Watched this some 15 years ago and only understood one frame of mind at the time. I was too unlearned to know the references, too young to notice the subtext, too confused to put together the pieces. That it still worked at the time in all of those contexts, I think, says a lot about how great this film is and how it works on multiple levels. On this second watch, I picked up way more, had the knowledge base to connect the meaning of its scientific and mythic references, was able to see the forest for the trees. It's a tiny enough film that it doesn't swing for huge fences and get muddled the way Aronofsky's The Fountain does, for example, but its themes are so monumentally existential that it is nonetheless able to tackle everything from the confines of its high-contrast black-and-white apartment, set against the backdrop of a frenetic NYC. Are order and chaos truly opposing forces? Or is there a method to the madness that we are simply too small to see? Can both be true at once? And what does it ultimately mean for us? If we found the answers to the working of the universe, what actions could we possibly take to live up to the awe of such knowledge? If we saw the full range of colors in the world instead of the three hues our eyes comprise of, would we not come to understand how much of our truth has been folly all along? Pi tackles so much more than this, says so much with so little, that I could ponder various ideas it works with for pages upon pages. I couldn't have said the same 15 years ago, and I suppose that's a reminder that all things are relative. Perhaps even the truth.