Life of Pi

Yann Martel’s book Life of Pi is a seminal read for many who read this book in their youth.  Many find this book profound much like The Alchemist.  Such a book can be a challenge to make an adaptation that is true to the book without receiving backlash from die-hard fans. Ang Lee took this challenge and brought this film to life.

A story of a simple young man Pi (Piscine Patel) named after the French word for swimming pool because the word reminded his father of his brother.  Pi grew up in the French part of India called Pondicherry.  His father owned a zoo making his childhood full of adventures.  Naturally inquisitive, Pi converts to all religions believing it is all one, all of them bringing you to a higher state of consciousness.

Due to economic pressures, his dad is forced to sell the zoo and picks up his whole family to move to Montreal. When the perfect storm capsizes the ship he is on, Pi manages to survive on a small rescue boat with only a Bengal Tiger called Richard Parker for company.

Now, I wasn’t a fan of the book at all.  I suppose I had read it too late in life, the lessons already learned from my own life experiences but I can see how so many found it incredibly life changing.  The film however spoke to me in a way that the book never did.  It was a visual delight of absolute beauty.  It’s hard to take on such a book with amazing imagery and create something so beautiful from it in the way Lee had the vision to do so skilfully.

Yes a lot of it is CGI, but the visuals he created are so simple that is feels like it has never been done before.  The Bengal Tiger is just amazing, so majestic and scary.  The relationship blossoming between Pi and the Tiger are just so charming to watch and very well acted by newbie Suraj Sharma.  I also can’t tell you how lovely it is to see dark skinned Indians in a Hollywood film like this.  Much of the Indian film industry is filled with light skinned Indian actors that dark skinned actors are usually cast as villains or characters in the background.  Here we see a hero and friend, acted with such sensitivity and comedy at times.

I have read that some didn’t like the story that much and the film is just visual effects.  I say that it doesn’t matter how much the story twists and turns, sometimes you have to stop, take stock and enjoy the view.