Life of Pi (2012)

Director: Ang Lee
Screenplay: David Magee (based on the book by Yann Martel)
Cast: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Rafe Spall
Music: Mychael Danna
Time: 127 minutes
Bottom-line: A much longer, spiritual and earthly version of Gravity 

People don’t usually compare a film with a later film, but because I saw Gravity first, I found numerous similarities between Ang Lee’s Life of Pi and Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity. Both the directors won the Academy Award for Best Director in 2013 and 2014 respectively, and both the films were equally good. The film stars Irrfan Khan and Tabu alongside Suraj Sharma, in his impressive debut performance. Many critics have said that the book was un-filmable, but Ang Lee shows his directorial skills in creating this masterpiece.

Suraj Sharma as the young Pi

Piscine Molitor “Pi” Patel (Khan) narrates his story to a Canadian named Yann Martel (Spall), who wants to write a book. The story shifts to Pondicherry, India, where an adolescent Pi (Sharma) lives with his parents  - who own a zoo - and his brother. He starts following all religions, much to the displeasure of his father. Soon, a time comes when they are forced to close the zoo and sell the animals. They decide to go to Canada. En route, a storm strikes their ship, and Pi loses his family. He escapes on a lifeboat, but discovers that a tiger (named Richard Parker) is also hiding in the boat. How Pi survives in the vast ocean, and his other unique experiences are told in the reminder of the film.

Irrfan Khan as the adult Pi

The story drags till the part where the storm strikes, where Pi loses his family; until then, there is nothing to see. Even after that, there is no real story. It is just a quest for survival in the vast ocean. But what make it interesting are the visuals, acting and the cinematography. This is similar to Gravity because in both films, one person survives in an unknown environment (of course, the stories have many differences as well). Few dialogues are excellent. The acting by Irrfan Khan is good, even though he comes for a short time. The film is a one-man show in terms of acting, as it is Suraj Sharma who carries the weight of the film on his young shoulders. In this debut performance, his acting is superb during most of the film (with few scenes of over-acting), displaying a lot of maturity and good acting talent. But seeing Indian actors speak English almost throughout the film is something I didn’t like, even in Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire. Subtitles could have been used, and Suraj Sharma could have been asked tospeak in Tamil.

A famous still from the film. Pi in the back,
with Richard Parker, the tiger, in the front

The score is superb, and the song ‘Pi’s lullaby’ sung by Bombay Jayashree is really mesmerising. But what really make the film stunning are the skilled camera work and the dazzling visual effects. Ang Lee does well do capture nature’s breathtaking beauty in the camera, and (as a critic said) sometimes, the visuals make you wonder, “Is this what heaven looks like?” The images of the silent, calm sea, the images of the animals, fishes and the islands and the effects used to show the tiger are awesome. This is one of the films that make the best use of CGI, in my view.

One scene with breathtaking visuals - the scene
where the whale knocks over Pi's boat

Now, the spiritual part of the film is another thing that makes Life of Pi unique. Yann is told that by the time he had finishes listening to Pi’s story, he would ‘believe in God’. Towards the end, there is a small twist, and Pi says, “It is so with God.” I interpreted this in my own way: when we try to preach about God, people won’t believe fantasy scenarios (even if they are true), and hence, won’t believe in God either. But when we preach the same thing with credible stories, people believe in God. Most of us believe in God, but there are many who don’t, mainly because there is no evidence of His existence. We need some story, like Pi’s altered version, to stimulate faith in God. But the people in the film believe Pi's real story, but not many of us in the real world believe such stories.

Ang Lee’s Life of Pi is not a fun movie, but rather, it is a spiritual ride, accompanied with stunning visual effects and brilliant cinematography. Suraj Sharma has given an excellent performance, and he has a good start to his career. Sure, the story is very long and boring, but the other positives make up for it. Hats off to Ang Lee, for not only making a film out of a so-called ‘un-filmable’ book, but also for making it a successful one.

My Rating: 4.5/5
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 87%