Having read the novel on which
the movie is based, many years ago, I like the rest of the world had thought
this would be an impossible movie to make. But what expected was certainly not what
I ended up viewing: a classic movie.
Life
of Pi has you in
its thrall from the first. Considering that even the Booker-prize winning
author of the original book (2001) Yann Martel approved, it is hard not to like
the film. While the 3D version has been
highly acclaimed, the regular 2D version is also great to watch and watch you
must, movie buff or not.
The film begins with the haunting
voice of Bombay Jayashree, which had the North Indian in the seat next to me
wondering if it was a Malayalam movie. With the initial, captivating shots of
the animals in the zoo the movie will have your undivided attention for the
entire 127 minutes.
The movie takes place in early
twentieth century Pondicherry. The protagonist is a sixteen-year old boy Piscine Molitor Patel, named after a swimming
pool in France, thanks to his uncle. The humiliation caused by his name, when
everyone in school starts calling him Pissing, forces the younger version of
the protagonist to change his name to Pi – a scene that is highly amusing. The
adult Pi (played by Irfan Khan) retells the story to an author. This author,
who has a writer’s block, has been sent to Pi by his uncle with the implication
that Pi’s story would make him believe in God.
After an amusing
retelling of his childhood, which included the introduction of the Tamil Hindu
Pi to Christianity and Islam, as well as his first love, Pi explains how his
incredible journey came about. As a result of political turbulence in the
country, Pi’s parents, played by Adil Hussain and Tabu, decide to take the
family and the animals to Canada. This is how the distraught Pi ends up on a
Japanese freighter named the Tsimtsum.
But
the ill-fated ship meets disaster when a storm at sea sinks leaving Pi, an
injured zebra, an orangutan and a hyena the only survivors aboard a lifeboat.
The hungry hyena kills the other two animals but is in turn killed by another
undetected survivor – Richard Parker, the tiger. The appearance of the tiger
has Pi scrambling to make a raft from lifejackets to avoid being eaten by the
tiger. Thus begins the journey of 227 days by sea where Pi learns to survive
and feed himself and the tiger.
Pi’s
attempts to find food at sea, fill the boredom and train the tiger, keeps the
viewer hooked. After a failed attempt at being rescued by a passing ship the
boat ends up on a floating island of algae. But they leave when Pi discovers
the island is carnivorous. Watch the film to know how.
The
finally reach land where Pi is upset when Richard Parker leaves him to enter
the jungle. Pi explains he wasn’t upset with the tiger because it left but
because, in Pi’s words, “All
of life is an act of letting go but what hurts the most is not taking a moment
to say goodbye”. The insurance agents
of the ship find his story hard to believe and so Pi concocts another more
believable story which the author notes is strikingly similar to the original
tale though the animals have been replaced by human characters.
Director
Ang Lee, though not the original choice for the movie, has done a fabulous job
in creating wholesome entertainment. Claudio
Miranda's beautiful cinematography and Mychael Danna's intoxicating score make
it a worthwhile watch. The amazing CG creation of the Bengal Tiger and other
animals will have you believe you’re seeing the real thing.
The teenage Pi is played by Suraj
Sharma, chosen from amongst almost 3,000 young men who auditioned. Sharma had
to undergo extensive training in ocean survival as
well as yoga and meditation in preparation for the part.
In Taiwan, Ang Lee's home
country, the ocean scenes of the film were shot at a giant wave tank built by
the crew in an abandoned airport. The tank is currently known as the world’s
largest self-generating wave tank, with a capacity of 1.7 million gallons. The
rest of the movie was shot between India and Canada.
Despite reservations about
the success of the movie which had a relatively unknown international cast, the
movie grossed almost $109,901,300 USD worldwide and still counting. The movie
has been highly acclaimed by the critics and there is talk of possible Oscars
as well. My recommendation? This is one movie that should not be missed.
