Pi (1998) Movie Script
'9:13. Personal note.
'When I was a little kid,
'my mother told me
not to stare into the sun.
'So once, when I was six, I did.
'The doctors didn't know
if my eyes would ever heal.
'I was terrified,
'alone in that darkness.
'Slowly,
'daylight crept in
through the bandages
'and I could see.
'But something else
had changed inside me.
'That day
I had my first headache.'
[Woman calls]
Jenna, come back here.
Max, Max, can I do it?
- Jenna.
- What's 322 times 491?
Right!
OK, 73 divided by 22?
..18...18...18...18...
'12:45.
Restate my assumptions.
'One: Mathematics
is the language of nature.
'Two: Everything around us
'can be represented and
understood through numbers.
'Three: If you graph the numbers
of any system, patterns emerge.
'Therefore, there are patterns
everywhere in nature.
'Evidence:
'The cycling
of disease epidemics;
'the wax and wane
of caribou populations;
'sun spot cycles;
'the rise and fall of the Nile.
'So, what about
the stock market?
'The universe of numbers that
represents the global economy.
'Millions of hands at work,
billions of minds.
'A vast network, screaming
with life. An organism.
'A natural organism.
'My hypothesis:
'Within the stock market,
there is a pattern as well...
'Right in front of me,
'hiding behind the numbers.
Always has been.
'12:50, press return.'
[Phone rings]
Hello.
[Woman]
Maximillian Cohen, please.
- Yeah?
- Hi, it's Marcy Dawson.
I'm a partner at the predictive
strategy firm...
- I told you...
- Sorry I haven't called.
I hoped we could have lunch
tomorrow. Say one o'clock?
- Max, good.
- Hey, Devi.
- I grabbed you some samosas.
- Great.
- Your hair!
- What are you doing?
- You can't go out like that.
- It's fine.
- Don't worry.
- It's fine.
- You need a mom.
- I gotta go.
Max. Here, your samosas.
Thanks.
'16:23. Results.
'Euclid predicts
NTC will break 100 tomorrow.
'A good bet. Other anomalies:
'lt predicts PRO NET settling
at sixty-five and a quarter,
a career high.'
[Man] Am I bothering you?
I'm sorry, I'll put it out.
Name's Lenny Meyer.
And you are?
Max.
Is that Max? Max...?
- Max Cohen.
- Cohen! Jewish.
It's OK. I'm a Jew too.
Do you practise?
No. I'm not interested
in religion.
- Did you ever hear of Kabbalah?
- No.
- Jewish mysticism.
- Look, I'm busy right here.
I understand.
But right now is a very exciting
moment in our history.
Right now is
a critical moment in time.
- Really?
- Yeah. It's very exciting.
Have you ever put on Tefillin?
You know Tefillin?
Yeah, I know, it looks strange.
It's an amazing tradition.
It has a tremendous power. It's
a mitzvah Jewish men should do.
Mitzvahs, good deeds.
They purify us.
Bring us closer to God.
Wanna try it?
- Shit.
- You all right, Max?
Please. Please, a small one.
'17:55. Personal note.
Second attack in under 24 hours.
'Administered 80 milligrams
Promozine HCI
'and six milligrams
Sumattrapan orally,
'as well as one milligram
Dihydroric-atamine-mezilayte
'by subcutaneous injection.
[Coughs and splutters]
[Whimpers]
[Creaking]
[Rattling]
[Banging]
[Silence]
[Phone rings]
[Phone rings]
- Hi.
- Mr Cohen?
Marcy Dawson here again,
from Lancet-Percy.
I checked my schedule and I'm
in Chinatown tomorrow at three.
I'd love to stop by to meet you.
It'll be worth it for us.
How's three sound?
- How did you get my address?
- I got it from Columbia.
Three it is.
Looking forward to it.
Wait a minute...
[Click]
Max.
Stop thinking, Max.
Just feel. Use your intuition.
- What did you think of Hamlet?
- I didn't get to it.
It's been a month. You haven't
taken a single break.
I'm so close.
Have you met the new fish
my niece bought me?
I named her lcarus after you,
my renegade pupil.
You fly too high,
you'll get burnt.
I look at you,
I see myself 30 years ago.
My greatest pupil.
Published at 16, PhD at 20.
But life
isn't just mathematics, Max.
I spent 40 years searching
for patterns in Pi.
- I found nothing.
- You found things.
I found things...
but not a pattern.
'Not a pattern.
'11:22. Personal note.
'Sol died a little when
he stopped research on Pi.
'It wasn't just the stroke.
'He stopped caring.
'How could he stop,
'when he was so close to seeing
Pi for what it really is?
'How could you stop believing
that there is a pattern,
'an ordered shape behind those
numbers, when you were so close?
'We see the simplicity
of the circle,
'we see the maddening complexity
of the endless numbers,
'3.14 off into infinity.'
# Are the stars out tonight?
# I don't mind
if they're cloudy or bright
# For I only have eyes
# For you, dear
# I don't mind
if we're in a... #
Hey, Max.
Lenny Meyer.
I'll put it out.
So... What do you do?
I work with computers. Math.
Math? What kind of math?
Number theory. Research mostly.
No way.
I work with numbers myself.
I mean, not traditional.
I work with the Torah. Amazing!
Hebrew is all math.
It's all numbers.
You know that? Look.
Ancient Jews used Hebrew
as their numerical system.
Each letter's a number.
The Hebrew A, Aleph, is 1 .
B, Bet, is 2.
Understand? But look,
the numbers are interrelated.
Take the Hebrew for father, ab.
Aleph, Bet.
The word for mother, haim.
Aleph, Mem.
The sum of 3 and 41, 44.
Right? Now, the Hebrew word for
child - mother, father, child.
Yelev.
That's 10, 30 and 4.
Torah is just
a long string of numbers.
Some say that it's a code,
sent to us from God.
That's kind of interesting.
That's kid's stuff,
check this out.
The Garden of Eden, Kadem.
Numerical translation, 144.
The value of tree of knowledge,
in the garden. Right?
Aat ha haim. 2, 33. 1, 44. 2, 33.
- You can take those numbers...
- Those are Fibonacci numbers.
They're...?
You know,
like the Fibonacci sequence?
