Solid Geometry (2002)

 

This obscure little project, a Scottish TV short, is actually one that I’ve known about for years, but I haven’t seen it until now.  It stars Ewan McGregor, who was the first of “my” actors –however, this was a good 10-12 years ago, when the Internet was a very different animal overall, and no one was uploading obscure Scottish TV shorts anywhere, so it remained an intriguing unknown entity on McGregor’s filmography.  Until now.  Capaldians, it seems, can find just about anything, especially now that PC is the Doctor and videos are coming out of the online woodwork. 

 

It turns out that Solid Geometry is the exceedingly odd story of Phil, a young man tasked with going through the diaries of his great-grandfather (a mathematician who disappeared under mysterious circumstances, don’t ya know.)  Between the equations, the daily banality, and the sexual fixations, the diaries obsess over a mathematical breakthrough Phil’s great-grandfather witnessed.  Don’t ask me to explain it, because I don’t get it even a little bit – suffice it to say it’s revolutionary, mind-bending, and pretty impossible.  Anyway, Phil’s personal life starts to suffer as he gets more and more consumed by the diaries and their implications.

 

That seems like a long plot summary for a half-hour short, but it’s necessary.  I really don’t get it.  Not in a “clearly, this is supposed to be balls-out nuts” way, like with Bistro; it’s more like it’s playing keep-away with its ideas, and understanding is always a little out of my grasp.

 

PC plays David Hunter, a Scottish mathematician and contemporary of Phil’s great-grandfather.  He’s the one who actually discovers the game-changing principle described in the diaries, and we see him through flashbacks as Phil reads.

 

There’s not a ton to say.  These parts of the film are kind of underwritten, to obfuscate the fact that the math itself isn’t strictly possible.  Despite the scant screentime/dialogue, however, PC does his job.  I may have no idea what David really did, but I absolutely believe that he crossed the borders of human understanding and was simultaneous ecstatic and terrified about it.

 

Accent Watch

 

Everyone’s Scottish here – even Ewan McGregor, and it seems he rarely uses his own accent!

 

Recommend?

 

In General – Not necessarily.  Nice atmosphere, I like the concept, and some of the character stuff is good.  It’s just so odd.

 

PC-wise – Again, not necessarily.  Even in a fairly short project, he only has a few minutes of screentime and not much to do.

 

Warnings

 

Swearing, sexual content (including a sex scene and some nudity,) and assorted substance abuse.