Terry Gilliam‘s The Zero Theorem is set to have its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival next week and today we have the first poster (via IMPAwards) and a director’s statement to accompany the piece (via The Film Stage).
When I made Brazil in 1984, I was trying to paint a picture of the world I thought we were living in then. The Zero Theorem is a glimpse of the world I think we are living in now. Pat Rushin’s script intrigued me with the many existential ideas he had incorporated into his funny, philosophic, and touching tale. For example: What gives meaning to our lives, brings us happiness? Can we ever be alone in our increasingly connected and constricted world? Is that world under control or simply chaotic? We’ve tried to make a film that is honest, funny, beautiful, and surprising; a simple film about a complex modern man waiting for a call to give meaning to his life; about inescapable relationships and the longing for love, full of quirky characters and sparkling performances; raising questions without offering obvious answers. Hopefully, it’s unlike any film you have seen recently; no zombies, no caped crusaders or alien spacecraft. Actually, I might have lied about that last item. Having not worked with a budget this small for several decades, I was forced to work fast and instinctively, pressured only by time and money. We relied on the freedom to spin on a dime, to make outrageous creative leaps. The results surprised even me. I’m proud to have been part of The Zero Theorem.
The film features Christoph Waltz in the lead role as a computer hacker with a goal to discover the reason for human existence continually finds his work interrupted thanks to the Management; this time, they send a teenager and lusty love interest to distract him. Tilda Swinton, Matt Damon, David Thewlis, Ben Whishaw, Peter Stormare, Sanjeev Bhaskar and Melanie Thierry co-star.
Check out the poster below and some first look pictures here. It will be interesting to see how this one plays out.
