The Man Who Knew Infinity

Srinivasa Ramanujan, a poor clerk in Madras, has his mathematical gift noticed at work. He begins corresponding with G. H. Hardy at Cambridge and travels to England during the First World War, where he meets both racial prejudice and tuberculosis. Matt Brown directed, from Robert Kanigel's biography. Dev Patel plays Ramanujan and Jeremy Irons plays Hardy. Brown developed the project for eight years; filming began in August 2014 at Trinity College, Cambridge. The central conflict is about method: Ramanujan arrives at results by intuition and Hardy demands proof. His first application for a Trinity fellowship is refused through institutional bias; Hardy eventually secures his election as a Fellow of the Royal Society. Ramanujan died at thirty-two. It premiered at the 2015 Toronto Film Festival. Rotten Tomatoes sits at 63 percent. Mathematicians praised its accuracy, and the London Mathematical Society said it outshines Good Will Hunting in almost every way. Some critics found it all too conventional. On a 10 million dollar budget it grossed 12.3 million worldwide. Who it is for: viewers who like scientist biographies and period drama. Who it is not for: anyone expecting to see mathematics on screen. The film is interested in the relationship between two men, not in formulas.