A Brilliant madness [Widescreen]

This is an inspirational biographical documentary on the real John Nash, subject of the feature film “A Beautiful mind” which cast Russell Crowe in the role of John Nash. Born in 1928 in Bluefield, Virginia, John grew up to be an exceptionally brilliant mathematician attending Princeton University. There he was described as odd, non-conformist, elitist, brash, egocentric, genius, competitive, a man who would push the boundaries in the mathematical world with his theories. At Princeton he devised his Nobel Prize (awarded decades later in 1994) winning “Game Theory” which describes strategies in competition, particularly in the area of economics. In 1951 he joined the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge where he became renowned as one of the brightest mathematicians in the world. However in 1958 at the age of 30 his life took a dramatic turn when he suffered a psychotic episode and was hospitalised. He was eventually diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. For the next three decades John Nash’s life was turned upside down. His personality was dogged by delusions of grandeur, conspiracies and paranoia requiring several bouts of hospitalisation until the 1980s when a second transformation occurred - a re-awakening. Off medication since the 1970s it appears that John Nash almost willed the voices away, rejecting the madness that had nearly destroyed his life. Through archival footage, stills, re-enactments and interviews with family, friends, colleagues and John Nash himself, this beautifully presented documentary gives an honest and factual account of this highly respected but somewhat eccentric mathematician’s journey into the darker side of life. Narrated by Liev Schreiber.