Review: Life of Pi
Going in to a film completely blind
(metaphorically of course!) is the best way to gain a thrilling
cinema experience, but with the trend of book-to-film adaptations
ever increasing, it's hard to have the delight of finding a good film
by surprise. As an avid reader I find it difficult watching the film
after reading the book, as they often face difficulty living up to
the expectations set beforehand.
'Life of Pi'; The highly acclaimed book by Yann
Martel, is a captivating story of survival when a young boy, Pi
(Suraj Sharma) is thrown in at the deep end after surviving a
thunderstorm on a ship to Canada. Thrown aboard a lifeboat in the
darkness of the night, he finds himself accompanied by a bunch of
animals from his fathers zoo, which were accompanying them on the
trip. He ends up spending his time cast away with one other survivor;
a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. They build a comradeship between
them while depending on each other for survival from the surroundings
which could easily diminish them.
It had been dubbed an 'impossible' task to convey
this story on screen, as director, Ang Lee, took it under his wings
and worked his magic. The man who brought us well-known titles like
'Brokeback Mountain' (2005) and 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'
(2000), is already on the nominations list for a BAFTA, for his work
on Life of Pi, and rightly so.
Lee married breath taking visuals (especially in
3D) with a beautiful narrative, as you find yourself ooh-ing and
aah-ing from the opening credits. The story is heavily backdropped by
a narration from an elder Pi (Irrfan Khan, you may recognise him from
Slumdog Millionaire.) which helps to fill in the gaps for viewers who
haven't read the book and possibly even helps the film make sense.
Sharma's acting is brilliant and he has the ability to infuse emotion
in to his performance, helping the audience connect with his
character. I often find it difficult to take the Indian accent
seriously, being from an Indian background myself I have grown up
using it for humour, yet Sharma's emotion felt so real it just hits
you.
I really liked how one particular tear-jerking
scene was followed by humour, which seemed as though the narrative
wasn't dwelling on the negatives, a bit like the character who stays
positive, constantly living in hope of reaching land soon.
The visual pyrotechnics of the tiger were to such
a standard, that I was constantly trying to figure out whether it was
real all the way through the film. It may seem idiotic to even think
they'd use a real tiger for it would be costly and dangerous, but it
was very realistic, and unbelievably so.
I think most people who don't like the film will
probably complain about the ending, which can be hard to understand.
The ending involves the audiences own interpretations of the story,
and I love how we can choose to create a subjective link to what we
see. I have read many explanations of the ending on the internet and
because there is no right or wrong answer, it's amazing to see how
different minds have tried to make sense of the story.
Overall the story was charming and really made me
question the meaning of life. We take for granted all the luxuries we
have in our life, but at the same time, do we really need them? The
simplistic life Pi lead on his voyage living only to survive, shows
that the luxuries we crave to make our lives easier, could really be
what makes life harder for us. That said, companionship too is part
of survival. This is why he depended on Richard Parker's company so
much, because in life everyone needs a friend.
I would recommend this film to anyone, even if you
think you won't like it you might be pleasantly surprised. I, myself
have already ordered the book and will be making another trip to the
cinema to watch it with my mum.
Star Rating: *****
