Life of Pi (2012)

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nTitle: Life of Pi (2012)

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nDirector: Ang Lee

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nCast: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Tabu, Rafe Spall

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nReview:

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nSo Life of Pi is an event flick: a wonder of thenimagination, a celebration of film, escapist entertainment of the highestncaliber; if only it wasn’t so preachy! I went into this movie pretty much notnknowing what it was about. I’d seen the previews with the flying fish sequence,nand it looked to me like it was going to be a surreal, visual spectacle (whichnit ended up being every step of the way) but I had no idea what the book thenfilm is based on was about, or the themes that the film was going to be addressing.nI went into Life of Pi pretty much blind. But the previews displayed qualitiesnof a top notch production at the hands of a gifted director, so I went innexpecting to see something really amazing, and it was amazing in many ways andnnot so amazing in others.

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nLife of Pi tells the story of one Pi Patel, a little Indian kidnwho is brought up by his mother and father,  who by the way run a zoo. One day, as the familynembarks on a life changing journey to Canada, a huge storm breaks out in thenmiddle of the ocean and the boat, with mother and father and all the animalsnfrom the zoo go down into the ocean. Pi barely survives by escaping in one ofnthe lifeboats. He manages to stay afloat on the boat, along with a hungry,ndefiant tiger, an injured zebra, an orangutan, a rat and a hyena. How long willnPi survive out in the vast ocean before he dies? Will he make it?

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nLife of Pi reminded me of a couple of movies. First off, itnreminded me of Interview with the Vampire (1994) because it has this premise ofna writer, listening to someone tell a story so they can then write a novel, ornan article. So the film unfolds as a man interviews Pi, who very willinglyntells the writer his story; a story that will supposedly make anyone who hearsnit “believe in God”. As the adult Pi tells his tale, we get to see Pi throughnvarious stages in his life, key defining moments that shape Pi into the man henwill become. I loved the character of Pi, he comes off as very defiant of life,nhe isn’t afraid of anything, he willingly goes out and looks at a storm squarenin the eye and asks for “more”. To him life is fun, vibrant, joyful andnwondrous, something to be experienced and cherished. I loved how the young Pi is portrayed as someone so curious and full of life. The character of Pi is onenof the best things about the film, we can identify with Pi because he asks thensame questions we ask. He isn’t afraid to question god and his existence.

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nAnd here’s where the movie took me completely off guard! Inwasn’t expecting Life of Pi to be a film about religion at all! Now, this beingnone of my favorite themes, I was even more engaged in the film then I thought Inwould be. Suddenly, this was a film about Pi challenging God, to see if he wasnreally there, to see if he would answer back. The existence of God is one ofnthe biggest questions anyone could face in life. Is he real? Does he even knownhow much we suffer down here? If he is so powerful, why doesn’t he do somethingnabout all the bad things that happen? Why doesn’t he show himself? I loved howninquisitive young Pi is, because I myself always asked these questions, and I wouldnalways get the shaft from adults, because let’s face it, not many adults know hownto define God, can’t say I blame them. Personally, I think that if there is such a thing asngod, then it is probably something bigger and more powerful then anything we can imagine. ButnI don’t know if there is a god, because I’ve never seen him or heard him. Thenonly thing that comes close to being Godlike for me is the universe andneverything in it, which is one viewpoint displayed in the film. At one point angiant lightning bolt hits the middle of the ocean and Pi thinks he is seeingngod and that it’s amazing. I was right there with Pi, believing in the majestic,nawesomeness of nature. Now there’s something worth praising!

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nSo anyhow, be ready for a film that questions the existence ofngod, and tries to define why we should believe in him, which to be honest isnwhat I didn’t like about the film. The film starts out with a believer tryingnto get an unbeliever to believe. I don’t mind films that address the idea ofnGod, in fact, I often times find them fascinating. What I do hate is when filmsnof this nature try to give a definitive answer to a question whose answer is elusivenand inconclusive at best. I mean, when it comes to God, all we can really comendown to are ideas, a hypothesis, a proposal of what it could be, but what thenultimate creator of all things is, let’s be honest, nobody really knows. It’snone of the biggest mysteries in life.  Sadly,nthere comes a point in Life of Pi where you feel as if the film is preaching tonyou about believing, and honestly, I don’t like films that propagate the ideanof believing in fairy tales. I like watching fairy tales and fantasy films for theirnescapist nature and for entertainment, but I would never believe these films tonbe true. Because they are fantasies, unreal by nature.

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nWhat this film asks us to do is believe in God because it’s a far prettier perspective on lifenthen the sad, dark truths that unbelievers have to offer.  The film is right though, being an unbelievernoffers a bleaker outlook on life, they don’t believe in a beautiful afterlifenwhere you will meet all your loved ones that have died. They don’t believe innmagical invisible beings that watch over you. Unbelievers usually side withnlogic and science, things that are tangible, things that can be proved, triednand tested.  And though this is a morenrealistic outlook on life, some rather believe in the fairy tales that religionsnhave to offer, however faceless and ephemeral they may be. In the end, we allnchoose how we are going to look at life. Each man is an island; we all see thenworld the way we want to, if you feel better going through life believing in fantastical beings watching over you, then more power to you. I just didn’t agree with the idea that Life of Pi isntrying to propagate: that simply because the idea of God is a “prettier idea” thatnit is immediately a better option. I’m sorry but no. If you were to tell me thatnyou suddenly want to believe in Hobbits, because you thought they were cute, I’dngive you a good wakeup call and tell you to try and live in the real world. Wouldnyou rather see life through the spectrum of reality, or through the lookingnglass of an elaborate fantasy? If you ask the filmmakers behind Life of Pi, thenpretty lie is better.

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nIn the end, I really enjoyed the visual aspects of Life ofnPi, the film was an amazing trip, it offers one amazing vista after another,nthe visual wonders never cease with Life of Pi. Technically speaking I am surenthat Life of Pi will win the best visual effects Oscar, no doubts about it. Thisnis a surreal masterpiece, it felt something akin to a Tarsem Singh film, likenThe Fall (2006) for example. Life of Pi is escapist, visual eye candy. Thencolors leap off the screen; the computer generated images are top notch. Justnthe fact that almost all of the animals depicted on the silver screen are computer generated saysnsomething about the achievements of the film. The computer generated animals  look amazingly realistic. When compared tonsomething like Jumanji  (1995), yet anothernfilm filled with CGI animals, Jumanji feels like a dinosaur in terms of realismnachieved through computer generated imagery. As for the the 3-D in Life of Pi,nit’s great, fish seem to leap off the screen and onto the theater! For thesenreasons, Life of Pi is definitely worth a visit to theaters, just watch out fornall the preaching that leaps off the screen as well.

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nRating: 4 out of 5

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