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La habitación de Fermat (2007) More at IMDbPro »

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14 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
Original and ingeniously basic premise full of suspense and intrigue, 13 February 2009

Author: ma-cortes from Santander Spain

This freaky and clever film chronicles fear, suspicion,desperation, paranoia of four mathematics(Elena Ballesteros, Alejo Sauras, Santi Millan, and Luis Homar) completely strangers who are reunited in a Kafkaesque room by a mysterious host named Fermat(Federico Luppi) .Each plays a part in their thrilling quest to find answers to why they've imprisoned. The widely varying personality characteristics work together utilizing their given skills and talents to survive the deadly trap which guard the colored room. Using their mathematical skills they press forward and backward through the walls to avoid get smashed because the room is reducing itself.

The picture succeeds because the thriller,tension, suspense, as well as a superbly written script delving into the human psyche in such extreme situation and our instinctive urges for survival.Despite low budget the picture manages to be intelligent, intriguing and thrilling.The good thing about this film is that the directors made it on a shoestring budget only having to do one set , yet the movie works on many levels but is constantly reconfigured. Fermat's room bears special resemblance to 'The cube' (Vicenzo Natali)but also there's a dangerously premise with a strangers closed attempting to find an exit and resolving enigmas. Casting is frankly well giving fine performances, though little known with exception of the veterans Federico Luppi(Cronos)who holds a strong Argetinean accent and Luis Homar(Backwoods, Los Borgia).This motion picture relatively cheap is tautly directed by Luis Piedrahita and Rodrigo Sopeña in his first and only movie because they're usually writers for television. This is without a doubt a thought-provoking and mysterious film to be liked for suspense fans, turning out to be one of the most original Spanish movies of the last years.

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17 out of 23 people found the following comment useful :-
Every even integer greater than 2 can be written as the sum of two primes., 21 April 2008
Author: dbdumonteil

That's Goldbach's conjecture.And that's the starting point of this gripping suspenseful Spanish film.As Amenabar has already shown ,Spain has become the land of the thriller in Europa.

By fusing several elements,the director brings it all back home: the enigmas are borrowed from the "saw" saga (but without any gore and with special effects kept to the minimum);the place reminds me of that of "Cube" ;there are also elements taken from Christie's classic "Ten little Indians" aka "And then there were none" " (guests invited in a remote place,the host is to kill us but actually he is one of us;and of course they have done something wrong before).

Mathematics come to the fore,and you can write down the problems for you won't have plenty of time to solve them.Some of them are classics,as the young math genius points out: the three children and the story of the shepherd,the wolf ,the sheep and the cabbage.All the actors are excellent,and the fact that Lluis Hornar resembles Laurence Olivier makes you sometimes think of "sleuth".

The ending is borrowed from "Le Theoreme du Perroquet" (by Daniel Guedj) another book which blends a detective story and the history of maths.In that book ,they tried to prove a theorem which Andrew Wiles ,an English mathematician finally proved in 1993.That was Fermat's conjecture.

This is a thriller which is to be recommended.

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16 out of 22 people found the following comment useful :-
Intriguing Premise, Disappointing Resolution, 22 February 2009

Author: Claudio Carvalho from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

After resolving a test with a sequence of numbers, four mathematicians are challenged by a mysterious man called Fermat (Federico Luppi) to meet in an isolated place to resolve the greatest enigma ever. Each one receives a code name - Hilbert (Lluís Homar), Pascal (Santi Millán ), Galois (Alejo Sauras) and Oliva (Elena Ballesteros) - and heads to a barn in an island. Inside the barn, they find a comfortable room, and sooner their host arrives. They have dinner together and Fermat receives a phone call from the hospital where his daughter in interned in coma. He asks to leave the place for one hour; however, after his departure, the quartet finds that they are locked up in the room. They receive a phone call with a mathematical riddle, giving one minute to their reply; sooner they find that if they do not answer to the questions, the walls move and room shrinks pressed by four Poseidon hydraulic presses. While responding the questions, they try to find the motives why they have been gathered together to be killed.

