Ang Lee’s latest film endeavor The Life of Pi, based on the 2001 novel of the same name by Yann Martel, strives to demarcate the visual shortcomings of a novel through dazzling cinematography and an optical array of wonderments that is nothing short of tantalizing.
Beginning with a vibrant introduction that showcases a myriad of wildlife animals in all their quirky splendor, the film quickly settles into modern day Canada where Yann Martel (Rafe Spall), a writer’s blocked novelist, meets with a now middle-aged Pi (Irrfan Khan) on a lead that promises a story that will make the listener believe in God. Despite Yann’s trepidations on such a grandiose claim, Pi lets the young man decide for himself the merit of his story and the film takes us back to a young Pi (Ayush Tandon) and his family’s zoo.
Pi is shown to be a precocious young boy, easily falling into idealistic and enchanting views of the world through an affinity for theological reveries. Unfortunately, disenchantment comes just as easily when Pi’s father (Adil Hussain) and mother (Tabu) weigh in and reveal more practical implications regarding religion and the world. Still, it isn’t until Pi first meets the curiously named Bengal tiger, Richard Parker, in a tense encounter that finally shatters his idyllic worldview and leaves a jaded teenager in its wake.
Leading into the main part of the narrative, Pi’s family decides to uproot themselves and all their zoo animals for Canada in an attempt to escape India’s political strife. This decision ultimately ends in misfortune as the ship hits a violent storm that leaves the teenage Pi (Suraj Sharma) as the only survivor on a lifeboat. It isn’t long before Pi realizes that he is the only human survivor as he is quickly joined by an orangutan, hyena, zebra, and tiger. The seemingly endless days of survival on the raft soon leaves just the young boy and the tiger as they learn to survive and cope with each other through a journey that is both dangerous and fascinating.
Themes of religion and God certainly permeates the film, particularly being didactic in the early parts, but more often than not it is the environment that seems to carry on Pi’s debate regarding the existence of God. Beauty and wrath is dichotomously shown via the fury of a storm and enraged tiger to a peaceful panorama of a mirrored starlight sky reflected in ocean calm. So mesmerizing are these images and so meticulously woven that they become a story in and of themselves as hints of the visual embodiment of Pi’s theological woes, rather than blatant discussions on the subject. This allows for an infinitely more palatable taste of a sensitive subject that movie-goers may have otherwise found hard to digest.
Suraj Sharma works perfectly as the teenage Pi, showing strong range in desperate antics and hopeful excitement through the struggles of survival. Irrfan Khan as the middle-aged Pi carries an air of mysticism and world weary eyes that wonderfully cries sharp contrast to Ayush Tandon infectious energy and enthralled demeanor. The animals, though CGI generated, are modern technical achievements, that should have no problems fully engaging the audience in their readily apparent realism.
Though some may consider Life of Pi pretentious, it is hard to dismiss the film’s worth in bringing another dimension to the book through Ang Lee’s aesthetically imaginative interpretation of its contents. If you ever envied childish imaginations of a fantastical book that grasped in your head, but never came to life then this film is definitely worth the watch. At the very least you will know what to do if you ever find yourself stranded at sea with a Bengal tiger.
by Sung L. Kong
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