s understanding of his work: the reality of John’s delusions, the hallucinations of his disease-ridden mind, and the real reality in which the rest of the surrounding world functions.

The film’s narrative structure is similarly constructed. Up until the turning point, the viewer watches it with the firm belief that they are being told the biography of a not entirely balanced genius, the author of a groundbreaking theory at the intersection of economics and mathematics, but then, a second layer is revealed, one that no one expected. That second layer turns out to be… reality. This original stylistic device engages the viewer to such an extent that for a moment it is hard to shake the impression that the filmmaker has tricked us. However, after a moment, we understand that all of this was to depict the protagonist’s schizophrenic mind and was actually a prelude to the true part of the story, a story of sacrifice, love, and the power of the human mind.

Schizophrenia is an illness that prevents a person from distinguishing between reality and fiction generated by their own brain, which inevitably leads to their merging. The person sees things, people who are not there, participates in situations that do not take place. It is difficult to imagine how complicated it must be to overcome such a weakness. A Beautiful Mind tells the story of the protagonist’s struggle with himself, but it also leaves no doubt that achieving success is impossible without the support of someone who will offer their love, even if this effort seems beyond one’s strength.

When filming such a compelling story, it is very easy to fall into the trap of pathos and schematic storytelling. Ron Howard successfully avoided most of these pitfalls, and a significant part of the credit goes to the lead actor – Russell Crowe. Casting this actor in such an atypical role for him was quite a surprise. Crowe, mostly remembered for his “strong” roles in Gladiator, L.A. Confidential, and the earlier Romper Stomper, here played somewhat against his physicality. If anyone had any doubts up to that point about his acting abilities, they should have been dispelled after watching A Beautiful Mind. From the moment I watched this film, schizophrenia has a face, and that face is Russell Crowe’s.

He is perfectly paired with Jennifer Connelly, who plays his student and later wife. Watching her as Alicia, there is no doubt that she is the only woman capable of sacrificing for the love of John Nash. Another interesting and noteworthy role is the psychiatrist – Dr. Rosen (Christopher Plummer), like Cerberus guarding the thin line between the world of delusions and the world of reality. I don’t know whether this was a deliberate dramatic device or a result of the film’s editing, but the character of Dr. Rosen gives the impression of not being entirely real. The viewer is not really sure if he is not another creation of Nash’s mind, which is further intensified by the fact that he appears at critical moments for the protagonist’s mental state.

Although Ron Howard is more known as a skilled craftsman than an inspired artist, with this film he proved that psychological drama is not foreign to him. Moreover, by making a film based on the life of a real person – John Nash – he brought us closer to the essence of his genius, but also to a certain element of madness, which most of us can only imagine.