Fibonacci?
Fibonacci is an ltalian
mathematician in the 13th.
If you divide 144 into 233,
- the result approaches Theta.
- Theta?
Theta. The Greek symbol for the
golden ratio, the golden spiral.
Wow.
I never saw that before.
That's like that series
you find in nature?
- Like the face of a sunflower?
- Wherever there are spirals.
See, there's math everywhere.
Hey, I... Max?
'13:26. Restate my assumptions.
'One: Mathematics
is the language of nature.
'Two: Everything around us
'can be represented
and understood through numbers.
'Three: lf you graph
the numbers of any system,
'patterns emerge.
'Therefore, there are patterns
everywhere in nature.
'So what about the stock market?
'A universe of numbers that
represents the global economy.
'Millions of human hands
at work, billions of minds.
'A vast network screaming
with life. An organism.
'A natural organism.
'My hypothesis:
Within the stock market,
'there is a pattern,
right in front of me,
'playing with the numbers.
Always has been.
'10:18, press return.'
[Devi moaning faintly]
[Voice whispers] Max.
Max.
What the...?
Shit!
Aaargh! God damn it!
'10:28. Results.
'Bullshit. Euclid predicts AAR
at six and a half.
'AAR hasn't been
beneath 40 in 20 years.
'Explanations for anomaly:
Human error.
'11:11. Results.
'Failed treatments to date:
'Beta blockers, calcium channel
blockers, adrenaline injections,
'high-dose ibuprofen, steroids,
'trigger metastics,
violent exercise, caffeine,
'acupuncture, marijuana,
'percodan, midrin, tenormen,
sanser, homeopathics...
'No results.
'No results.'
[Thunderclap]
Euclid crashed.
- I lost all my data, hardware.
- Your mainframe?
Burnt.
What... What's happened?
First, I get
these crazy low picks,
then it spit out
this string of numbers.
I never saw anything like it.
And then it fries.
- It crashed.
- You have a print out?
- Of what?
- Of the picks, the number?
- I threw it out.
- What number did it spit out?
I don't know,
a string of digits.
- How many?
- I don't know.
What is it, 100, 1 ,000, 216?
How many?
Probably around 200. Why?
I dealt with some bugs
back in my Pi days.
I wondered
if it was like one I ran into.
Have you met Archimedes?
The one with black spots. See?
You remember
Archimedes of Syracuse? Eh?
The king asks Archimedes
to determine if a present
he has received
is actually solid gold.
Unsolved problem at the time.
It tortures the great Greek
mathematician for weeks.
Insomnia haunts him and he
twists and turns in his bed
for nights on end. Finally,
his equally exhausted wife,
forced to share a bed
with this genius,
convinces him
to take a bath, to relax.
While he's entering the tub,
he notices the bath water rise.
Displacement -
a way to determine volume,
and thus a way
to determine density.
Weight over volume. And thus
Archimedes solves the problem.
He screams "Eureka!"
and he is so overwhelmed,
he runs naked through the
streets to the king's palace
to report his discovery.
Now, what is the moral
of the story?
That a breakthrough will come.
Wrong! The point of the story
is the wife.
Listen to your wife,
she'll give you perspective.
Meaning, you need a break.
You must take a bath
or you'll get nowhere.
There will be no order,
only chaos.
Go home, Max,
and you take a bath.
[Water dripping]
Excuse me.
Can I take a look at the paper?
Oh, my God.
Six and a half.
[Man] Hey...
Hey!
The paper, please.
Mr Cohen? Perfect timing.
I was going to head home.
- Who are you?
- Marcy Dawson. We were meeting.
It's really not...
It's such a pleasure
to finally meet you.
- I studied your paper...
- Excuse me.
- Let's take my car.
- I can't.
Mr Cohen...
Yes!
I just threw out something.
I didn't realise I needed it.
Just a print-out.
I lost my data.
Whoa! I'm sorry. Max.
How're you doing? Lenny Meyer.
- Where you going?
- Up there.
You got five minutes?
Do you wanna try Tefillin?
- Not now.
- I've a car to go to the Shul.
- You got a car?
- That's my friend, Ephraim.
- Let's go.
- Great.
When you said you're Max Cohen,
I didn't realise
you were the Max Cohen.
Your work's revolutionary.
It's inspired the work we do.
- It has?
- Very much so.
The only difference is, we're
not looking at the stock market.
Go ahead.
Wrap that round your hand.
We're searching for a pattern
in the Torah.
- What kind?
- We're not sure.
All we know is
it's 216 digits long.
- OK, stand up, please, Max.
- 216?
That's right. You've gotta
be quiet now. Stand up.
- 216?
- Shh. This goes on your head.
Look at me, Max. Right here.
There you go.
All right. Now, we'll say
a prayer together.
Repeat after me: Shma Yisroel.
- Shma Yisroel.
- Right.
- Adenoi Eloihenu.
- Adenoi Eloihenu.
- Adenoi Echod.
- Adenoi Echod.
Now, what's up, Max?
What is this 216 number, Sol?
Excuse me?
You asked me if I'd seen
a 216-digit number.
Oh, yeah. You mean the bug.
I ran into it working on Pi.
- What do you mean ran into it?
- Max, what's this about?
There are these religious Jews
I've been talking to.
Religious Jews?
Yeah, Hasids,
the guys with beards.
I know them.
I know one in a coffee shop.
He's a number theorist.
The Torah is his data set.
He says they're after
a 216-digit number in the Torah.
Come on, it's just coincidence.
There's something else, though.
What?
You remember those weird
stock picks?
- Yesterday's stock picks? Yes.
- They were correct.
I got two picks on the nose.
Smack on the nose, Sol.
Something's going on.
It has to do with that number.
There's an answer in it.
Max... Come with me.
The ancient Japanese
considered the Go board
to be a microcosm
of the universe.
Although, when it's empty,
it appears simple and ordered,
the possibilities of gameplay
are endless.
No two Go games are alike,
just like snowflakes.
So, the Go board
actually represents
an extremely complex
and chaotic universe.
And that's the truth
of our world, Max.
It can't be
easily summed up with math.
There is no simple pattern.
But as the game progresses, the
possibilities become smaller.
The board takes on order.
