Film: Life of Pi

Have you ever disliked a film that everyone else seems to love? Your friends find it wonderful. All the critics consider it a masterpiece. It’s nominated for a ton of awards. But you find it wanting, lacking the magnificence that everyone else seems to find. While I will admit Life of Pi is a beautiful film, the story left me cold. I found the closing message poignant but the ride to get there too slow.

Pi is an Indian boy whose father chooses to uproot their lives and move their zoo to Canada. Disaster strikes and Pi finds himself the only survivor of the ship, save for a Bengal tiger. What follows is a fantastical story of survival.

Irrfan Khan as the adult Pi, who narrates the film throughout, is superb; bringing a realistic portrayal to this unrealistic film. Suraj Sharma plays Pi as a teenager, which is the age we see him as for the longest. His portrayal is also good although he spends most of the film quite silent. Ayush Tandon is also surprisingly effective as the 11 year old Pi; rarely do I say this about child actors.

Ang Lee’s direction is fantastic; crafting a beautiful, magical world full of whales, flying fish and an island populated solely by meerkats. He is able to make the CGI animals look convincingly real, to the point where at times you do actually forget that they’re fake.

I honestly feel what annoys me most about this film is its constant messages of God and faith. When things are at their worst, Pi just prays to God and all is solved. At no point does it feel like Pi is in peril, the tiger seems to be completely incapable of eating him and food literally is thrown in his face. So when the film’s ending asks if we believe this story or one that is far more realistic; it seems like a simple answer for me.

 The point of the film appears to be that people would rather believe a fantastical story about a boy and a tiger than accept a harsh truth. Unfortunately I have always been a realist.