Life of Pi

Life of Pi is the kind of movie that almost dares you to love it or hate based on the ending. When it is over, you are left wondering if a great, powerful movie can be entirely altered by the final 15 minutes. It makes you question what is important in a film: is it the journey or the destination? I do not have answers for you, or for myself, but I can say this, Life of Pi is exactly the type of film that makes me happy because I know, deep down, I will think about it for quite some time. In the 5 days since I have seen it, it still lingers over me, it still haunts parts of my brain, pulling at me to think about it, analyze it. It has a reverence to it, which is fitting because it is a spiritual adventure. It does not require a belief in a Deity, but the movie exists in a spiritual realm. I am new to the material, having never read the book. I know much about the long arduous process of turning it into a movie though. Once thought to be an unfilmable novel, 4 different directors and 3 different leading men were attached at various times. Well, I can only say they appeared to have got the right people for the job.

Pi(Suraj Sharma) is a young man full of life and spirit until his dad rips the innocence from him. His father, a man of science and logic, did not like that his son was a believer in multiple faiths. Pi had a great capacity for the beauty in the world. He believed in Judaism, Christianity, and is a follower of Islam. He just believed that God existed and found lessons everywhere. He believed everything had a purpose and all creatures had a soul and his father crushed that when the family got a tiger for their zoo. The tiger, Richard Parker, would soon be a bigger part of Pi's life than he could have ever imagined. When the family is forced to move, they get on a ship and in the midst of a giant storm, Pi is lost at sea with only Richard Parker as a companion.

Life of Pi is a survival story. It is Castaway with a tiger instead of a volleyball. Pi is stranded on a boat with this giant tiger, and the film takes place almost entirely on the water in that lifeboat. It is not a movie about plot, but about character, faith, and survival. The structure of events is not the point, the destination is not necessarily the point. His survival might not even be the point since we know at the very start that he survives the ordeal. He is telling the story to a story writer. Life of Pi tells the story of a remarkable young man who tell a remarkable story. And it is a remarkable story, and it is remarkably told.

Ang Lee, director of such films as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Brokeback Mountain, does amazing things with this film. I audibly gasped at the beauty of the film at least 5 times. There are gorgeous shots, amazing landscapes, the storm is mind boggingly phenomenal. Lee's steady confidence allows for all of this to happen. He trusts the beauty around him. There is a scene where the ocean is lit up by jellyfish and we see this gorgeous whale and it looks like a screensaver, it is that stunning. The reverence Pi has for God and beauty is felt throughout this entire film. Lee understands this is Pi's story and shoots it as Pi would see it. He sees the beauty, and the frailty, and the Godfulness in everything. This is not just the God we think about as being a old guy with a beard in Heaven, no this is the God who is all around in nature. The God who could allow devastation to happen, but also surround this young man with the beauty of the world. Maybe that does not make sense, hell, I am not sure it makes sense to me as I write it, but while watching the film, it made complete sense.

Ultimately though, I was left with this ending. This ending that threatened to completely erase the first 110 minutes of the movie. I will not spoil it here, but something happens that completely turns the movie around. I get the point. I understand what the story is trying to get at with the ending. I am not immune to this idea of God in our lives. Or more precisely, this idea of survival by believing in God. I was behind it and it makes a gorgeous story. It has a power behind it. I also get why there is this ending. I am just not sure how I feel about it. It forces you to question the motives of the author. However, I think what it mostly does is it makes you question you. It makes you question humanity and what we are really about. If you think I am being hyperbolic, well, I do not think I am. Life of Pi has grand ambitions. It operates from a place of "Why are we here" and when a movie sets that lofty type of journey, I do not think it is a stretch that is asking us about our own humanity. I am glad I took the journey, for I am left with these questions and when a movie leave me with questions about humanity, I think it is a good thing.

Final Grade: B+