Soon, every move's predictable.
So?
So maybe, even though
we're not aware of it,
there is a pattern, an order
underlying every Go game.
Maybe it's like the pattern
in the stock market?
The Torah? This 216 number?
- It's insanity.
- Maybe it's genius.
- I must get that number.
- Hold on! You're losing it.
You have to breathe.
Listen to yourself.
You're connecting my computer
bug with one you might've had
and some religious hogwash.
If you want the number 216,
you can find it everywhere.
corner to your front door,
you spend in the elevator
When your mind becomes obsessed
you filter everything else out
and find that thing everywhere.
You've chosen 216 and you'll
find it everywhere in nature.
But, Max,
as soon as you discard
scientific rigour,
you are no longer
a mathematician,
you're a numerologist.
Mr Cohen?
Mr Cohen...
God damn it! I'm sick
of you following me.
I'm not interested in money.
I want to understand our world.
I don't deal with materialists
like you.
I'm sorry. I'm very sorry.
I admit
we've been too aggressive.
But all I ask is that
you give me five minutes.
- As a token, accept this.
- I don't want your money.
The suitcase isn't filled
with 50s, or gold, or diamonds.
Just silicon. A Ming Mecca chip.
Ming Mecca? They're not even
de-classified yet.
You're right, they're not. But
Lancet-Percy has many friends.
Beautiful, isn't it?
Do you know how rare these are?
What do you...?
Mr Cohen?
- Are you OK?
- No.
Mr Coh... Sir, are you sick?
[Dripping]
Hey!
[Whistle blows]
[Whistle blows]
[Train whistle]
C'mon, buddy. Get up.
It's Coney lsland, last stop.
Here. For your nose.
[Bleeping]
Jenna, come back! Jenna!
Jenna, come back here.
- Farrouhk?
- No, it's Max, from next door.
Max. Is everything all right?
- Do you have any iodine?
- Did you cut yourself?
No, it's to stain a slide.
Ah. Science.
The pursuit of knowledge.
One second.
You surprised me.
I thought you were Farrouhk.
Here we are.
What are you examining?
A potato?
No. Just something
for my computer. Thanks.
- Shalom.
- Lenny, it's Max Cohen.
Max. What're you doing now?
I was thinking about
our conversation last night.
- That's good.
- I wanna help.
'4:42. New evidence.
'Remember Pythagoras.
'Mathematician, cult leader.
Athens, circa 500 BC.
'Major belief: The universe
is made of numbers.
'Major contribution:
'The golden ratio.
'Best represented geometrically
as the golden rectangle.
'Visually, there exists
a graceful equilibrium
'between its length and width.
'When it's squared, it leaves a
smaller golden rectangle behind,
'with the same unique ratio.
'The squaring can continue,
smaller and smaller,
'to infinity.
'11:18. More evidence.
'Remember da Vinci. Artist,
inventor, sculptor, naturalist.
'ltaly, C15th.
'Rediscovered the perfection
of the golden rectangle
'and pencilled it
into his masterpieces.
'Connecting a curve through the
concentric golden rectangles,
'You generate the mythical
golden spiral.
'Pythagoras loved this shape,
for he found it in nature -
'a nautilus shell, rams' horns,
whirlpools, tornadoes,
'our fingerprints, our DNA
and even our Milky Way.
'9:22. Personal note.
'When I was a little kid,
'my mother told me
not to stare into the sun.
'So once, I did.
'At first, the brightness
was overwhelming,
'but I kept looking,
forcing myself not to blink.
'And then the brightness
began to dissolve.
'My pupils shrank to pinholes
and everything came into focus.
'And for a moment I understood.
'My new hypothesis:
if we're built from spirals,
'while living in a giant spiral,
'then everything we do
is infused with the spiral.
'10:15.
'Personal note.
'lt's fair to say
I'm stepping out on a limb.
'But I'm on the edge
where it happens.'
[Marcy Dawson]
'I'm happy you...'
Look, what do you want
in exchange for the chip?
You tech' guys.
I think you know what we want.
- I may not find anything.
- We'll take the risk.
First, I want you
to call off the surveillance.
Done. Anything else?
Yeah, I'm a very private person.
Just knock on my door
and leave the suitcase outside.
I don't wanna talk to anybody.
- How do I know you're home?
- I'll knock back.
- The Torah.
- Coffee.
What is it?
In Hebrew,
characters and numbers.
No, the 216 number. What is it?
I don't know.
If you can find it,
maybe we can figure it out.
- Can you really find it?
- If it's there, I'll find it.
[Knocking]
Max.
Jenna.
- Can we do it?
- Not now.
Please, Max?
Happy birthday, Euclid.
'18:30. Press return.
[Pulsing bleep]
[Woman murmuring]
'18:33. Press return.
[Devi moans with pleasure]
[Drilling whine]
Hell!
You fuck! You fuck!
[Wails]
Fuck!
Fuck!
[Wails]
Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you!
Fuck you!
[Screams in pain]
[Phone rings]
Yes, hello?
He's busy right now, I'm sorry.
You were screaming.
[Mrs Ovadia] Who said you could
put locks on the door, Mr Cohen?
[Devi] Are you OK?
You're out, you hear me?
Out of here!
- I've had it with you!
- Get out!
Let's go. [Phone rings]
God damn it, no! You're the one
out of here, mister.
Get out!
Get out! Get out!
Get out!
Are you OK?
Get out!
[Phone continues to ring]
You bastard.
Nineteen and a half.
Thirty-nine and an eighth.
Six and three quarters.
Seven and an eighth.
Twelve and a quarter.
I know these numbers.
They're going down...
down...down.
You lied to me.
You have it?
OK, sit down.
I gave up before I pinpointed
it, but my guess is that, er,
certain problems cause computers
to get stuck in a loop.
The loop leads to meltdown,
but just before they crash
they become aware
of their own structure.
The computer has a sense
of its own silicon nature
and it prints out
its ingredients.
The computer becomes conscious?
In... In, er...some ways...
I guess.
Studying the pattern
made Euclid conscious of itself.
It died spitting out the number.
Consciousness is the number?
No, Max. It's only a nasty bug.
- It's more than that.
- No. It's a dead end!
- There's nothing there!
