Review of Life of Pi (2012) by Nick C — 22 Apr 2017

When this movie came out, it was lauded for its amazing special effects in creating a life-like CGI tiger. Unfortunately, it seems people were too hyped about the visual effects, and ignored what is, in my opinion, the greatest story ever told.

It is the story of Pi, and the 227 days he spent stranded out at sea after the ship he was on sunk. More importantly, though, it's a story of faith, proof, perception, reality, the darkness of man, and religion.

If you accept the second story to be true, it is a movie where you get to see the character interact with a much darker aspect of himself that he never new before, and how he at first violently rejects it out of fear, but ends up needing it and loving it.

And then there is the aspect of faith -- which story really was true? Does even it matter, as the outcome is the same either way? The movie asks us that question - does it matter? At the end, Pi poses both stories.

He notes that neither story can be proven, as no one really knows what happened. So in the end, it is only a matter of what we, the viewers, liked better. What the better story was. And really, that's what a story is - what we choose when there is no proof either way.

This is where the movie connects with religion. Is it a proof God exists? Absolutely not. But it does point out something profound about religion - since we cannot prove either way whether God exists or not, the best thing we can do is choose which reality we prefer - a world with God, or a world without God.

It tells us it is irrelevant what the truth is you can't prove it either way. This movie has the usual components of a great movie - great performances, stunning visuals, etcetera, but what it has, more than any other movie ever made, is an incredibly stunning and revealing story that makes you think.

It is a relatively lighthearted, PG picture about a boy befriending a tiger. But that is what is only what is on screen. Dig deeper, and it is quite possibly a story about a boy who survives by eating off of the rotting carcass of a man he murdered.

You decide. I have decided this is the best and most important film ever made.