LIFE OF PI

Publicity poster for Life of Pi (© Ang Lee/Fox 2000 Pictures/Dune Entertainment/Ingenious Media/Haishang Films/20^th Century Fox – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

It was exactly two years ago today, i.e. 21 September 2018, that I watched this truly oustanding, wonderful movie, so what better time to review it here on Shuker In MovieLand?

Based upon the highly-acclaimed novel of the same title by Yann Martel and originally released in 2012, Life of Pi is a multi-Oscar-winning semi-fantasy film that tells the extraordinary life story of Pi Patel, an Indian youth (as opposed to any similar-sounding Greek letter or mathematical constant, though these do appear fleetingly in it).

 

After experiencing a happy childhood in India with his brother and parents, living together in their home situated within the grounds of a small zoo owned by his father, Pi's life changes dramatically and tragically. During a devastating shipwreck, his entire family drowns, as do virtually all of the zoo animals that are being transported with them to a planned new life and new zoo in Canada.

Pi is the only survivor - or at least the only human survivor. Jettisoned from the sinking ship on a lifeboat, he soon discovers to his great alarm that he is not alone on it, finding that it harbours not only an orang utan that he has rescued from the raging sea but also a lame zebra, an aggressive spotted hyaena - and an even more aggressive Bengal tiger named Richard Parker (long story re its name, so watch the movie). Suffice it to say, the poor zebra, orang utan, and even the hyaena don't survive long, and Pi himself has to take refuge from the rampaging Richard Parker by constructing a life raft to stay on, attached to and drifting alongside the lifeboat, now exclusively the terrain of the tiger.

Almost all of the remainder of this fascinating film depicts how he and the tiger survive adrift in the mid-Pacific, eventually becoming grudgingly tolerant and non-aggressive towards each other, until they are finally washed ashore onto a Mexican beach, with the tiger swiftly making its escape into a nearby jungle and Pi being taken by rescuers to a hospital to recover. Along the way, however, during their lengthy oceanic voyage together as reluctant compatriots, there are some remarkable incidents and breathtaking scenes.

I already knew that this film was famed for its visual splendour, and I can now understand why, courtesy of such exquisite scenes as:- a phosphorescent sea at night; a veritable phalanx of flying fishes both besieging and bringing vital sustenance to the boat containing youth and tiger; a hallucinatory series of maritime visions experienced by the greatly-weakened Pi including a very toothy sea monster; a possible homage to a real-life experience documented by explorer Thor Heyerdahl while aboard his Kon-Tiki raft when an enormous whale shark (but is there any other kind of whale shark??) silently swims just beneath Pi's boat; and a carnivorous island populated by a heaving mass of meerkats (yes indeed, a carnivorous island...).

It had long been said that Martel's novel was unfilmable, but this magnificent movie, directed by the inestimable Ang Lee, proved the doubters wrong, and how! Truly awe-inspiring in every way, from the stupendous performance of Suraj Sharma as the 16-year-old Pi surviving aboard the life boat, to the CGI sorcery that created the life-like Richard Parker and other animals. Do watch Life of Pi if you have the opportunity - I guarantee that it will be wholly unlike anything that you have ever seen before, or will ever see again.

And here to tempt you to do so is a splendorous official trailer showcasing the beauty and brilliance of this enthralling movie.

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