- It's a door, Sol. A door.
A door to a cliff, you're
driving yourself over the edge.
- You need to stop.
- You were afraid.
- That's why you quit.
- I got burnt.
- Come on.
- It caused my stroke!
That's bullshit! It's
mathematics, numbers, ideas.
Mathematicians
should go to the edge.
- You taught me that.
- It's death!
You can't tell me what it is.
You've retreated to your Go
and books and goldfish.
Max, go home.
- You're not satisfied.
- Go home. Get out...
I'm gonna see it!
- Get out!
- I'm gonna understand it.
Hey!
Hey!
Hey!
- Who are you working for?
- Me.
- Who sent you?
- I'm a student.
- Gimme that.
- I've an assignment for class.
Leave me alone.
- Marcy. What's the matter?
- Let's go for a ride, Max.
I can't. I have work.
We had a deal, Max.
Now, let's get in the car.
- Don't ever touch me!
- Max! Max!
- Help!
- Max.
- Leave me alone!
- Max, come here.
Max. Where're you going, Max?
Stop, Max!
- Max! God damn it!
- Help! Help!
Help!
- Get him!
- I got him.
Come here, Max.
Get outta here.
- Where'd he go?
- He's over there.
[Footsteps]
Max.
Leave me alone!
- I got him.
- Get off of me!
- Help me! Help!
- Get over here!
- Sit down and shut the hell up.
- Calm down.
Didn't your mother ever tell you
not to play with matches?
The market's going to crash.
I didn't do anything.
I don't play the market.
Be careful where you throw out
your trash.
How could you do that?
You gave faulty information.
You dangled the carrot,
but only gave us
part of the code.
Now give us the rest
to set it right.
You bastards!
How could you be so stupid?
Max, you just don't get it.
I don't give a shit about you,
just what's in your head!
If you won't help us, we'll
comply with the laws of nature.
Survival of the fittest -
and we've got the fucking gun!
- Max! Come here!
- Lenny? Lenny!
- Hey!
- C'mon, get in here. Hurry!
Stay down! Stay down.
We've been looking for you.
- What's going on?
- You have the number?
What's going on? What is it?
What're you doing?
Get off of me!
Where's the number?
It's not on me. It's in my head.
You memorised it?
Did you give it to them?
- Who?
- Those Wall Street bastards.
- What do you care?
- Answer me.
Listen. This is really big.
I don't wanna hurt you.
Did you give it to them?
They've got part of it. Let go!
Damn it!
- They're using it.
- Using what?
Shut up! Impetuous little runt!
- Let go!
- No, don't!
Max.
Max.
Max.
Max.
You're all right.
I'm Rabbi Cohen.
Cohen, like you.
I'm sorry for what Lenny did.
He's been reprimanded.
It's not our way. Are you OK?
Yeah.
Max, you have
to give us the number.
What is it?
The Talmud tells us
it began 2,000 years ago,
when the Romans destroyed
the second temple.
What is this?
Max, you'll understand
if you listen.
The Romans also destroyed
our priesthood, the Cohanim.
And with their deaths, they
destroyed our greatest secret.
In the centre of the temple
was the heart of Jewish life,
the holy of holies.
It was the earthly residence
of our God.
The one God.
It housed the Ark
of the Tabernacle,
which stored the original 10
Commandments
which God gave to Moses.
Only one man was allowed
to enter this holy of holies
on one day, the holiest day
of the year, Yom Kippur.
On the Day of Atonement,
all of lsrael
would descend upon Jerusalem
to watch the High Priest,
the Cohen Godul,
make his trip
to the holy of holies.
If the High Priest was pure,
he would emerge moments later
and we'd have a prosperous year.
It meant we were one year closer
to the Messianic age.
But, if he was impure,
he would die instantly
and it meant we were doomed.
The High Priest
had one ritual to perform there.
He had to intone a single word.
Yeah?
That word was
the true name of God.
So?
The true name,
which only the Cohanim knew,
was 216 letters long.
Are you telling me that...
That the number in my head
is the true name of God.
Yes! It's the key
to the Messianic age.
It will take us closer
to the Garden of Eden.
As the temple burnt,
the Talmud tells us
the High Priest
walked into the flames.
He took the key to the top
of the building,
the heavens opened
and received the key
from the priest's
outstretched hand.
We have been looking
for that key ever since.
And you may have found it.
That's what happened.
I saw God.
No. You are not pure. You cannot
see God unless you are pure.
No... I saw everything.
You saw nothing, only a glimpse.
There's so much more.
We can unlock the door
and show God we're pure again.
You're not pure.
How are you pure? I found it!
Who do you think you are?
You are only a vessel from God.
You're carrying a delivery
meant for us!
It was given to me.
It's inside of me.
It's changing me.
It's killing you! Because you
are not ready to receive it.
It's just a number.
I'm sure you've written down
every 216-digit number.
You've translated all of them.
You've intoned them all.
Haven't you?
What's it gotten you?
The number is nothing.
It's the meaning.
The syntax.
It's what's between the numbers.
You haven't understood it.
It's because it's not for you.
I've got it. I've got it!
I understand it. And I'm gonna
see it. Rabbi, I was chosen.
'17:13. Personal note.
Getting faster...
'You stare into space like that,
you could go blind.
'What can the eyes
do without the brain?
[Cacophonous dialogue]
'14:50.
'15:10.
'16:55.
'10:35.
'Already, I'm beginning to see.'
Can I help you?
Sol?
Were you a friend?
- What do you mean?
- He had a second stroke.
No! No!
No!
[Screams in agony]
Three! Five! Nine!
Ten! Eight! Six! Five! Two!
[Screams list of numbers]
Five.
Eight.
Nine.
Seven.
[Devi's voice echoes]
No, Max. No.
Six.
[Devi] Stay with me, Max.
Max.
No!
[Devi whispers] It's all right.
It's all right.
'17:22. Personal note.
When I was a little kid,
'my mother told me
not to stare into the sun.
[Electric drill whirs]
'So once, when I was six,
I did.'
Max, Max. Look.
Pretty, huh?
Can we do it, Max? Can we?
How about 255 times 183?
I got it! What's the answer?
I don't know. What is it?
How about 748 divided by 238?
