Proof Is a Film Directed Essay

3. Text

The house actually becomes a source of personal healing and revelation for Catherine, who is really her father's daughter and much closer to her father both in terms of their mutual mathematical genius and their mental illness. Within the house, Catherine has had formative conversations with her father, including the one about the proof. There are multiple dimensions and levels of interaction here. Catherine has proven herself to be a mathematical genius, but her father failed to recognize completely to what extent his daughter really was revolutionary. Her proof was locked up in his drawer, leading Catherine's boyfriend Hal (Jake Gyllenhaal) to believe that it was actually Robert's. One cannot blame Hal for believing this, given where the proof was found. Yet there is an undercurrent of both gender bias and bias against people with mental illness in his initial inability to trust Catherine's assertion that the proof was hers. The audience loses a bit of respect for Hal when this happens, showing that both Gyllenhaal and Madden do a good job of developing the conflicted relationship between these two characters. It might have been better if the director would have allowed Catherine to come to terms with her mental illness on her own, without the help of a man, to avoid a stereotypical "woman needs to be rescued by a man" theme. Whether Madden could have done this and still remain faithful to the original text is another story.

4. Characters

Catherine just wants to be a mathematician. Like an artist, she is consumed by her work and wishes also to follow in her father's footsteps. She also wants to be accepted for who she is. Her sister Claire does not accept Catherine for who she is, and tries to mold her into an image of herself. Claire believes that Catherine's problems are more related to typical depression in someone who does not take care of herself, but Catherine's problems are far deeper and more complex than that. Claire's motivations are not explored in much depth; she seems self-centered but then also seems to care greatly for the well-being of her sister. Hal's motives are the least explored of any character. The audience is unsure to what extent he actually loves Catherine and if he really would be there for her if her illness deteriorated. His ambivalence is one of the weaker points of Proof. Finally, the father Robert is almost more of a symbol than a character in the movie. Because he is dead, he matters most in the way that Catherine relates to him and how he shaped her character. Catherine's impressions of her father, and how he influenced her, are more important in many ways than Robert's own motivations or goals.

Works Cited

Auburn, David. Proof. Faber & Faber, 2001.

Madden, John. Proof. [Feature Film]. 2005.

Papamichael, Stella. "Proof (2006)." BBC. Retrieved online: http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2006/01/30/proof_2006_review.shtml