I have always dreaded maths. Just as I entered grade 10 in my school, I had dreaded trigonometry—and that was not even all that hard. There were other lessons: probability, calculus, differentiability, matrices (the 2*2 matrix was easier, though!), and integrals. And my maths teachers were quite disappointed with my progress. Trust me, they did their best. Even more, they helped tutor, give extra classes, and every now and then, say, motivating quotes, if that was any help.
Deep down, I knew I sucked at maths. That awareness came early when I would dose-off in classes when my teachers taught us calculus. I was no good at Physics either. Chemistry, I did no better. What else was I good at then? History: this thing I loved—enjoyed even.
Perhaps that is why I decided to graduate in History and later in Politics. So, every time I see romantics of Mathematics, I have respect. That is one thing I claim to have no knowledge of at all. Just recently, my flatmate told me that my math sucks. And, as with every self-loathing Maths cynic, I chuckled.
As I watched this 2022 Korean movie, In Our Prime (Korean: 이상한 나라의 수학자, Isanghan Naraeui Suhakja), I suddenly got nostalgic for my distaste for Maths and my school days. The protagonist, a student named Ji-woo (Kim Dong-wi), attends an elite school on a “welfare” provision due to his socioeconomic situation (with just his working mother to take care of and no means of education).
What is clear from the start is that Ji-woo struggles to fit in. He sucks at Maths, just as I did. But, more importantly, he could not afford a private tutor to train him. This one night, in order to help his friends, he smuggles booze for his dormmates—and sucks at it. Meaning that he gets caught and is reprimanded. But Ji-woo does not rat out his friends. That is one rule: you get caught, you don’t drag others down with you (among hostelers and criminals).
To our thrill, it is not Ji-woo’s character that strikes, but that of Hak-sung (Choi Min-sik), the night watchman who catches Ji-woo in the act. Choi Min-sik himself is known for his lead appearance in Oldboy, another classic Korean movie. In Oldboy, Oh Dae-Su (Choi) is kidnapped and imprisoned for fifteen years, and he must track down his prisoners in the next few days.
Choi’s character in In Our Prime revolves around his escape from North Korea into the South. In the North, Hak-sung was a famous mathematician, but in the South, he was a mere watchman. But, we learn very soon that he is referred to as a “commie [something]” for his defection from North Korea, but nobody would really know that he is a famous Mathematician.
What follows next in In Our Prime is a story of a friendship between Ji-woo and Hak-sung. Hak-sung agrees to teach Ji-woo maths. But before that, he tells Ji-woo three rules: Rule 1. Don’t tell anyone about this. Rule 2. Only speak of Maths. Rule 3. Don’t tell the grades. He tells him that to learn Math, you first need to know if the problem is right. If the problem itself is wrong, then you cannot have a solution.
Importantly, Ji-woo’s grades improve. There is a lot more to the movie In Our Prime. There is loss, empathy, kindness, and a sense of gratitude. But, just as the story develops beyond the philosophy of maths (Euler and otherwise), it deepens into multiple pitfalls in Korean social life, education, success, and academics, too.
While the narration is great, the storyline of In Our Prime is a bit off the mark, for there is little in terms of the story itself. The characters in the movie are well-crafted. Both Kim Dong-wi and Choi Min-sik are phenomenal in their performances. This movie is a one-time watch.
Cover Photo by Dan Cristian Pădureț on Unsplash