[Jenna]
I got it. What's the answer?
'When I was a little kid,
'my mother told me
not to stare into the sun.
'So once, when I was six, I did.
'The doctors didn't know
if my eyes would ever heal.
'I was terrified,
'alone in that darkness.
'Slowly,
'daylight crept in
through the bandages
'and I could see.
'But something else
had changed inside me.
'That day
I had my first headache.'
[Woman calls]
Jenna, come back here.
Max, Max, can I do it?
- Jenna.
- What's 322 times 491?
Right!
OK, 73 divided by 22?
..18...18...18...18...
'12:45.
Restate my assumptions.
'One: Mathematics
is the language of nature.
'Two: Everything around us
'can be represented and
understood through numbers.
'Three: If you graph the numbers
of any system, patterns emerge.
'Therefore, there are patterns
everywhere in nature.
'Evidence:
'The cycling
of disease epidemics;
'the wax and wane
of caribou populations;
'sun spot cycles;
'the rise and fall of the Nile.
'So, what about
the stock market?
'The universe of numbers that
represents the global economy.
'Millions of hands at work,
billions of minds.
'A vast network, screaming
with life. An organism.
'A natural organism.
'My hypothesis:
'Within the stock market,
there is a pattern as well...
'Right in front of me,
'hiding behind the numbers.
Always has been.
'12:50, press return.'
[Phone rings]
Hello.
[Woman]
Maximillian Cohen, please.
- Yeah?
- Hi, it's Marcy Dawson.
I'm a partner at the predictive
strategy firm...
- I told you...
- Sorry I haven't called.
I hoped we could have lunch
tomorrow. Say one o'clock?
- Max, good.
- Hey, Devi.
- I grabbed you some samosas.
- Great.
- Your hair!
- What are you doing?
- You can't go out like that.
- It's fine.
- Don't worry.
- It's fine.
- You need a mom.
- I gotta go.
Max. Here, your samosas.
Thanks.
'16:23. Results.
'Euclid predicts
NTC will break 100 tomorrow.
'A good bet. Other anomalies:
'lt predicts PRO NET settling
at sixty-five and a quarter,
a career high.'
[Man] Am I bothering you?
I'm sorry, I'll put it out.
Name's Lenny Meyer.
And you are?
Max.
Is that Max? Max...?
- Max Cohen.
- Cohen! Jewish.
It's OK. I'm a Jew too.
Do you practise?
No. I'm not interested
in religion.
- Did you ever hear of Kabbalah?
- No.
- Jewish mysticism.
- Look, I'm busy right here.
I understand.
But right now is a very exciting
moment in our history.
Right now is
a critical moment in time.
- Really?
- Yeah. It's very exciting.
Have you ever put on Tefillin?
You know Tefillin?
Yeah, I know, it looks strange.
It's an amazing tradition.
It has a tremendous power. It's
a mitzvah Jewish men should do.
Mitzvahs, good deeds.
They purify us.
Bring us closer to God.
Wanna try it?
- Shit.
- You all right, Max?
Please. Please, a small one.
'17:55. Personal note.
Second attack in under 24 hours.
'Administered 80 milligrams
Promozine HCI
'and six milligrams
Sumattrapan orally,
'as well as one milligram
Dihydroric-atamine-mezilayte
'by subcutaneous injection.
[Coughs and splutters]
[Whimpers]
[Creaking]
[Rattling]
[Banging]
[Silence]
[Phone rings]
[Phone rings]
- Hi.
- Mr Cohen?
Marcy Dawson here again,
from Lancet-Percy.
I checked my schedule and I'm
in Chinatown tomorrow at three.
I'd love to stop by to meet you.
It'll be worth it for us.
How's three sound?
- How did you get my address?
- I got it from Columbia.
Three it is.
Looking forward to it.
Wait a minute...
[Click]
Max.
Stop thinking, Max.
Just feel. Use your intuition.
- What did you think of Hamlet?
- I didn't get to it.
It's been a month. You haven't
taken a single break.
I'm so close.
Have you met the new fish
my niece bought me?
I named her lcarus after you,
my renegade pupil.
You fly too high,
you'll get burnt.
I look at you,
I see myself 30 years ago.
My greatest pupil.
Published at 16, PhD at 20.
But life
isn't just mathematics, Max.
I spent 40 years searching
for patterns in Pi.
- I found nothing.
- You found things.
I found things...
but not a pattern.
'Not a pattern.
'11:22. Personal note.
'Sol died a little when
he stopped research on Pi.
'It wasn't just the stroke.
'He stopped caring.
'How could he stop,
'when he was so close to seeing
Pi for what it really is?
'How could you stop believing
that there is a pattern,
'an ordered shape behind those
numbers, when you were so close?
'We see the simplicity
of the circle,
'we see the maddening complexity
of the endless numbers,
'3.14 off into infinity.'
# Are the stars out tonight?
# I don't mind
if they're cloudy or bright
# For I only have eyes
# For you, dear
# I don't mind
if we're in a... #
Hey, Max.
Lenny Meyer.
I'll put it out.
So... What do you do?
I work with computers. Math.
Math? What kind of math?
Number theory. Research mostly.
No way.
I work with numbers myself.
I mean, not traditional.
I work with the Torah. Amazing!
Hebrew is all math.
It's all numbers.
You know that? Look.
Ancient Jews used Hebrew
as their numerical system.
Each letter's a number.
The Hebrew A, Aleph, is 1 .
B, Bet, is 2.
Understand? But look,
the numbers are interrelated.
Take the Hebrew for father, ab.
Aleph, Bet.
The word for mother, haim.
Aleph, Mem.
The sum of 3 and 41, 44.
Right? Now, the Hebrew word for
child - mother, father, child.
Yelev.
That's 10, 30 and 4.
Torah is just
a long string of numbers.
Some say that it's a code,
sent to us from God.
That's kind of interesting.
That's kid's stuff,
check this out.
The Garden of Eden, Kadem.
Numerical translation, 144.
The value of tree of knowledge,
in the garden. Right?
Aat ha haim. 2, 33. 1, 44. 2, 33.
- You can take those numbers...
- Those are Fibonacci numbers.
They're...?
You know,
like the Fibonacci sequence?
Fibonacci?