"La Habitación de Fermat" is another variation of "Cube", with an intriguing premise and a disappointing resolution. The beginning is original, and the suspenseful story works very well until the moment that the identity and motives of the insane murdered are disclosed. Then the plot turns to ridiculous, too complicated for an issue between two men. Would be necessary such expensive and complicated scheme to eliminate a competitor? Further, the fate of Fermat and the policeman is silly and the black humor of the joke with the security belt does not work. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

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19 out of 29 people found the following comment useful :-
top performers x good plot = enjoy with maths!, 2 November 2007

Author: joan sanchez from Spain

Let me say in advance that, even it is a general audience movie it does the best with a bit of maths on the background, but still a very good movie indeed.

The strongest point are the top performances of Lluis Homar and Federico Luppi, finest actors very skilled in theaters and movies, supported by unexpectedly good beginners, Santi, Elena & Alejo, more trained in plain roles of teen comedies and late shows than in cinema, they do quite well and finally you understand why were they chosen for this film.

The plot is atracting from the very beginning, the most of time it goes on real-time action, with a countdown that will kill many of them if several mind games are not achieved. A new shape for a known theme, yes, but it works 100%.

And now the maths class: Every character is playing a role of a great mathematic and both players and characters were selected to fit into that role: Hilbert is an old mathematic devoted to the riddles, Pascal an engineer thinking only on the commercial application of any idea, Fermat an enigmatic person showing no more that what you want to see and Galois a young genoius but not used to think on advance. The life of those people plays a little on the movie. So now you can see what a good selection of players for this roles.

The mathematical riddles are explained easily and with no so much relationship with the main plot so they are not required to be understood to follow the film, but of course is a good point if you do it.

And finally, the Fermat's Last Theorem: It is already demonstrated so don't expect any surprise on this movie. But if you want, you can take a look to the Goldbach's Conjecture, maybe it helps.

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12 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
Nice, that's all..., 23 November 2007

Author: James Moriarty from Spain

"Fermat's room" ("La habitación de Fermat") is a Spanish thriller, in the spirit of some recent American blockbusters, where maths are supposed to play an important role. But do not expect anything close to "Numbers" in terms of scientific depth. Maths here are only an anecdote.

In fact, this movie is for everyone but mathematicians, who will probably find that the challenges the characters have to face are too trivial and the alleged screw turns of the plot are quite predictable.

The script and the direction are basically OK, but the acting is quite irregular. While Lluís Homar and Santi Millán (especially Santi Millán, who clearly steals the show) are rather convincing and solid, I do not buy Alejo Sauras and Elena Ballesteros as young math geniuses. Maybe it is not all their fault, as their characters are arguably more stereotypical than the other two.

In the end, an entertaining popcorn movie for a rainy fall evening... as long as you do not know enough maths.

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15 out of 22 people found the following comment useful :-
Simple but very effective, 26 October 2007

Author: Tanhausser_Gates from Spain

Considering Luis Piedrahita is a famous Spanish comedian, Rodrigo Peña is behind several TV shows and Santi Millan is to Humor what Aleister Crowley was to occultism : The wickedest man on earth, plus this is their first movie experience.. it takes a considerable amount of faith to buy a ticket for a movie like this.

Then they tell you about the subject of the movie: How could a movie with 4 mathematicians locked in a room could be interesting? But there was something really fresh about this gang that made me want to see it.. I guess I like crazy people! First of all.. All the characters are delightfully drawn, like the old "Airport" movies, you are given a background of each one of them until they meet for a curios party: An unknown person hosts a math competition, invitation only, no cellphones or escort allowed.

From that point on you feel like one of the characters discovering the story as it unfolds to them.. There is no way you can imagine what lays ahead and if that were not enough they'll keep you busy with riddles and math games.

Do not fear being abused with dense mathematical issues hardly understandable to anyone, this is for all audiences and will keep you tied to your seat until the end.

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7 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
Not as smart as it wants to be but certainly a "thinking man's Saw" with tension in the place of gore, 23 December 2008
Author: bob the moo from Birmingham, UK

I heard about this film ages ago in Empire Magazine in an article that was really talking it up in regards the use of mathematics as the base for the plot and how smart the film was, like the geek of the school was also the captain of the football team. It was a long time before I got to see it for myself but I was looking forward to it because the article had made me interested in it. In reality the film is not this math and theory heavy film that the magazine had suggested because, although it does use this as its base, it is quite superficially done. This sounds like a criticism but it is not because the veneer of maths makes the film feel smarter and the novelty makes it feel more engaging and it works because it draws the viewer into the world without making one feel like an idiot for not being a genius mathematician. What it then builds on this is essentially a Saw movie but aimed at those who long ago gave up on that franchise for simply being one cruel gory sequence after another.

