Story: Based on Man Booker-prize winning novel 'Life of Pi' by Canadian author Yann Martel, this film tells the incredible survival story of Pi, a teen stranded on a lifeboat for what seems like forever, with a tiger for company at sea in the Pacific Ocean.
Review: Starting out with the older Pi [Irrfan Khan] recounting his unbelievable life story to an author [Rafe Spall], we travel down memory lane and are briefly introduced to Pi's childhood in picturesque Puducherry [Pondicherry], his family-owned zoo and his faith in God and religion.
In due course, the family heads to Canada for a 'new chance' at life. Calamity strikes, leaving Pi the only human survivor with a full-grown fierce Bengal tiger for company on a lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. What follows is an epic journey of adventure and self-discovery.
Oscar winner Ang Lee delivers a stunning masterpiece, defying the age-old belief that a film can seldom be as good as the book it's been adapted from. Spectacular 3D and computer-generated imagery make the film a monumental work of art. Lee's cinematic adaptation offers the story deeper meaning, while at the same time, mesmerising the viewer with its visual excellence.
LOP's soothing background score and gorgeous imagery transports you to a world of beauty, where the sky looks as sublime as the sea and the stars shine as brightly as the ripple of a stone thrown in the water. The film is 'visually enchanting' in every sense of the word. India's Puducherry and Munnar have been beautifully captured on camera.
Lee's storytelling keeps you engaged throughout and the credit also goes to the actors. Suraj Sharma is convincing as the adolescent Pi who discovers the meaning of life the hard way. Irrfan Khan as the older Pi contributes largely in making the film emotionally compelling. His on-off American accent is noticeable but does not distract. Tabu makes her presence felt even in her brief but significant role.
Ang Lee interweaves adventure and spirituality brilliantly. And if you still don't know what meditation feels like, Watch Life of Pi, it is therapeutic and profound.
Ang Lee adapts Yann Martel‘s survival story to the big screen in a visually striking coming of age tale hindered only by its grandiosity.
Wide release
Rated: PG
Directed by: Ang Lee
Starring: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan and Adil Hussain
Opens Nov. 21
Lost in the Pacific Ocean after a shipwreck, Pi Patel only has a Bengal tiger as company for 227 days. The tiger, alternating between carnal and cooperative, becomes the force that maintains Pi’s will to survive. Behind the brooding eyes of the tiger lies the crux of the story — Pi’s fundamental struggle for survival.
Based on Yann Martel’s 2001 Man Booker Prize-winning novel, “Life of Pi,” director Ang Lee’s 3D film adaptation explores the eponymous character’s growth following immense tragedy — the loss of his immediate family. The surreal turn of events creates provocative questions of what constitutes a victim’s faith in stories.
“Life of Pi” gives a highly cerebral account of a shipwreck, cleverly framed within realism. Lee uses a fictional version of Martel to interview an aged Pi Patel [Irrfan Khan], looking back on his adventure at sea. Pi’s initial spiritual search buoys the narrative, allowing for profound questions on the power of stories.
Named after the French word for swimming pool, “piscine,” Pi recounts his childhood in Pondicherry, India and life around his father’s zoo. Entranced by Hinduism, Islam and Christianity, a young Pi incorporates these spiritual worlds with the curiosity of a New Age hippie. He also interacts with the zoo’s animals like Richard Parker, a Bengal tiger mistakenly named after the hunter that captured him.
When Pi’s parents decide to sell their zoo, a select group of animals and the Patel family board a Japanese freighter destined for Canada. What follows is a massive shipwreck, the impetus for a survival story as Pi spends his days stranded on a lifeboat. The scrawny adolescent Pi [Suraj Sharma] must cope with trying to keep a Bengal tiger, hyena, zebra and orangutan from butting heads on the small lifeboat — an increasingly futile task as Pi is finally left with Richard Parker as his only companion.
Director Lee morphs the account into a 3D movie experience without the gimmicks associated with the technology. Lucid computer-generated sequences inundate a story bordering on claustrophobic. Lee shot most of the film in Taiwan and employed an international cast for “Life of Pi,” fitting for the story’s global scale.
Playing the role of Pi, 17-year-old newcomer Sharma exposes the story’s personal sense of journey — the actor from New Delhi didn’t even know how to swim at the beginning of the film’s production.
At times, Pi’s broad sense of spirituality bogs down an otherwise compelling personal drama about coping with disaster. The aged Pi narrating the story sounds all-knowing by the end of the film. His truisms and wisdom function to make the movie an all-inclusive, feel-good story but leave the conclusion somewhat hollow in its simplicity.
Lee strives to explicitly detail the story’s implications for Pi’s psyche while Martel’s novel leaves that mode of interpretation to the reader. Forcing a knee-jerk reaction at the conclusion of “Life of Pi,” the frame story’s ending feels strained. Martel’s stand-in explains the narrative’s symbols for the audience. Lee’s adaptation still makes an allegorical tale highly palpable for all audiences, something remarkable given the novel’s psychologically-driven narrative.
When Pi finally washes ashore on a coast in Mexico, he recounts his incredible story to two officials from Japan. Skeptical of the account, they ask for the true version of the events. Lee’s storytelling mastery depicts Pi’s struggle to accept reality. If Lee employs any over-reaching statements, it’s to better serve a greater unveiling of personal truth, rather than factual accuracy.
“That’s what fiction is about, isn’t it, the selective transforming of reality?” Martel writes in his preface to the novel, “The twisting of it to bring out its essence?”
What is the main message of Life of Pi movie?
The main message in "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel is that life can and will be difficult. However, people must persevere by any means necessary. Being adaptive and having faith in yourself and a higher power can help a person achieve any obstacle in their path.
What is summary of movie Life of Pi about?
After deciding to sell their zoo in India and move to Canada, Santosh and Gita Patel board a freighter with their sons and a few remaining animals. Tragedy strikes when a terrible storm sinks the ship, leaving the Patels' teenage son, Pi [Suraj Sharma], as the only human survivor. However, Pi is not alone; a fearsome Bengal tiger has also found refuge aboard the lifeboat. As days turn into weeks and weeks drag into months, Pi and the tiger must learn to trust each other if both are to survive.Life of Pi / Film synopsisnull
What is the main idea of the life of pi?
Life of Pi is a story about struggling to survive through seemingly insurmountable odds. The shipwrecked inhabitants of the little lifeboat don't simply acquiesce to their fate: they actively fight against it. Pi abandons his lifelong vegetarianism and eats fish to sustain himself.
What is the lesson of Life of Pi?
The true meaning of "Life of Pi" is about finding oneself and understanding one's purpose in life. Pi's morality and spirituality are continuously tested, much like people experience in the real world. The story shows how maintaining strong convictions even in life's most challenging moments can help one survive.