Life of Pi 2012
Finally watched the coveted 'Life of Pi' to judge for myself whether it is 'cheesy, hyped and dwelling in the sentimental yearn of mystical eastern culture' as described negatively by my daughter or is it worth the accolade offered to a film directed by a Chinaman (Director Ang Lee) experimenting with Indian culture and having a Tamil song in its soundtrack!
The impression I got after watching the whole film was that the story behind the story is indeed well hidden behind the story. It needs a little of literary and artistic skills to appreciate its meaning. At one look, it looks like a story of a boy from exotic India who is shipwrecked, escapes from a tiger, deserted in an island and lives to tell his story! But wait! There is more to it...
To me, it tells that fear is one feature that drive us to go living. Fearing the uncertainty of life and what it has store for us, we hold on to believes like God and spiritualism. Even animals have this fear for survival, even the predator or the hunted feel it. Fear is the basic need to survive and go on living. I especially like the part during the storm, on the life boat, where both Pi and the Richard Parker (the Bengal tiger) hold on to their dear lives under the cover of the sheets as the storm terrorises and shows its full glory.
It is just like when 'In Golden Pond' was praised to high heavens and we teenagers could not understand what the fuss was all about in 1980! Err.... It needs doing time in the School of Hard Knocks and Heartaches to understand these things.
Piscin Patel or Pi (his name is based on the picturesque swimming pool in France named Piscin Molitor, which he changed after being bullied by schoolmates by calling him Pissing Patel) tells his story to an author who was looking for an interesting story to write. Pi (as in the mathematical formula) and his brother Ravi grew up in the French Pondicherry before independence (of India). Their father ran a zoo and his mother was a botanist there. Pi and Ravi had a interesting childhood being exposed to various facets of life in Pondicherry, the white French Riveira like setting, the Muslim section as well the others. Pi was exposed to various religions and at a tender age, he started embracing them one by one. His parents, of the New Indian variety, open minded about exposing things to the children were happy about it.
Then came bad times. The zoo had to be closed. Pi's father decided to migrate lock, stock and barrel (with animals too) to Northern America by ship.
The ship meets a nasty storm and goes down with all its passengers, save for Pi and a few animals (zebra, orang utan, hyena and a Bengal tiger). Pi and the animals are thrown into a life boat. The story is on how Pi survives the 277 days of ordeal stranded on a boat in the middle of the Pacific Oceans. It tells us how a tennage boy and predator build a relationship to stay alive. The fear to stay alive drove him to feed the tiger fish and rain water and hold a rein of control over the beast. Using his mental faculty and his trust in God as his anchor, he sailed through the choppy waters.
They reach a mystical floating island paradise which actually had its water turn acidic at night and the plants become carnivorous. This drove Pi to search for safe land. They finally reach Mexico and the predator and Man relationship just fizzles out just like that as both follow their own path.
At the hospital, his tall story is unbelievable to the ship insurers. Pi modifies the story replacing the animals on the life boat to characters on board the ship - the mean cook, the kind sailor, his mother and himself.
It displays intense human emotions spiced up with excellent CGI for which a Malaysian company (Rhythms and Hues) can be extremely proud of. Bombay Jaishree sings the soundtrack.
.... a film that is technically excellent, aesthetically superb, well acted and directed. a fairy tale, a tale of survival, a tale of belief in the self in face of adversity,or surrender to god so he may do as he will,but not before we give it all that we have with his grace. still thinking about it. GR
The impression I got after watching the whole film was that the story behind the story is indeed well hidden behind the story. It needs a little of literary and artistic skills to appreciate its meaning. At one look, it looks like a story of a boy from exotic India who is shipwrecked, escapes from a tiger, deserted in an island and lives to tell his story! But wait! There is more to it...
| Ang Lee |
It is just like when 'In Golden Pond' was praised to high heavens and we teenagers could not understand what the fuss was all about in 1980! Err.... It needs doing time in the School of Hard Knocks and Heartaches to understand these things.
Piscin Patel or Pi (his name is based on the picturesque swimming pool in France named Piscin Molitor, which he changed after being bullied by schoolmates by calling him Pissing Patel) tells his story to an author who was looking for an interesting story to write. Pi (as in the mathematical formula) and his brother Ravi grew up in the French Pondicherry before independence (of India). Their father ran a zoo and his mother was a botanist there. Pi and Ravi had a interesting childhood being exposed to various facets of life in Pondicherry, the white French Riveira like setting, the Muslim section as well the others. Pi was exposed to various religions and at a tender age, he started embracing them one by one. His parents, of the New Indian variety, open minded about exposing things to the children were happy about it.
Then came bad times. The zoo had to be closed. Pi's father decided to migrate lock, stock and barrel (with animals too) to Northern America by ship.
 |
| barrier broken |
They reach a mystical floating island paradise which actually had its water turn acidic at night and the plants become carnivorous. This drove Pi to search for safe land. They finally reach Mexico and the predator and Man relationship just fizzles out just like that as both follow their own path.
At the hospital, his tall story is unbelievable to the ship insurers. Pi modifies the story replacing the animals on the life boat to characters on board the ship - the mean cook, the kind sailor, his mother and himself.
It displays intense human emotions spiced up with excellent CGI for which a Malaysian company (Rhythms and Hues) can be extremely proud of. Bombay Jaishree sings the soundtrack.
A meaningful tale of survival of man on earth, based on fear which is somehow allayed by his quest into the unknown and trust in entity referred to as God!
What I want to know is that why the Patels are speaking Tamil? |
| Rythm & Hues used a swimming pool to create an island scene for the film. |
Hope makes us going besides fear.
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