Movie #3 - Life of Pi

It was with very mixed opinions ringing in my ears that I approached seeing this film.  Some said it was fantastic, life-changing and spectacular.  Others said it wasn't their sort of movie (most of whom hadn't seen it).  I decided to just keep an open mind and if the storyline failed to interest, the visuals would at least be stunning.  Turns out that was the best way to go in, as I actually really liked everything about it.

The movie begins with a writer (Rafe Spall) meeting up with the now middle aged Pi (short for Piscine) who, he has heard, has an amazing story to share.  Pi begins to recount the story and we flash back in time to meet the young Pi growing up in India where his family runs a zoo.  The film then alternates between Pi framing the story with the writer in the present day, and the re-enactment of the story at various intervals of his life, before returning to the present to give some context to what you've just seen.  So to answer the first question some have had: No, it's not a 2 hour movie about a boy trapped on a boat with a tiger.  There is a lot of framing device and back story before we get to that.

The various stages of Pi's life that we visit include: when he is very young and his father teaches him that the wild zoo animals such as the tiger are not your friend, they are wild animals with no souls and it is healthy to fear them; when he is a young teenager and starts to explore different religions and faiths and practices three at once (which his science believing father finds ridiculous); and when he is an older teenager and meets a girl he likes.  All three of these stages and Pi's reactions are key to the story that then unfolds - the story of how his parents decide to take the zoo animals to Canada to sell them and live a comfortable life, and the ship the family and the animals take passage on sinks during a storm.  Pi ends up in a lifeboat with a couple of the animals (hyena, zebra, orangutan and tiger) for company, while the boat sinks with his mother, father and brother and all the crew onboard.

The amazing part of his story is how he then survives for 227 days at sea.  This is retold in detail before the film throws up a really head scratching question at the end - did this really happen the way he says it did, or did something else happen and this is the more 'appealing' story that he and the writer and us the viewer want to believe?  The alternative story is presented but I'm not going to ruin that for you.  I'm still ruminating on this question and issue a few days later, to the point of looking up internet forums to see what other people's take is on it.  Happy to discuss privately with anyone who wants to take it up - but not going to spoil things for people who haven't seen it.

The movie is fantastic because it combines beautiful visuals, a gripping storyline (even though you know he survives since he is re-telling his own story) and a deeper meaning that is open-ended enough for each person to make up their own mind what it means.  The 3D has been used so effectively, the movie just looks amazing in so many scenes, especially in the lifeboat scenes where the sea and sky can merge so seamlessly.  Pi's fight for survival is very instructive but surprisingly evokes a fair bit of the humour of the film as well.  And the deep and meaningful part has many facets - religion, faith, ending of relationships, environmental warnings - depending on how much you want to think about it.  As a long time atheist, I thought at first that this was going to stuff belief in God down our throats but ultimately it surprised by leaving it totally up to you to find God's place, or non-place, in the movie.  The main thing I took away from it was actually the thought to tell people how you feel now and be more present in the moment, because sometimes we don't always get a chance to say 'goodbye' and create the ideal parting. 

They key to the strength of this film is in the performance by Surat Sharma as the Pi who goes through the shipwreck and time on the lifeboat.  It's an absolutely raw and powerful performance by a first time actor and in any other year, he may have earned an Oscar nomination.  Ang Lee deserves his 'Best Director' nomination because he has made what many considered to be an unfilmable book into a beautiful, complex film that seems simple on the surface but provokes much thought and discussion.  My Oscars tipping just got a lot more difficult.....