'Life of Pi,' a journey of self-discovery
Photo Credit: Courtesy Twentieth Century Fox
"Life of Pi," from Academy Award winning director Ang Lee, tells the story of Pi Patel, a boy stranded on a lifeboat with a Bengali tiger. The movie has been nominated for 11 Academy Awards, which included best picture, best director, and best adapted screenplay.
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Chanelle Huang, Arts and Entertainment Editor
January 15, 2013
Filed under Arts & Entertainment, Top Stories
Based on Yaan Martel’s award-winning, best-selling book and directed by Academy Award winner Ang Lee, Life of Pi was an inspirational movie. Though I have not read the book yet, I can say that the movie was definitely worth watching.
In the film, Pi, an Indian boy, is stranded on a lifeboat with Richard Parker, a Bengali tiger, for 227 days. There, he learns how to coexist with Richard Parker in order to survive. Pi manages to keep Richard Parker and himself alive despite rough seas, the dangers of dehydration and starvation, and the threat of marine life. Meanwhile, Richard Parker transforms from being Pi’s predator to becoming his competitor, then his accomplice, and finally his friend.
The computer-generated imagery was exquisitely beautiful. The movie started off with crisp images of animals in zoo. The creatures were interesting, unique, and striking. Giggles from children erupted throughout the theatre during this scene. Although the water was at times too clear and unrealistic, it was still capturing. In addition to superb visuals, the film was humorous, especially with Pi’s funny story about how he got his name.
As a child, Pi was taught that wild animals, particularly tigers, are not his friends. This changes when he is forced to befriend Richard Parker on the lifeboat. Pi also believed in Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism. His father tried to explain to him that following all religions is the same as having no religion. However, his religion plays an important role later on when he questions whether or not God really exists.
I felt as if I were Pi on that boat with Richard Parker. When the animals were viciously battling each other at sea, I felt Pi’s sorrow as the zebra was killed by the hyena. I also experienced his pain and anger when his only friend on that boat, Orange Juice the orangutan, was killed. Whenever Pi jumped off the boat and into the water to run away from Richard Parker, I cringed as shark fins suddenly emerged from the water’s surface around him. Even though the sharks were obviously fake, it was still frightening. Ang Lee succeeded in keeping me on the edge of my seat.
The most interesting scene was when Pi and Richard Parker reached the mysterious island, on which Pi realized that they could not stay too long. I initially felt that the movie was dragging on too long, but by the end, I realized that its length was necessary. There comes an unexpected twist, which I will not reveal. The only complaint that I have about this movie was that it made
me dizzy since the camera shook in the sea storm scene.
Life of Pi is the only movie I have ever watched that has made me think about its meaning afterword. It is a story full of life philosophies about survival, friendship, and religion. Life of Pi does not support having a religion or no religion at all, believing in God or no God, but it will make you determine what you believe. By watching this movie, you will find your own answer to the question: Does God exist? I recommend this movie for everyone. By telling the story of the life of Pi, it will open your eyes to your own life.
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Interesting article, but I wouldn’t have wanted to read it if I hadn’t seen the movie, since there are a lot of spoilers (isn’t the purpose of the article to advocate the movie?). Anyway, the piece itself was splendidly written, good job! However, I argue that Pi and Richard Parker did not actually become friends. Accomplices is a good way to describe the two of them, but not friends. They learn to coexist– they rely off of each other’s cooperation, but the tiger doesn’t actually do much or extend much to Pi. My other criticism of the article is your criticism of the unrealistic clear water scenes. Have you seen the introductions to James Bond films? In Skyfall, did you think that the introduction song (everything taking place under the water) was a bad thing? It was certainly not reality, but I don’t think it detracted from the movie. One can make a direct parallel between that into scene and the scene in Pi with all the animals forming a bigger animal, etc., which was certainly the most unrealistic (and it was intentionally unrealistic) part of the movie. But I think a lot of those scenes were meant for artistic effect. The scene where the water perfectly reflects the afternoon sky so that everything in the shot is orange-brown save for Pi and his boat is absolutely captivating, and so is the scene with the jellyfish. I don’t think the clear water and those kinds of scenes was necessarily a negligent detraction on the part of Ang Lee. Also, keep in mind that most of the tiger was computer-generated, which was one of the greatest CG feats of the movie. And, it’s “Afterward” and not “Afterword”. Good job!
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