The Man Who Knew Infinity

The Man Who Knew Infinity is a film based on the true story of Srinivasa Ramanujan: a man who liked numbers more than people, who shocked scholars with his abilities and pioneered mathematical theory. The film is based on Robert Kanigel’s 1991 novel by the same name and follows Ramanujan’s obstacles in becoming an acknowledged mathematician.

The Man Who Knew Infinity begins in 1914, just before the outbreak of World War I, where we find Ramanujan – played by Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Skins) – an unassuming clerk living in Madras, India who dreams of proving his mathematical formulas.

Samples of Ramanujan’s equations reach the desk of G H Hardy – played by Jeremy Irons (Kingdom of Heaven, The Lion King and The Borgias) – and, wowed by the brilliance of Ramanujan’s work, Hardy plucks him from obscurity, transporting him to the hierarchy, ritual and class of Cambridge University.

At Cambridge, Ramanujan is met with suspicion, confusion and disdain by his teachers and peers, and doubts about his credibility emerge. He struggles to adapt to such unfamiliar territory – even practicing his religion in private – and misses his wife, Janaki. Despite the disbelievers, the mathematical prodigy has a staunch ally in Hardy, who passionately endorses Ramanujan in spite of facing professional opposition.

The Man Who Knew Infinity took a little time to get rolling but overall the film was refreshing and even moving in some moments. Irons was exceptional as the professor who struggles to express his emotions, while Patel’s delivery of an outsider struggling to adapt to new surrounds – a concept we can all relate to – was genuine and engaging. While the mentor\student bond between Ramanujan and Hardy was heart-warmingly portrayed, it left the subplot of the scheming mother feeling a little contrived and clumsy.

The film’s supporting cast features the major players in British cinema – Stephen Fry, Toby Jones and Jeremy Northam – but the plot predominately revolves around Hardy and Ramanujan’s collaboration in unlocking one of the most complex mathematical mysteries the world has ever known – its significance such that it is still relevant to the mathematics and science world today.