Are You A Math Enthusiast? Check Out These 13 Must-See True-Event-Inspired Mathematics Movies (Part 2)

Today, we continue with our list of 13 must-watched mathematics movies.

Codebreaker (2011)

This was an excellent movie which tells the story of Alan Turing, a mathematics genius who succeeded cracking the enigma code, writing a paper for computers, and studying math and biology in animals and insects’ markings.

In a 1950’s England, he was abused, arrested, and convicted for homosexual acts, similar to Oscar Wilde’s persecution and ruination.

A Beautiful Mind (2001)

This main character of this movie is a great mathematician who suffers paranoid schizophrenia. This illness affects his relationship with people. He is unable to maintain his interpersonal connection which leads to his connection with his family, friends as well as colleagues being complicated. And in order to live a healthy life, he needs to get professional help. At an advanced age, he finally wins the Nobel Prize which is the most notable victory in the life of the mathematician. Russell Crowe plays the leading role and he did a great job in portraying the difficulties that the brilliant mathematicians had to face. By far, A Beautiful Mind is one of the 21st century’s most inspirational movies that have ever been made.

A Brief History of Time (1991)

A wonderful look into the work and life of Stephen Hawking. Complicated mathematics and concepts were made easier to understand for less technically-minded audiences using rhetoric and narration.

The movie was explaining Hawking work, but at the same time, telling his life story, both of which were equally interesting. It’s fascinating to watch a movie which raises such philosophical questions like “Why can’t we remember the future?” and have the guts to answer using Math.

N Is a Number: A Portrait of Paul Erdös (1993)

An excellent biography on the eccentric but lovable Hungarian mathematics prodigy, Paul Erdös. This story tells how he interacted and influenced so many mathematicians who worked with him. Erdös had so many papers published in professional journals. The film is a great documentary about the amazing mathematician’s work and life. It could have been better if the movie has subtitles for different languages.

Travelling Salesman (2012)

An interesting movie about 4 to 5 guys who were discussing their solving mathematics problems’ ramifications. This film, which is an extremely heavy dialog-driven one, will suit math as well as computer science nerds. But don’t be afraid as for people who are interested in mathematics consequence instead of its content, Travelling Salesman is still a worth-watching movie. In G. H. Hardy 1940 essay A Mathematician’s Apology, he tried to find a justification for pure mathematics’ pursuit. He also stated that it would be unlikely for a warlike application of special relativity or number theory to exist. However, nuclear weapons and cryptography apparently proved him wrong. The mathematicians from the Travelling Salesman all know the consequences of their work to the world and it’s thrilling to watch their argument on how to handle those consequences.

Fermat’s Room (2007)

“Do you know what prime numbers are? Because if you don’t, you should just leave now.” That was the first line from the 2007 Spanish thriller film Fermat’s Room. The movie proves that rather than being different, science and art are more alike. In Fermat’s Room, the two elements harmoniously coexist with every action happens mostly in one single room. The movie stars four brilliant mathematicians including Oliva, Pascal, Hilbert, and Galois who receive an invitation to an isolated house from a man who goes by the name “Fermat,” saying there is a great enigma that needs to be solved. But turns out, the room is a trap with walls starting to close on them. The only way for them to escape is to quickly solve the given puzzles.

The Oxford Murders (2008)

Murder mysteries surround Oxford University, psychology, mathematics, and philosophy. What is life and death’s true meaning?

The movie is so thrilling, it keeps people guessing until the movie ends. Following the characters on their quest to find more clues and calculate what might happen is fun.

>>> Are You A Math Enthusiast? Check Out These 13 Must-See True-Event-Inspired Mathematics Movies (Part 1)