Ok,
confession time. I was so impressed by this film, and I mean, so SERIOUSLY
impressed that it played a large part in my delaying the update for a day. My
sincere apologies. But it was so good, I literally couldn’t wait a whole week
to talk about it. And, ok, credit where it’s due, I did have a reasonable
amount of time to write the entry. That’s when the turkey and potatoes got in
the way. And I actually had other posts ready but… You see… Come on though. I
know you’ll forgive me. It’s Christmas. And besides, it’s Ang Lee. He just
happens to be one of my favourite directors.
And this film soared to the top ten of my favourite films ever almost the
second I finished it; all this without reading the book at all I might add.
Life of Pi
is the story of many things. Life, religion, philosophy… It is one of those
stories that you can make whatever you feel it should mean. This is actually
rather strange, because on the surface it doesn’t seem to be one of those
stories at all. Pi is a young boy of 16 when he is shipwrecked. He is lucky
enough to find himself in a lifeboat with supplies enough to keep him going for
a while at least. However, he is not alone on the boat. A large and vicious Bengal
tiger, part of the ship’s cargo, has also made its way onto the lifeboat… Pi must
now attempt to survive being shipwrecked in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, a
Bengal tiger and, maybe the most frightening aspect of all, being completely
and utterly alone with himself…
Ok, first
of all, the film. I mean, wow. The film is stunning, first and foremost as a
film in itself. Lee is, as you may know, a master at creating and conveying
dream-like “film worlds”. He does not fail here. In fact, I can almost
guarantee you that the visuals of the film alone will ensure you leave the
cinema mildly – if not completely – stunned. This is also a good example of
using the CGI in an understated way. Here, yes most things are computer
generated. However, no big explosions, no dragons, nothing is overdone. I mean,
the realism of the film is to the degree that, the rest of the family was in
some division over whether some bits were actual photography or not. It is my
professional opinion that most of it was not but I can’t help but be impressed.
You can actually use computers to make “fake” images look almost better than
real life. And if that isn’t something
to think about, I don’t know what is.
But of
course, this isn’t the only “thing to think about” the film provides. As you
can imagine (or perhaps already know as I seem to be literally the only person
on the planet who hasn’t read the book yet) the book is, more than anything
else, an invitation to consider some of the most important philosophical
questions in life. As the story unfolds, the number of possible interpretations
also grows and we are, at the end of the day, left alone with ourselves, much
like Pi, to consider what really happened. And please don’t be put off by the
concept of “philosophising”. It is not that kind of film at all. It will draw
you in gently and almost despite yourself. I mean, trust me, even if it isn’t
normally your thing, you won’t be able to help thinking about it. Come on. Step right in. You know you’re at
least curious by now.
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