Movie Review: Ang Lee’s “The Life of Pi”

Ang Lee is a master of film making with Brokeback Mountain and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon under his belt. Now he releases the unsettling story of survival on the high seas with The Life of Pi.

The Life of Pi is a beautiful film. It has stunning imagery, intense storms and a protagonist who makes you feel every single moment of pain and suffering. But it remains a well written story taken from the equally traumatizing book of the same name by Yann Martel.

If you liked the book, then by all means you will love this movie. It stays true to the story and that’s always the worry when filmmakers adapt a book.

The sad tale involves young Pi, an Indian boy whose family decides to uproot and move to Canada with their zoo. Yes they own a zoo, and Pi’s father acknowledges the animals will get a better price in North America. So they uproot and load them all onto a Japanese trawler and sail for Canada.

Unfortunately for Pi and his family, God has other plans. A ferocious storm hits and with it, Pi is cast out into the ocean alone on a life raft. Or is he alone? Not at all, to add to the fear of dying at sea, there are zoo animals on board, the most terrifying of which is a tiger named Richard Parker, as well as a zebra, hyena and an orangutan. There is an underlying theme of religion and its role in human life – Pi himself is Hindu, Muslim and Catholic, such is his fascination with God(s) and his/her/their plans. Never was there a better time to question the creator’s mighty power than when stranded on a boat in the Pacific Ocean with a hungry sea sick tiger.

However, if you were truly upset by the harrowing events that take place in the book, you may do better to avoid it. The tragic trawler sinking, the sacrifice of lives, the constant threat of death by starvation, tiger or shark – they are only made more real with Lee’s handiwork, and that is a compliment of the highest degree.

Living through the sad tale once by book is enough for some people, but if you’re into a bit of self (emotional) harming then this will be a treat.

An older Pi tells his tale of survival to a writer, and not since Castaway with Tom Hanks has a shipwreck been so heart wrenching. Pi befriends Richard Parker, the tiger, in as much as a boy can when alone on a boat in the middle of the sea with a wild animal. An understanding evolves with the tiger appearing to realize that the boy is key to his survival.

Ang Lee paints at times some breathtaking scenes, such as the bioluminescence lights, the starry night, and the various colourful sea creatures. Apart from a slow start, in which thirty minutes are spent introducing Pi and his life before sea, this movie is a captivating yarn of 227 days of a brave boys test of endurance and will to survive. You would think that life on a boat for so long would be boring, but not in Ang Lee's The Life of Pi.

Also expect a random cameo from Gerard Depardieu.

Released December 20, 2012.