A Beautiful Mind
won the best screenplay Oscar® and that should be reason enough to pick this as one to analyze metaphysically. That isn't always the case, but in this case, not only is this a great film, it is a great example of symbolism, particularly in the psychological sense and shows a very strong character arc and transformation. Please watch this one for your own education, and if you're a writer or an actor, watch the DVD with the English subtitles on, so you can see the words too. Remember, we write the spoken word, as scripts are never meant to be read by the audience, only the actors. Even though you can hear the words in a film, when you see the words, you often catch something you otherwise wouldn't have. There are spoilers here as in all the analyses on this site.
ACT I: DEPARTURE
The first act opens when Nash and the other students arrive at Princeton, and ends when they get their assignments: Nash and two others will be going to Wheeler Labs, a highly sought after position. This is the "home" world, as these men have been students their whole lives. Now they have to go out into the world and make a name for themselves.
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In
this act, we set up Nash's utter lack of social skills, especially with girls, and, we meet the first of his hallucinations, Charles Herman, the prodigal roommate. Like the other two "imaginary friends" Nash conjures up, Charles also comes at a time of transition for Nash: as he is settling into his room, he sees people walking to class, laughing, and knows that this is not why he came to Princeton, but to study hard and come up with an original idea. This "loss" of youth, or playfulness, that Nash is feeling is countered in Charles, who is a carefree drinking sort and not nearly as serious as Nash.
The "call" that Nash initially refuses, is to focus on his studies, publish papers and anything else that will guarantee a choice placement after graduation. His academic advisor admonishes him, and finally he does focus to the point where he was able to prove his original idea and publish it, and securing his position at Wheeler.
ACT II: INITIATION
Right away, we jump 5 years later and Nash goes to the Pentagon to crack a secret code. This event pushes Nash's paranoia and delusions of grandeur to the point of causing another hallucination in the form of a government "Black OP" spy, William Parcher, played by Ed Harris. He also teaches a class for the first time, which again shows his lack of social skills, and here he meets his future wife, Alicia. Their courtship is definitely a strange world for him, and she takes the lead in almost every turn.
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Nash accomplishes the trials and tests, but when the relationship moves into intimacy with Alicia, he reacts by conjuring up the third of his hallucinations, Marcee, Charles' playful niece, who fills in for Nash's loss of innocence. Nash and Alicia do marry and the Parcher hallucination really begins to take over, increasing Nash's paranoia and cloak and dagger fantasy. His delusions put a strain on the marriage and in the middle of the act, at the MIDPOINT, when Nash is giving a lecture, his paranoia causes him to flee the auditorium until he is finally subdued by psychiatrist, Dr. Rosen. This is a major turning point in that up till this point the hallucinations have gone untreated, and unrecognized as such.
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After undergoing treatment, we fast forward one year and see that Nash and Alicia now have a child. He stops taking his medication and returns to his delusion of working on cracking a secret code for Parcher. His scattered mind causes the baby to almost drown, Alicia calls Dr. Rosen and Nash attacks her. She tries to leave him but he finally admits that the hallucinations aren't real. At his lowest point, this appointment with death, he tells Alicia to stay away because he is dangerous, finally surrendering to the gravity of his problem. Then, love takes over and she decides to stay with him as he sets to work on the solution like he would with a mathematical equation.
ACT III: THE RETURN
Nash returns to Princeton to study and is still hounded by the apparitions, until he learns to ignore them. Finally he is able to keep them at bay, although they keep showing up. Years pass and he keeps with his work until he gains the recognition that he long sought after...
The HERO's JOURNEY is long as it takes place over most of Nash's life, but all the elements are there and it follows according to Campbell's theory.
ARCHETYPES are of course, Alicia the lover, Rosen the mentor, Hansen the rival-turned-ally and the 3 hallucinations are the SHADOW aspects of Nash's personality.
• In the healing art of Shamanism, there is concept known as 'fragmentation' or 'soul-loss' in that at a time of great stress or difficulty, a piece of a person's soul is broken off, such as losing one's innocence or childhood. Later in life these things crop up again as they seek to be reunited, in which case a Shaman will perform a "soul retrieval" ritual that brings these broken aspects of the personality back together, making the person whole again. In psychology, freemasonry and other traditions, this is called 'integration.'
TRANSFORMATION takes place when Nash is able to accept his mental condition and bring the shadow figures out into the light where they can no longer torment him. Nash's CHARACTER ARC is shown through a couple devices - clearly, his social skills with women and others vastly improve, and the hallucinations no longer have the power they once did by the end.
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Two scenes were repeated, once each in the beginning, once each near the end. The first was the game of GO that Hansen challenged Nash, which the first time was a disastrous defeat for Nash and at the end, it was a friendly game between two old friends. The other "bookend" scene was the pen ritual for the accomplished professor in the beginning, and this was repeated at the end when the ritual was performed in Nash's honor. In the game of GO, the same line of dialog was repeated almost verbatim, but since the relationship and characters had changed, the new context gave the line a whole new meaning, and, the pen ritual was at first something Nash could only dream of, and at the end, it was all his.
Ultimately, Nash' transformation is best shown - and wouldn't be possible without it - through the unwavering love and support that Alicia showed him all through the hallucinations, treatment and final victory. Her unchanging stance helps us see his dramatic changes more clearly.
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