I saw the preview for this movie so many times that I actually delayed seeing the movie until today. I shouldn’t have waited; Life of Pi is an amazing movie in many ways and definitely worth seeing. It is philosophically ambiguous, by which I mean that viewers can read various meanings and implications into its very simple story, and yet it is profound enough to allow, and even encourage, differing interpretations of its premise and resolution. Most movies don’t allow this, so in this way Ang Lee’s movie is like a painting, a still life into which we read our own reflections.
The premise is as basic as it can be: a young man, Pi (Suraj Sharma), survives a shipwreck in the open ocean only to find himself on a lifeboat with four wild animals. One animal outlasts the others — a Bengal tiger — and the young man must learn how to coexist with the tiger or he will perish. From this primal situation develop fundamental questions that the young man has to answer without any guidance, driven by a strong belief in a God that, to his dismay, seems not to care about him at all. Pi’s religious curiosity is introduced early, with earthy humor and cleverness, and his need to believe and understand is maintained throughout the story, even when it leads to foolish actions on his part. This was the least effective element for me, but it is important to the story, and others may find it valuable.
The evolving relationship between Pi and the tiger is handled remarkably, especially when one realizes that most of the tiger’s scenes are artificial — the tiger is mostly the handiwork of computer animation. Most of the time it is incredibly convincing. The tiger, for me, is the key to appreciating the movie. As Pi eventually asserts himself to survive, he and the tiger (improbably named Richard Parker!) find a balance on the small lifeboat, a precarious tolerance that benefits both of them, keeping both of them improbably alive as they drift across the Pacific Ocean.
A few moments do feel artificial — and most of them are in the preview — but by and large Life of Pi is marvelously convincing, intelligently written, beautifully performed and highly stimulating. Being an animal lover, it is also heart-rending at times, and I confess to tears more than once. One particular image will stay with me, I believe, for the rest of my life; it is now embedded deep within my brain, and I have relived it over and over since the movie ended. I saw myself in Pi at two crucial moments, which makes me identify with the movie to an even greater extent.
The structure that frames the movie, with an older Pi (Irrfan Khan) telling his story to a curious writer (Rafe Spall), helps put everything in perspective, and adds most of the humor contained in the picture. This is also marvelously handled by Ang Lee, and is just as rewarding as the ocean-bound main section of the story. All in all, I find Life of Pi to be one of the best movies of the year. ☆ ☆ ☆ 1/2. 27 January 2013.