Rites of Love and Math @ Shattuck Cinemas December 1

Interview with Edward Frenkel: as the Tragic and Possessed Lover

Professor Frenkel began upon his path to truth, beauty and love, as a child. Growing up in Russia, in a small town near Moscow, he became fascinated by Quantum Physics, and the perfect world of quantum fields; reading anything he could get his hands on. A family friend brought his attention to math, as not just a subject of study, but also a necessary tool in mastering Quantum theory. Today, having come full circle, he is a professor of math at the University of Berkeley California, and conducts research on the symmetry and behavior of elementary particles – “a very mathematical language” according to Frenkel.

Most people’s reaction towards math and the work of mathematicians is one of absolute apathy. This is why Frenkel decided to co-write, co-direct and co-produce the film Rites of Love and Math (2010), with acclaimed French cinematographer Reine Graves last spring, as an homage to the beauty, truth and perfection they saw in mathematics. “This film is an attempt to introduce mathematics, to communicate about it, in a totally new way” says Frenkel. Math is such an important tool in understanding so many scientific aspects of the world, it becomes like a metaphor – or like the partiture of a symphony, through which you can understand the rising melodies and cadences of the orchestra which is the world around us. “The math teacher is really the gatekeeper to this wonderful subject, but all too often he/she does not understand the importance of their task – nor their potential, and capacity to amaze any person”, says Frenkel. “Mathematics are also a part of our general cultural heritage” he protests, “it has been used to solve fundamental problems of our existence and has brought us to understand the language of nature, the rules of logic”.  In as much this debut film is his first step to improving the communication on Mathematics, a subject he is possessed with and so passionate about, he will go to great lengths to convey it. Modeled after a tragedy, a fragment of the dénouement in an action film perhaps, the film is a silent love story, in which Frenkel plays a Mathematician on the run – and at the doorstep of his lover – to protect his ultimate discovery from the forces of evil. He has found the formula of love. This, of course, references the many ways in which Mathematicians’ discoveries, “perfect formulas which have driven them for years, to which they tended, which became them – like lovers”, have been used to terrible ends (think the atomic bomb).
    The film’s structure is modeled after Yukio Mishima’s controversial film “Yukoku” (1965), which – as a call to the return of tradition – not only foretold his subsequent suicide (1970), but also got the film banned for 40 years, until it was rediscovered and released on DVD in 2008. In Rites of Love and Math (2010), the clean red, white and black color scheme, the simplicity, the staging of it on a Japanese theater set, but also the music (Wagner’s opera Tristan & Isolde) and the rolling text – all lend themselves to the symmetry, logic and metaphor of math while also breaking through the barriers of conventional cinema. The film looks more like a moving painting; vibrant and captivating, bringing abstraction to life.

This is a truly enthralling and resonating film you won’t want to miss this Wednesday, December 1st @7 pm at the Landmark Shattuck Cinemas, on 2230 Shattuck Avenue, Downtown Berkeley. “Rites of Love and Math” will be prefaced by a special screening of the short film: “Rite of Love and Death” (aka: Yukoku) by Yukio Mishima.

Both films will be introduced by mathematician/filmmaker Edward Frenkel, and there will be Q & A after the screenings.

Free Admission. Free Pass Tickets available in advance at East Bay Media Center - 1939 Addison Street - Downtown Berkeley,  CA 94704 (510) 843-3699 and evening of screenings at Landmark Shattuck Cinemas Filmmakers Box Office.