A BEAUTIFUL MIND - But A Sad Life .....HALLUCINATIONS + DELUSIONS + PARANOIA + PRETTY WIFE !!

The scientist, Mr. Nash, whose life is portrayed in this movie died in a car crash in 2015 along with his wife. That is a sad ending to a Nobel prize winner's life after suffering from paranoia and hallucinations , if you want to believe the makers of the movie!!

[I say, 'if...' because I have been 'accused' of the similar disease and though I do not fully agree with the diagnosis, people have been doing 'strange' things around me as well. It might be a method to cover-up the stuff, the 'authorities' do not want exposed and call the whole thing a hallucination. And it soon becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, even if you were normal earlier when you are extra sensitive, isolated from your family and live 'inside'. ]

While he was a student at the campus, Nash  develops a loving relationship with his roommate and roommate's niece. He is super-intelligent though somewhat eccentric. A government agent seeks his help in deciphering Russian codes and Mr. Nash accepts the job. Soon he becomes obsessed with it and has room full of newspaper clippings about the Russians. Nash comes across a pretty lady and marries her. Lo and behold, he is told to see a psychiatrist because there is no 'roommate' friend, no little niece and no government agent who hired him to decipher Russian codes!!!! These are all 'hallucinations' that Mr. Nash continues to see even while he is being treated. Not believing the doctors, Mr. Nash, struggles and revolts against the treatment. He is forced to accept the treatment in the end and chooses to ignore the 'hallucinations'. He restarts his life on the campus and soon wins a Nobel prize and respect from his colleagues. That is where the movie ends. Russell Crowe does a commendable job portraying odd 'Nash' as an introvert - with the help of his make-up artist. 

CREATION - Tragedy Of Human Species.!!

VIDEO SOURCE: Amazon Prime

I had read about Charles Darwin 'way back when' I was in school. Upon watching this biographical movie from BBC, it dawned on me that while he had a nice family and enjoyed their company, he was sick most of his adult life as was his eldest daughter Annie. Tragically, Annie dies and Charles goes mad. He sees Annie again and again (hallucinations!) post death; if the director/doctors are to be believed ( this might be a license that the director takes to show his mental instability) ! There was some confusion for me at this point because of the juxtaposition of scenes which seem to go back and forth in time.

It must have been the physical contact with birds  and other species - however pretty they appear from a distance -  that caused him to be physically ill. The old hydro bath treatment, in lieu of a waterfall , is interesting to watch. Then there is the argument between church, religion and the jungle law, which tilts in favor of 'survival of the fittest', well illustrated in the movie by the preying upon of a rabbit by a fox and  the scene of a helpless baby bird that falls from a tree and gets eaten by insects. The movie also shows the conflict between rational Charles and his religious wife - how easy it is for Charles Darwin to justify the killing of the rabbit and the baby bird as part of the food chain and how difficult it is to bear the loss of his own child !!

However, in the end Charles finishes his landmark 'Origin Of Species' and his wife becomes his admirer.  After watching the movie, it is hard for me to believe that a scientific mind like Darwin could be so broken up and unstable...yet come up with the theory of progression of species on earth from the sea to the land .