The plot is engaging because it doesn't give you a gory release but rather keeps the pressure mounting in the same way as the moving walls keep the pressure mounting on the characters. Instead it gives you the overall mystery of why the characters are in the room and who put them in there but also keeps things pressurised by throwing puzzles at the characters as they move along. These puzzles do have an element of "magazine puzzler" about them rather than being mathematical formulae but again this keeps the film accessible for the viewer. OK the puzzles are maybe a bit in contrast with this bed of mathematics but the general tension of the film stops you picking holes in this regard. Meanwhile the walls keep closing and the characters are constantly reacting to the pressure, while the audience do the same. I'm not sure how many repeat viewings it would stand up to and, to be honest, I'm not totally sure that the whole plot would stand up in the cold light of day either but what it works the tension really well so that, on your fist viewing, it is a gripping and engaging affair.

The director makes very good use of the room, always managing to make us feel like we are in there even as the room shrinks. There are also a couple of cool shots such as the couple of times the camera looks from directly above, pulling away to show things in a different way. The cast are a driving force within the film. OK perhaps their reactions are not always totally realistic within the context of the situation but they are almost always realistic by virtue of how well they deliver. As the pressure mounts in the room they do a good job of showing it and they stay reasonably true to their characters. Are they Oscar-winning performances? Well, no, but they are very good at doing what the film demands and doing their bit to add to and increase the tension which is what hooks the viewer.

Fermat's Room is not a brilliant film because it is not without its flaws but it covers them really well by delivering in the key area of tension. The concept is simple but effective and is built on by several layers of mystery and good performances; these suck the viewer in and prevent you picking too many holes while you are watching it. Comparing it to the Saw franchise is perhaps not a fair comparison because the two are only similar in concept but it does make for an easy tag because Fermat's Room is a smarter and more enjoyable version of the Saw movies – with real tension instead of just gore, it engages the audience rather than trying to gross them out and we care about the characters rather than just wishing to see how they are killed. It is perhaps not as smart as it would like to be but it is still an enjoyable and engaging film.

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3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Four mathematicians, 18 September 2009

Author: jotix100 from New York

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Goldbach's conjecture, an enigma that puzzled great mathematician minds, is the basis of this tale about the solving of this old riddle. Four people are summoned to come to Fermat's home for a dinner. There are three men, and a woman who don't know one another, but they have, at one time or another, tried to make sense of the poser, that even greater minds throughout history have not been able to get it right.

The mysterious Fermat, an older gentleman, is an attentive host, but kind of aloof. After dinner Fermat and his guests, who are given names of famous mathematicians, Galois, Pascal, Hilbert and Oliva, go into a room where they are probably going to be given drinks. The host receives a cryptic phone call on his cell phone and excuses himself because he must go to the hospital where his daughter has been taken.

The four math geniuses are left with another cell phone where they begin receiving PDA messages that asks them to solve different difficult math problems going from easy to more difficult ones. As a condition, if the solutions are not found in time, the room will begin shrinking. Revelations about the four participants begin to emerge and the claustrophobic atmosphere begins to take its toll on the four. The menace of being crushed by the walls create tension among the four minds knowing full well they are doomed unless they find a solution that might be beyond themselves.

Luis Piedrahita and Rodrigo Sopena, wrote and directed this film that was a surprise when shown recently on cable. The realm of the work of Goldbach weighs heavily in the narrative. Little is known about the mysterious host, whose name is also that of one of the most distinguished minds in the world, Pierre De Fermat, appears to know the inner souls of the people he invited to play with their minds, or does he really? LLuis Homar, Alejo Sauras, Santi Millan and Elena Ballesteros make an interesting combination in this Spanish film that makes one wonder about what really is going on in it. Federico Luppi is only seen briefly, yet his presence is all over the place.

