Title: Life of Pi
Director: Ang Lee
Year Released: 2012
Running Time: 158
minutes
Classification:
PG-13 (M)
Genre:
Drama, Magic Realism
Life
of Pi tells
the story of a boy who survives a shipwreck only to find himself
sharing a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger. A tad unbelievable, perhaps,
but that's the whole point. This is meant to be an epic, spiritual
journey – one, which we are told, will make us believe in God. Now,
I couldn't help but have high hopes for this film, given its
celebrated director, prize-winning book, stunning trailer and great
reviews, and I was ready to be a sucker and *~believe~*.
Unfortunately, I walked away feeling slightly but distinctly
unsatisfied.
Things
start off well enough. The visuals are stunning from the get-go, with
a vivid palette and adorable HD zoo animals. But as I saw more and
more of the writer (Rafe Spall) and adult Pi (Irfan Khan), I felt
myself deflate. The use of the interview as a framing technique
seemed to work well enough in the book, but here it felt limiting and
more than a bit contrived – rather than letting the story speak for
itself, we are told, on no uncertain terms, that we are about to
embark on a ~journey of faith~.
Perhaps
it's because I sat in a bad spot in the cinema, but what ensued was
not especially captivating. The early discussions on religion are
superficial but heavy-handed and the acting somewhat stilted. As
such, the retelling of Pi's childhood seems to drag on (get to the
tiger already!) and I failed to connect with the character and his
beliefs.
Things
get better once Pi is played by Suraj Sharma and the ocean voyage
begins in earnest. His plight is terrifying yet so absurd that it
isn't so much frightening as it is surreal. The vast expanses of
ocean and sky only accentuate the dream-like atmosphere. Speaking of,
the visuals live up to the hype. They are, simply put, very
spectacular; the tiger looks very life-like and the scenery is
gorgeous. It's possibly the most beautiful movie I've ever seen and
is worth watching for the graphics alone. Pi's strange adventures on
the ocean are easily the best part of the film – in survival mode,
Pi becomes easier to relate to and you get a sense of his joy, his
awe and his despair. As a bonus, everything looks magnificent, but I
think I may have mentioned that already.
At
the end we're confronted with the question of what to believe and the
answer, supposedly, will affirm our faith. At this point, my good
spirits withered away. Especially given the shallow treatment of
faith and religion at the start of the film, I found this turn of
events to be somewhat of a let-down and a reminder of the things I
should have felt but didn't. Where I had previously enjoyed this as a
story about a Boy and his Tiger, it all now felt a bit hollow. I
can't quite remember feeling this way with Yann Martel's book, so I'm
not sure whether the problem lies in the tale or its telling.
Many
have found Life
of Pi
to be marvellously uplifting, but I'm afraid I hold with the less
favourable reviews. Certainly it is impressive on a technical level
and certainly it is a unique tale to have been brought on screen.
Pi's adventures with the tiger are indeed wondrous, but alone, they
are incapable of carrying the whole narrative. The film's key flaw is
that it fails to give substance to its own spiritual aspirations –
but clearly, it seems, many would disagree entirely.
Alex's
Rating: 3/5
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