Review of 'Life of Pi'
They said it could never be filmed. They were wrong.
Pi is a troubled youth (played by Suraj Sharma) living with his parents in Pondicherry, India who run a zoo. Due to the declining economic condition they decide to move to Canada on board a cargo ship along with many of their animals. A large storm hits the ship and forces Pi overboard along with several animals - including a tiger named “Richard Parker” - who share a rescue boat with him. The zebra, hyena and chimpanzee that share the boat are dispatched on short order leaving Pi and the tiger with an uneasy truce. An unlikely pairing, together they battle through the starvation and trials of life at sea, coming face to face with themselves in the process.
I was troubled to see a large number of children in the audience of our 3-D screening as this is most definitely not a child's film though I can see the confusion that parents must have had with the marketing (children and animals, it must be a children's film!). I can see that a child would have been very bored and often shocked at the violence displayed on the screen. Certainly the book is not exactly suitable for children either…
The movie looks fantastic on the big screen and the subtleties of the 3-D just enhance the experience further with the amazing scenes on the ocean the highlight of it all (particularly of note is the night scene with the whale and the jellyfish). Though the movie is beautiful really it is primarily a character study and it is here that Suraj Sharma and Irrfan Khan (who plays the older Pi recounting his tale to a writer) stand out and make the whole thing very believable but not only that, very human. It is a story of belief as well as coming of age. This story is told (and show it) with such conviction that you cannot help but get drawn into their world perhaps, along with way, learning something as well.
Rating: “I have absolutely no complaints”
Review Date: 2012-12-29
Directed by: Ang Lee
Studio: Fox 2000 Pictures
Year: 2012
Length: 127 minutes
Genre: Action/Adventure
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0454876/
Other reviewed films by Ang Lee:
- Hulk (2003)