Fibonacci is an ltalian
mathematician in the 13th.
If you divide 144 into 233,
- the result approaches Theta.
- Theta?
Theta. The Greek symbol for the
golden ratio, the golden spiral.
Wow.
I never saw that before.
That's like that series
you find in nature?
- Like the face of a sunflower?
- Wherever there are spirals.
See, there's math everywhere.
Hey, I... Max?
'13:26. Restate my assumptions.
'One: Mathematics
is the language of nature.
'Two: Everything around us
'can be represented
and understood through numbers.
'Three: lf you graph
the numbers of any system,
'patterns emerge.
'Therefore, there are patterns
everywhere in nature.
'So what about the stock market?
'A universe of numbers that
represents the global economy.
'Millions of human hands
at work, billions of minds.
'A vast network screaming
with life. An organism.
'A natural organism.
'My hypothesis:
Within the stock market,
'there is a pattern,
right in front of me,
'playing with the numbers.
Always has been.
'10:18, press return.'
[Devi moaning faintly]
[Voice whispers] Max.
Max.
What the...?
Shit!
Aaargh! God damn it!
'10:28. Results.
'Bullshit. Euclid predicts AAR
at six and a half.
'AAR hasn't been
beneath 40 in 20 years.
'Explanations for anomaly:
Human error.
'11:11. Results.
'Failed treatments to date:
'Beta blockers, calcium channel
blockers, adrenaline injections,
'high-dose ibuprofen, steroids,
'trigger metastics,
violent exercise, caffeine,
'acupuncture, marijuana,
'percodan, midrin, tenormen,
sanser, homeopathics...
'No results.
'No results.'
[Thunderclap]
Euclid crashed.
- I lost all my data, hardware.
- Your mainframe?
Burnt.
What... What's happened?
First, I get
these crazy low picks,
then it spit out
this string of numbers.
I never saw anything like it.
And then it fries.
- It crashed.
- You have a print out?
- Of what?
- Of the picks, the number?
- I threw it out.
- What number did it spit out?
I don't know,
a string of digits.
- How many?
- I don't know.
What is it, 100, 1 ,000, 216?
How many?
Probably around 200. Why?
I dealt with some bugs
back in my Pi days.
I wondered
if it was like one I ran into.
Have you met Archimedes?
The one with black spots. See?
You remember
Archimedes of Syracuse? Eh?
The king asks Archimedes
to determine if a present
he has received
is actually solid gold.
Unsolved problem at the time.
It tortures the great Greek
mathematician for weeks.
Insomnia haunts him and he
twists and turns in his bed
for nights on end. Finally,
his equally exhausted wife,
forced to share a bed
with this genius,
convinces him
to take a bath, to relax.
While he's entering the tub,
he notices the bath water rise.
Displacement -
a way to determine volume,
and thus a way
to determine density.
Weight over volume. And thus
Archimedes solves the problem.
He screams "Eureka!"
and he is so overwhelmed,
he runs naked through the
streets to the king's palace
to report his discovery.
Now, what is the moral
of the story?
That a breakthrough will come.
Wrong! The point of the story
is the wife.
Listen to your wife,
she'll give you perspective.
Meaning, you need a break.
You must take a bath
or you'll get nowhere.
There will be no order,
only chaos.
Go home, Max,
and you take a bath.
[Water dripping]
Excuse me.
Can I take a look at the paper?
Oh, my God.
Six and a half.
[Man] Hey...
Hey!
The paper, please.
Mr Cohen? Perfect timing.
I was going to head home.
- Who are you?
- Marcy Dawson. We were meeting.
It's really not...
It's such a pleasure
to finally meet you.
- I studied your paper...
- Excuse me.
- Let's take my car.
- I can't.
Mr Cohen...
Yes!
I just threw out something.
I didn't realise I needed it.
Just a print-out.
I lost my data.
Whoa! I'm sorry. Max.
How're you doing? Lenny Meyer.
- Where you going?
- Up there.
You got five minutes?
Do you wanna try Tefillin?
- Not now.
- I've a car to go to the Shul.
- You got a car?
- That's my friend, Ephraim.
- Let's go.
- Great.
When you said you're Max Cohen,
I didn't realise
you were the Max Cohen.
Your work's revolutionary.
It's inspired the work we do.
- It has?
- Very much so.
The only difference is, we're
not looking at the stock market.
Go ahead.
Wrap that round your hand.
We're searching for a pattern
in the Torah.
- What kind?
- We're not sure.
All we know is
it's 216 digits long.
- OK, stand up, please, Max.
- 216?
That's right. You've gotta
be quiet now. Stand up.
- 216?
- Shh. This goes on your head.
Look at me, Max. Right here.
There you go.
All right. Now, we'll say
a prayer together.
Repeat after me: Shma Yisroel.
- Shma Yisroel.
- Right.
- Adenoi Eloihenu.
- Adenoi Eloihenu.
- Adenoi Echod.
- Adenoi Echod.
Now, what's up, Max?
What is this 216 number, Sol?
Excuse me?
You asked me if I'd seen
a 216-digit number.
Oh, yeah. You mean the bug.
I ran into it working on Pi.
- What do you mean ran into it?
- Max, what's this about?
There are these religious Jews
I've been talking to.
Religious Jews?
Yeah, Hasids,
the guys with beards.
I know them.
I know one in a coffee shop.
He's a number theorist.
The Torah is his data set.
He says they're after
a 216-digit number in the Torah.
Come on, it's just coincidence.
There's something else, though.
What?
You remember those weird
stock picks?
- Yesterday's stock picks? Yes.
- They were correct.
I got two picks on the nose.
Smack on the nose, Sol.
Something's going on.
It has to do with that number.
There's an answer in it.
Max... Come with me.
The ancient Japanese
considered the Go board
to be a microcosm
of the universe.
Although, when it's empty,
it appears simple and ordered,
the possibilities of gameplay
are endless.
No two Go games are alike,
just like snowflakes.
So, the Go board
actually represents
an extremely complex
and chaotic universe.
And that's the truth
of our world, Max.
It can't be
easily summed up with math.
There is no simple pattern.
But as the game progresses, the
possibilities become smaller.
The board takes on order.
Soon, every move's predictable.
So?
