Life of Pi - A Review

There are very few movies that carry a story line about one's journey without it dragging on at some point in the film.  Life of Pi is a "robinson crusoesque" story of a tweener forced into manhood by circumstance. Growing up as a boy, Piscine Patel experienced the pain of bullying as a result of his unconventional name. Who could he blame? His name comes from a popular resort in the south of France and sounds similarly like "pissing". He circumvents the matter by equating his name with a numerical equation and excelling in mathematical problems. Successfully, his name is changed to Pi.

Pi's curiosity finds him dabbling in different religions and  focusing on none. His daily routine consists of feeding the animals in a family operated zoo. As he grows up, he learns valuable lessons  that his dad taught him; particularly when he tries to feed the zoo's tiger Richard Parker. Eventually, these life lessons are what Pi hangs onto when in their voyage across the Pacific Ocean en route to Canada the ship runs into a squall and sinks with everyone and everything onboard except a Zebra, a chimpanzee, a hyena and to Pi's consternation, Richard Parker!

Photo from The Guardian website

The movie further unfolds into a series of misadventures that leaves Pi and Richard Parker into an uneasy alliance in order to survive. You'll have to watch the movie for yourself lest I ruin the story for you. Suffice it to say that Ang Lee's vision is so clear and directly presented that it will lead you aghast at the visual unfolding of the movie. Touted as the next Avatar for its stunning cinematography, Lee's images do not disappoint. Most of the scenes are shot in the water and yet the images are never boring nor similar.

The scenes are crisp and never dragging and the storyline delves on one's strength of character and unwavering faith in God but it never proselytizes. There are some funny moments as well and yet one sometimes gets the feeling of hopelessness as the two characters try to manage a non-relationship and get along inspite of the odds.

There are no lengthy dialogues and no big stars but the film manages to hold its own. Considering that the lead has no acting experience, he delivers his emotions so well particularly in the scene where he taunts God during another storm where he loses all but the lifeboat they're in.  

All in all, watching the movie is worth the price of admission. It's one of those films where there are no warriors defying gravity, no hollywood A-listers, no media hype... and yet Ang Lee captures the viewer's imagination with a tight plot and divine images

Photo from theawardsdaily.com