Life Of Pi is a Visual Poetry

Academy Award winner Ang Lee’s latest offering ‘Life Of Pi’ is a stunning visual adaptation of Canadian author Yann Martel’s novel of the same name. It is a coming of age story about an Indian teenager who fights against all odds with hope as his only hope. 

Plot :

The story is told in flashback mode as Pi (there is an interesting and humorous back story for this rather strange name) recounts about a fascinating episode in his life to an author who is looking for an interesting story. Pi lives with his family in Pondicherry where his father runs a zoo. Unlike other children his age, Pi is more interested in understanding religion and God Himself. Due to certain economic compulsions Pi’s family decides to move to Canada where they can sell off their animals for a good price. En route to Canada on a ship, a natural catastrophe takes away Pi’s family. And our young man is now stranded in the Pacific Ocean on a life boat with Richard Parker being his only company. I forgot to introduce you to Richard Parker. He is or rather ‘it is’ a Bengal Tiger! From here on the movie is about Pi’s constant struggle to keep himself alive until help comes. He also needs to safeguard himself from Richard Parker.

Story and Dialogues 

The movie has a lot of Indian sensibilities involved. In fact as the first frame of the film unfolds you have a devotional Tamil song running in the background. There are numerous dialogues in Tamil as well. It is quite fascinating to see a foreign film maker getting into minute intricacies of Indian culture and delivering them with aplomb. 

The dialogues, especially in the initial hour are laced with humour. Some of the dialogues are so simple but ever so meaningful. Sample this. When Pi recounts his last meeting with his adolescent crush he says ' I remember each and every moment I spent with her on that day except the very moment we bid goodbye'.

Visual Effects:

The VFX team of Life Of Pi has done an exemplary job. That the tiger is digitally created is hard to believe at times. There are some shots in the movie that are pure visual treats. One of them is Pi visually imagining his mother’s face on the bed of the Pacific. The 3D enhances certain scenes but most importantly it doesn’t interfere with the story telling. As James Cameron said after watching the film “It does what good 3D is supposed to do, which is, it allows you to forget you are watching a 3D movie”.

Cast:

Irfan Khan does a neat job as the adult Pi. Suraj Sharma as the adolescent Pi makes an impressive debut. You can imagine how hard it would have been for him to act with practically no co stars for a major portion of the film. Tabu and Adil Hussain as Pi’s parents have limited screen time, but they do make an impression with an ease that seems to come naturally to veterans. 

The film shares a slight similarity to another Academy winning director Danny Boyle’s '127 hours' which was also a story about the survival of the protagonist. But unlike ‘127 hours’ which happens in the 21^st century where electronic gadgets aid in keeping the lead man occupied, the ‘Life Of Pi’ is all about the interaction between Pi and the ever intriguing Nature.

Bottomline:

Life Of Pi is a visual poetry that tries to give you a picture of nature and its creator. Regarding the ever pertinent question regarding the existence of God, I believe it leaves the answer to the viewer’s interpretation. Life of Pi does move at a leisurely pace, particularly towards the end. But it is intriguing nevertheless.