Synopsis
This experimental documentary, which includes interviews with Avital Ronnell, Oliver Sacks, and Merce Cunningham, explores pilgrim mathematician Paul Erdos, Hellen Keller, and the philosophical ideas of genius and stupidity.
—
Psychologists, psychiatrists, and Merce Cunningham talk about their encounters with writer Helen Keller, mathematician Paul Erdös, and, in a general way, those geniuses who may at times come across as in a fog, otherworldly, disconnected, even stupid. Part of the off-camera narration presents a thesis: that genius and stupidity can be of imagination all compact. The remainder of the narrative focuses on stories about Keller and Erdös, plus a 9-year-old math prodigy talking about how he looks at problems. While voices comment, the images are of changing and ephemeral shapes, gears, landscapes, and the worlds of Erdös and Keller.
