Photo Credit: 20th Century Fox
Ang Lee is a genius. The director behind Brokeback Mountain (for which he won an Oscar) and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon has adapted the novel Life of Pi, by Yann Martel, into a spectacular and visually mesmerizing film that demonstrates the upside of using 3D technology. Besides James Cameron's Avatar, I cannot recall a film that looks so brilliant in 3D.
Life of Pi tells the story of Piscine Molitor Patel, an eager and intelligent young boy who shortens his name to Pi because of teasing from his classmates, who refer to him as Pee or Pissing, and because he grasps the mathematical understanding of Pi , which is limitless, but not unknown to the youngster. Pi is also fascinated by the animals at his parent's zoo, in Pondichery, India, and tries to form a bond with a Bengal tiger. However, after trusting the animal, named Richard Parker (his name is actually Thirsty, but a paperwork mishap branded him Richard Parker), Piscine narrowly escapes with his life, thanks to his father (Adil Hussain), who then demonstrates why the tiger is too dangerous to trust. Piscine understands, but still believes that he can look into the eyes of any animal and make a connection.
Several years later, the zoo goes broke and Pi's parents plan to move the family and the animals to Canada to start over. Pi does not want to go, but he has little choice. They pack all of their belongings on a huge ship and set sail. However, during a storm, the ship begins to sink, but Pi is able to escape onto a life boat, which also houses a variety of wildlife. Unfortunately, Pi appears to be the only human survivor. He then spends the majority of the next year adrift in the ocean along with Richard Parker, the Bengal tiger, who battles Pi for space and dominance aboard their small sailing vessel.
After a rough beginning, Pi's survival instinct kicks in and he utilizes his considerable intelligence to find a way to hold Richard Parker at bay, build a temporary refuge away from the vessel, and find and prepare food. There are rations in the boat, but the ocean also offers a wide variety of options. Pi's journey is not an easy one, but his spirit is admirable, despite facing constant threats from above and below board. He is determined to survive and even finds ways to occupy his mind, including keeping a journal of his incredible story. Pi shows great bravery in every aspect of his new life, but his will is tested time and again. His journey allows him room to grow as a person and opens up a vast new world to explore and understand, but the seemingly endless solitude takes its toll and during another severe storm, Pi loses something important and asks God why everything has been taken away from him? That scene is reminiscent of the story of Job and is played perfectly by Suraj Sharma. Pi's partial meltdown is soon forgotten as he awakens near a beautiful island populated by Meerkats, but his journey is still far from over.
The movie begins with an older Pi (Infan Kahn) being interviewed by a writer (Rafe Spall) about his experiences, which leads into the story aboard the boat, which consumes most of the two hour film, before circling back around for the finale. The beginning and ending provide appropriate bookends to the story and allows viewers to decide for themselves what really happened during Pi's adventure.
I found Life of Pi to be inspirational and admired the aforementioned Suraj Sharma for his remarkable performance. After all, he spends the vast majority of the film alone on the boat and in forced to act by imagining the world around him. I believed in Pi and grew to care about the sincere and capable young man as he faced incredible hardship, but rarely allowed himself to become angry or sullen. He is one the youngest role models I ever recall seeing in a film.
The use of 3D technology is expertly used during Pi's journey, especially at night, when the ocean provides surreal lighting and teems with life, some of which pose a threat to Pi. The scenes featuring flying fish and the extended island scenes with an endless number of Meerkats milling about, are truly extraordinary. I suspect Ang Lee's considerable efforts will earn him another Oscar nomination for best director and he should be the early front runner, in my opinion. I am still amazed at what Lee was able to accomplish with Life of Pi. The film, which is written by David Magee and based on the aforementioned novel, struck a chord with me and I have thought about it repeatedly for over a week. I am not sure if other viewers will be as fully impacted, but Life of Pi is a movie that I would encourage everyone to see.
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