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4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
It Fails To Add Up To More Than The Sum Of Its Parts, 23 June 2009

Author: benjamin_lappin from England

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

"La Habitación de Fermat" or "Fermat's Room" to us English speakers, is a Spanish thriller that focuses a great deal around mathematics and problem solving in order a tense sequence of events in its own unique manner. "Fermat's Room" utilises concepts from various sources, in particular there is quite a similarity between it and the American crime-drama that is "Numb3rs", were you to heighten the interpersonal action and tone down the mathematics. It also features an intertwining story line where characters are not always who they appear to be, in a similar manner to those found in films such as "Fight Club" or "Memento". Unfortunately for directors Luis Piedrahita and Rodrigo Sopeña it leads to the film coming across as highly unpolished and indeed somewhat garbled in parts, as it becomes apparent they clearly had their minds determined to include certain set pieces and key moments without any real idea how to properly link them together through the dialogue to create a coherent plot.

Detailing the meet of four strangers under mysterious circumstances and the promise of solving the worlds most complicated enigma, the mathematicians follow a cryptic series of events which leads them to an abandoned warehouse in the middle of the country. Of the four we have two young protégé's, a grizzled toy manufacturer and an elderly mathematician who is tired of life and is intrigued by the prospect of one last great outing. They find themselves entering an vibrantly decorated room containing a blackboard, table, chairs, sofa, several bookcases worth of material and each other for company as they await their promised enigma by the elusive "Fermat". What follows is a sequence of events where they find themselves locked in this already claustrophobic room being forced to solve puzzles in under a minute and if failing finding the room closing in on them with the aid of four hydraulic compressors.

As a thriller, "Fermat's" does create moments of genuine tension as the score underlining the enclosing room does set the heart racing in a Hitchcockian ratcheting up of nerves which is superbly conveyed by two of the outstanding four cast members, in Lluís (accent included) Homar and Santi Millán. However, despite the promise "Fermat's Room" never delivers on the expectation and finds itself stumbling along without enough plausible gravitas in the dialogue to make the revelation an open-mouthed experience. Once the games begin the film settles into an all too formulaic pattern of when a puzzle is transmitted, one of the four will "begin working" on it while the other three engage in heightened communications to try and push forward the relationships between the four characters and how they may, or may not, be connected. Lacking the necessary x-factor to thoroughly engage the audience, the film itself also falls foul of an unforgivable sin and that is not being tight enough to make such a far fetched story even remotely believable. The film creates its own plot holes and casually drops in lines, one in particular about "Oliva" enjoying illegal activities yet never following through on what those specific activities are. What is the point in having a character say something which potentially could further the interest in that character only to not provide resolution? If Pascal finds out that Fermat is the father of a daughter he accidentally killed, why does it take the photo of his daughter after he has left the room for him to recognise him? How does the culprit plan on escaping the tightening dungeon when his proposed means of escape is perhaps the least subtle that he could imagine? Why do characters pick up pieces of information which would lead to the identity of the culprit and not follow through? The individuals within do not act with any rationale or reason, especially given their logical backgrounds and lead to an all too frustrating experience, indeed, even more so when one of the problems that is presented within the film is answered incorrectly and that's supposed to be its main selling point.

"Fermat's Room" was and is an unfortunately disappointing experience which promises the viewer a unique thrilling roller-coaster but presents the metaphorical equivalent of a log flume ride, it's "wishy-washy" and all down hill after the start. It is not polished enough to hit the heights that the directors have wished to achieve it comes across too often as set pieces which have been linked together and a nonsensical run of twists and interactions which are underdeveloped or not worth having been developed in the first place. I truly wished to enjoy the experience, yet the more that you think about the film the more it continues to disappoint, not because it is that awful but simply because it had potential to be much more than the sum of its parts. This Spanish thriller sets itself out to be a thinking mans thriller, to attempt to achieve a cinematic comparison to that of a rubix cube yet after serious critical analysis comes across more like a defunct abacus.

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Using math to pull people in, then failing miserably, 21 November 2009

Author: siderite from Romania

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

The movie is a bait and switch. Four brilliant people are drawn into a trap by a mystery murderer and they must think their way out. However, the premise is the only interesting thing about the film. The boy genius is a hot headed ass who is transparent from the very beginning, the woman is there for no clear reason, while another guy is the inventor of a duck shaped popcorn machine. Only one of them is actually a mathematician. And the "thinking" involves solving some trick questions that you either know from before or you have to use general school thinking to do it.

The story is full of holes, the actors play badly, the tension is not really there and the ending, where duck-guy throws the demonstration of the Goldbach conjecture into the water, smartly observing that the world has not changed afterward (idiot! That is what was wrong!), annoyed the hell out of me. And I am not even a math guy.

Bottom line: avoid this piece of pretentious trash.

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