LIT 02: Chapter 1 Post-Activity

Applying Literary Criticisms to Film

Name: ANTONIO, JADE CARLO M. Course: BSME
College: COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING Year & Level: 3B

I. Introduction of the Film

The film The Man Who Knew Infinity (2015) is compelling and brings Ramanujan's
personal story to life, but if you've watched it, you might be wondering what
Ramanujan discovered and why his work is still considered as amazing today.
Ramanujan was born in a modest Indian town and received little formal mathematics
instruction. When Srinivasa Ramanujan, a self-taught mathematical genius, flunk out
of college, he does not give up hope. Because he is resolved to pursue his interest, he
approaches Professor G H Hardy and is invited to Trinity College. He contributed
advances to number theory and infinite series that mathematicians still use today.
After drafting letters to lead mathematicians at Cambridge University, Ramanujan
spent nearly five years in Cambridge studying with prominent English mathematician
G. H. Hardy before tragically contracting tuberculosis and dying at the age of 32.
II. Chosen Literary Criticism or Film Theory
-Realism

III. Explanation
The realism criticism is the most applicable for this film since it focuses on the use of
film to depict reality based on the strength of photography's capacity to render the real
world objectively. The film depicts Srinivasa Ramanujan's life, as he was the one who
found infinity. Ramanujan abandons his family, including his wife and mother, and
does not return to India until 1919. The main character faces several obstacles and
hardships in her pursuit of her ambition of becoming a professional mathematician who
can change the world. He is clinging to his dreams and her potential to rise above his
poor condition mostly due to his financial security and sufficient to fund his dreams.
This true story tells how a young man from Madras, India, became a pioneer in
mathematical ideas during a period when the world was changing drastically. It's a story
of perseverance that might teach us a few life lessons.