Review of Life of Pi (2012) by Jr F — 08 Oct 2015

"Life of Pi" is a breathtaking movie directed by Ang Lee. With his experience in directing box office hit movies like The Hulk and Brokeback Mountain, this Taiwanese- born American director received an Academy Award for "Best Achievement in Directing'. Ang Lee's "Life of Pi' revolves around the story of Pi Patel who was stranded in the middle of the ocean for 227 days and spent most of his time on a lifeboat with Richard Parker. Going further into the story takes one on an adventure of a lifetime where determination, struggle and the acknowledgement of fear are all necessary in order to survive.

The story begins with a writer who visits the Indian storyteller Pi Patel in Canada and asks him to share his life story. Pi starts his story right in the beginning as a child who lived in Pondicherry, India (French part of India). Back then, Pi and his family owned a zoo but due to several reasons the government decided to not support the zoo operation. This left Pi and his family with no choice but to move to Canada, where they would be able to sell the animals owned by the family.

Pi and his family board on a Japanese cargo ship along with their animals, while sailing through the ship soon loses control and is wrecked due to the harsh weather. Pi in his quest to survive, manages to survive on lifeboat with an Orangutan, a Tiger and a Hyena. Stranded in the middle of the ocean, Pi's struggle to survive with limited supplies and with the fear that the animals on the boat may at any time cause his death represents a large part of his story. Later on, Pi is able to miraculously survive and reach a Mexican beach 227 days after being stranded in the middle of the ocean.

Suraj Sharma, an Indian actor who made his debut in this movie, played Pi Petal. As the guardian would comment, "It would be an exaggeration, says Suraj Sharma with a laugh, to describe what he did in the adaptation of Life of Pi as "acting", despite the admiration he is swiftly accumulating for his role as Piscine Patel, the boy stranded on a lifeboat for 227 days with a Bengal tiger." In order to better synchronize with his character as Pi Petal; Suraj also needed to experience the drastic weight loss that Pi experienced on a life boat for 227 days. Also, Sharma says, "it was all just real, I was just trying to survive, tired and didn't know what to do". Understanding the situation and the very detailed setting of the story, the shooting of the Life of Pi was made to seem as real as possible further proving how great Ang Lee is as being one of the best directors in turning fantasy into reality. Furthermore, it was really brave of Suraj Sharma in taking this leading role considering his inexperience with big screen movies. Pushing on from this, Pi would later on star in Disney's movie "Million Dollar Arm". Since then, he has continued to amazed with his capabilities as Sharma's fame continue to grow.

"Life of Pi" presents one of the best cinematography viewers had seen. Through this Claudia Miranda won the 2013 Academy Award for Best Cinematography. The movie revolved around the mix of fantasy and adventure. The movie also presented advance special effect shots including the CGI Bengal tiger "Richard Parker" who played a big part as one of the main characters in the movie. Miranda says, "yet capturing its epic essence in a way that would match the unbelievable CGI being prepared." Hence in order to capture this imagination, this movie was shot in an abandoned airport in Taiwan and furthermore, in order to replicate the ocean, a 1.7 million gallon behemoth was produced and represents the world's largest self-generating wave tank. In addition, various lights coming from different angles were used to make sure the shots taken were as detailed as possible. The New York Film Academy says; a giant door was created to allow the actual sunset to light the tank every day at dusk, allowing the indoor ocean to be shot during the magic hour. Since this movie requires a tremendous effort and money, Ang Lee decided to shoot this movie in 3D as well to make it more factual; which is a huge gamble since the use 3D technology was known to not be perfect as yet during that time. But he insisted, because he believed that the power of the ocean and its movements could be more accurately captured. In addition, many of the film's most astonishing images were animated in a computer but Ang lee, Miranda and the cinematography team managed to make it believable for the viewers. By combining both science and creativity this movie successfully made fantasy come to life.

The Life of Pi was also able to integrate various religious views in its attempt to dig deeper into the real understanding of life. These views were projected by the animals stranded on the life boat with Pi. An example of this was when Pi was stranded in the middle of the ocean and suddenly caught a fish for his supper. Immediately, he says, "Thank you Wishnu (Hindu God) for helping me in the form of fish." "Life of Pi" is not a true story but Ang Lee made it so real and believable in the eyes of the viewers. I do recommend this film to everybody who would like to experience the magical fantasy and adventure. For me, this movie was one of the best produced in 2012 and I personally find it enjoyable for both adults and children.