So maybe, even though
we're not aware of it,
there is a pattern, an order
underlying every Go game.
Maybe it's like the pattern
in the stock market?
The Torah? This 216 number?
- It's insanity.
- Maybe it's genius.
- I must get that number.
- Hold on! You're losing it.
You have to breathe.
Listen to yourself.
You're connecting my computer
bug with one you might've had
and some religious hogwash.
If you want the number 216,
you can find it everywhere.
corner to your front door,
you spend in the elevator
When your mind becomes obsessed
you filter everything else out
and find that thing everywhere.
You've chosen 216 and you'll
find it everywhere in nature.
But, Max,
as soon as you discard
scientific rigour,
you are no longer
a mathematician,
you're a numerologist.
Mr Cohen?
Mr Cohen...
God damn it! I'm sick
of you following me.
I'm not interested in money.
I want to understand our world.
I don't deal with materialists
like you.
I'm sorry. I'm very sorry.
I admit
we've been too aggressive.
But all I ask is that
you give me five minutes.
- As a token, accept this.
- I don't want your money.
The suitcase isn't filled
with 50s, or gold, or diamonds.
Just silicon. A Ming Mecca chip.
Ming Mecca? They're not even
de-classified yet.
You're right, they're not. But
Lancet-Percy has many friends.
Beautiful, isn't it?
Do you know how rare these are?
What do you...?
Mr Cohen?
- Are you OK?
- No.
Mr Coh... Sir, are you sick?
[Dripping]
Hey!
[Whistle blows]
[Whistle blows]
[Train whistle]
C'mon, buddy. Get up.
It's Coney lsland, last stop.
Here. For your nose.
[Bleeping]
Jenna, come back! Jenna!
Jenna, come back here.
- Farrouhk?
- No, it's Max, from next door.
Max. Is everything all right?
- Do you have any iodine?
- Did you cut yourself?
No, it's to stain a slide.
Ah. Science.
The pursuit of knowledge.
One second.
You surprised me.
I thought you were Farrouhk.
Here we are.
What are you examining?
A potato?
No. Just something
for my computer. Thanks.
- Shalom.
- Lenny, it's Max Cohen.
Max. What're you doing now?
I was thinking about
our conversation last night.
- That's good.
- I wanna help.
'4:42. New evidence.
'Remember Pythagoras.
'Mathematician, cult leader.
Athens, circa 500 BC.
'Major belief: The universe
is made of numbers.
'Major contribution:
'The golden ratio.
'Best represented geometrically
as the golden rectangle.
'Visually, there exists
a graceful equilibrium
'between its length and width.
'When it's squared, it leaves a
smaller golden rectangle behind,
'with the same unique ratio.
'The squaring can continue,
smaller and smaller,
'to infinity.
'11:18. More evidence.
'Remember da Vinci. Artist,
inventor, sculptor, naturalist.
'ltaly, C15th.
'Rediscovered the perfection
of the golden rectangle
'and pencilled it
into his masterpieces.
'Connecting a curve through the
concentric golden rectangles,
'You generate the mythical
golden spiral.
'Pythagoras loved this shape,
for he found it in nature -
'a nautilus shell, rams' horns,
whirlpools, tornadoes,
'our fingerprints, our DNA
and even our Milky Way.
'9:22. Personal note.
'When I was a little kid,
'my mother told me
not to stare into the sun.
'So once, I did.
'At first, the brightness
was overwhelming,
'but I kept looking,
forcing myself not to blink.
'And then the brightness
began to dissolve.
'My pupils shrank to pinholes
and everything came into focus.
'And for a moment I understood.
'My new hypothesis:
if we're built from spirals,
'while living in a giant spiral,
'then everything we do
is infused with the spiral.
'10:15.
'Personal note.
'lt's fair to say
I'm stepping out on a limb.
'But I'm on the edge
where it happens.'
[Marcy Dawson]
'I'm happy you...'
Look, what do you want
in exchange for the chip?
You tech' guys.
I think you know what we want.
- I may not find anything.
- We'll take the risk.
First, I want you
to call off the surveillance.
Done. Anything else?
Yeah, I'm a very private person.
Just knock on my door
and leave the suitcase outside.
I don't wanna talk to anybody.
- How do I know you're home?
- I'll knock back.
- The Torah.
- Coffee.
What is it?
In Hebrew,
characters and numbers.
No, the 216 number. What is it?
I don't know.
If you can find it,
maybe we can figure it out.
- Can you really find it?
- If it's there, I'll find it.
[Knocking]
Max.
Jenna.
- Can we do it?
- Not now.
Please, Max?
Happy birthday, Euclid.
'18:30. Press return.
[Pulsing bleep]
[Woman murmuring]
'18:33. Press return.
[Devi moans with pleasure]
[Drilling whine]
Hell!
You fuck! You fuck!
[Wails]
Fuck!
Fuck!
[Wails]
Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you!
Fuck you!
[Screams in pain]
[Phone rings]
Yes, hello?
He's busy right now, I'm sorry.
You were screaming.
[Mrs Ovadia] Who said you could
put locks on the door, Mr Cohen?
[Devi] Are you OK?
You're out, you hear me?
Out of here!
- I've had it with you!
- Get out!
Let's go. [Phone rings]
God damn it, no! You're the one
out of here, mister.
Get out!
Get out! Get out!
Get out!
Are you OK?
Get out!
[Phone continues to ring]
You bastard.
Nineteen and a half.
Thirty-nine and an eighth.
Six and three quarters.
Seven and an eighth.
Twelve and a quarter.
I know these numbers.
They're going down...
down...down.
You lied to me.
You have it?
OK, sit down.
I gave up before I pinpointed
it, but my guess is that, er,
certain problems cause computers
to get stuck in a loop.
The loop leads to meltdown,
but just before they crash
they become aware
of their own structure.
The computer has a sense
of its own silicon nature
and it prints out
its ingredients.
The computer becomes conscious?
In... In, er...some ways...
I guess.
Studying the pattern
made Euclid conscious of itself.
It died spitting out the number.
Consciousness is the number?
No, Max. It's only a nasty bug.
- It's more than that.
- No. It's a dead end!
- There's nothing there!
- It's a door, Sol. A door.
