Even on vacation I bring you good tidings of great joy! Oh, wait. That's the angel that spoke to Mary. I bring you, um....good words of great films, that will be unto all people!
My sister in-law insisted I watch a movie she dubbed as "...the most beautiful movie" she had ever seen. She said I had to watch it or the world may just come to an end. So after her constant wench-like naggery, I sat down and gave it a chance.
Life of Pi: (2012) PG (Drama/Adventure)
Starring Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Adil Hussain
Overview - This story begins as an Indian family purchase and build a beautiful exotic zoo. Years later they decide it is best for the family to sell the zoo and move to Canada. On the sea voyage to the distant land, the boat is thrown by a horrible storm that sends young Pi (Sherma) overboard into a life boat with a fierce Bengal tiger. Mono A Mono, he must survive adrift at sea with no one but the stripped beast.
Review - I am always reluctant to watch movies that do not have stars that I recognize. I almost completely write off any foreign film, no matter how hard people push me to see it. I have seen very few, mostly because I have a very hard time connecting with the culture of the film. If it were not for my sister in-law asking me to watch this one, I likely would not even have "Redboxed" it. So, without giving anything away, Pi (Suraj Sharma) is stuck on a life boat with a fierce Bengal tiger for the majority of the film. I find that it takes a certain caliber of actor to be able to act in intense sequences completely alone. An example would be Ryan Reynolds in the near ignored movie "Buried". In which I think he may just have given the performance of his career. In this one, young Suraj Sharma does a good job convincing you of the real peril he is facing. You side with him, grieve with him, and rejoice with him as he finds a God-given strength to face any and all challenges that come against him. Interesting fact. He was not even among over 3,000 people who auditioned for the lead role in this movie. Ang Lee (the director) must have seen something a lot of other people didn't.
Yann Martel wrote the book "The Life of Pi" after reading a book review of a Brazilian Novella called "Max and the Cats" in 1981. In that story, a Jewish-German refugee crosses the Atlantic Ocean while sharing a boat with a jaguar. Using this as a direct influence for the film, Ang Lee also employed the services of Steven Callahan as a "Nautical Consultant". Callahan survived for 76 days adrift on a rubber life raft in the Atlantic Ocean after his sailboat sank. So when we watch young Pi go through battles of thirst, hunger, and despair, we are assured that all he faces is as real as the air we breathe. Some of the scenes were designed to be incredibly vibrant and breath-taking. They certainly do not disappoint. However, some of the scenes are SO vibrant, that it makes you feel as though this could not possibly be real. That nowhere in creation could flying fish exist, or could jellyfish glow so brilliantly. It's no wonder the film won an Oscar for not only Cinematography, but Achievement in Visual Effects as well. Needless to say that the movie is incredibly beautiful.
One of the things I really liked about the movie was how they established a boy who searches for answers to life on his own, and does not just adopt whatever he is spoon fed. It's a story about true individualism and courage. I may not agree with every religious aspect, but I appreciate his determination to really seek out answers. Man, what a lesson some of us lazy Americans could learn, huh? There is also quite a bit of symbolism in his interactions with the tiger, and the sea itself.
How was the writing and the acting, you ask? Well Sherma puts on quite a performance, as I stated before. The only other fully-featured actor was Irrfan Khan, who is Pi all grown up. He spends the movie relaying his amazing story to a writer. For someone to say you did a flawless job sitting down telling someone a story is quite an overstatement, in my opinion. Khan is convincing, but I feel almost any random actor of the same nationality could have done the same. They likely went with Khan because he was a familiar face. But don't get me wrong, his performance does not detract from the overall film. It takes you from peril to serenity and back again. Over and over you find your heart fluttering and calming. The director really finds a way to hold your attention, which is quite a feat after you know that he was responsible for the 2003 atrocious attempt at film making, "Hulk". Though I may buy it just to be able to watch Jennifer Conelly wander around and speak words for a while.
Overall I would give this one a 3 out of 5. I thought it was well acted, and visually stunning. I would watch it with friends, though I may not actually buy it. I would certainly say it is worth a watch.
Let me know what you want me to talk about. Email me at entertaindave@gmail.com and follow me on Twitter @entertaindave
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