A door to a cliff, you're
driving yourself over the edge.
- You need to stop.
- You were afraid.
- That's why you quit.
- I got burnt.
- Come on.
- It caused my stroke!
That's bullshit! It's
mathematics, numbers, ideas.
Mathematicians
should go to the edge.
- You taught me that.
- It's death!
You can't tell me what it is.
You've retreated to your Go
and books and goldfish.
Max, go home.
- You're not satisfied.
- Go home. Get out...
I'm gonna see it!
- Get out!
- I'm gonna understand it.
Hey!
Hey!
Hey!
- Who are you working for?
- Me.
- Who sent you?
- I'm a student.
- Gimme that.
- I've an assignment for class.
Leave me alone.
- Marcy. What's the matter?
- Let's go for a ride, Max.
I can't. I have work.
We had a deal, Max.
Now, let's get in the car.
- Don't ever touch me!
- Max! Max!
- Help!
- Max.
- Leave me alone!
- Max, come here.
Max. Where're you going, Max?
Stop, Max!
- Max! God damn it!
- Help! Help!
Help!
- Get him!
- I got him.
Come here, Max.
Get outta here.
- Where'd he go?
- He's over there.
[Footsteps]
Max.
Leave me alone!
- I got him.
- Get off of me!
- Help me! Help!
- Get over here!
- Sit down and shut the hell up.
- Calm down.
Didn't your mother ever tell you
not to play with matches?
The market's going to crash.
I didn't do anything.
I don't play the market.
Be careful where you throw out
your trash.
How could you do that?
You gave faulty information.
You dangled the carrot,
but only gave us
part of the code.
Now give us the rest
to set it right.
You bastards!
How could you be so stupid?
Max, you just don't get it.
I don't give a shit about you,
just what's in your head!
If you won't help us, we'll
comply with the laws of nature.
Survival of the fittest -
and we've got the fucking gun!
- Max! Come here!
- Lenny? Lenny!
- Hey!
- C'mon, get in here. Hurry!
Stay down! Stay down.
We've been looking for you.
- What's going on?
- You have the number?
What's going on? What is it?
What're you doing?
Get off of me!
Where's the number?
It's not on me. It's in my head.
You memorised it?
Did you give it to them?
- Who?
- Those Wall Street bastards.
- What do you care?
- Answer me.
Listen. This is really big.
I don't wanna hurt you.
Did you give it to them?
They've got part of it. Let go!
Damn it!
- They're using it.
- Using what?
Shut up! Impetuous little runt!
- Let go!
- No, don't!
Max.
Max.
Max.
Max.
You're all right.
I'm Rabbi Cohen.
Cohen, like you.
I'm sorry for what Lenny did.
He's been reprimanded.
It's not our way. Are you OK?
Yeah.
Max, you have
to give us the number.
What is it?
The Talmud tells us
it began 2,000 years ago,
when the Romans destroyed
the second temple.
What is this?
Max, you'll understand
if you listen.
The Romans also destroyed
our priesthood, the Cohanim.
And with their deaths, they
destroyed our greatest secret.
In the centre of the temple
was the heart of Jewish life,
the holy of holies.
It was the earthly residence
of our God.
The one God.
It housed the Ark
of the Tabernacle,
which stored the original 10
Commandments
which God gave to Moses.
Only one man was allowed
to enter this holy of holies
on one day, the holiest day
of the year, Yom Kippur.
On the Day of Atonement,
all of lsrael
would descend upon Jerusalem
to watch the High Priest,
the Cohen Godul,
make his trip
to the holy of holies.
If the High Priest was pure,
he would emerge moments later
and we'd have a prosperous year.
It meant we were one year closer
to the Messianic age.
But, if he was impure,
he would die instantly
and it meant we were doomed.
The High Priest
had one ritual to perform there.
He had to intone a single word.
Yeah?
That word was
the true name of God.
So?
The true name,
which only the Cohanim knew,
was 216 letters long.
Are you telling me that...
That the number in my head
is the true name of God.
Yes! It's the key
to the Messianic age.
It will take us closer
to the Garden of Eden.
As the temple burnt,
the Talmud tells us
the High Priest
walked into the flames.
He took the key to the top
of the building,
the heavens opened
and received the key
from the priest's
outstretched hand.
We have been looking
for that key ever since.
And you may have found it.
That's what happened.
I saw God.
No. You are not pure. You cannot
see God unless you are pure.
No... I saw everything.
You saw nothing, only a glimpse.
There's so much more.
We can unlock the door
and show God we're pure again.
You're not pure.
How are you pure? I found it!
Who do you think you are?
You are only a vessel from God.
You're carrying a delivery
meant for us!
It was given to me.
It's inside of me.
It's changing me.
It's killing you! Because you
are not ready to receive it.
It's just a number.
I'm sure you've written down
every 216-digit number.
You've translated all of them.
You've intoned them all.
Haven't you?
What's it gotten you?
The number is nothing.
It's the meaning.
The syntax.
It's what's between the numbers.
You haven't understood it.
It's because it's not for you.
I've got it. I've got it!
I understand it. And I'm gonna
see it. Rabbi, I was chosen.
'17:13. Personal note.
Getting faster...
'You stare into space like that,
you could go blind.
'What can the eyes
do without the brain?
[Cacophonous dialogue]
'14:50.
'15:10.
'16:55.
'10:35.
'Already, I'm beginning to see.'
Can I help you?
Sol?
Were you a friend?
- What do you mean?
- He had a second stroke.
No! No!
No!
[Screams in agony]
Three! Five! Nine!
Ten! Eight! Six! Five! Two!
[Screams list of numbers]
Five.
Eight.
Nine.
Seven.
[Devi's voice echoes]
No, Max. No.
Six.
[Devi] Stay with me, Max.
Max.
No!
[Devi whispers] It's all right.
It's all right.
'17:22. Personal note.
When I was a little kid,
'my mother told me
not to stare into the sun.
[Electric drill whirs]
'So once, when I was six,
I did.'
Max, Max. Look.
Pretty, huh?
Can we do it, Max? Can we?
How about 255 times 183?
I got it! What's the answer?
I don't know. What is it?
How about 748 divided by 238?
[Jenna]
I got it. What's the answer?