Review of Life of Pi (2012) by Seth B — 15 Oct 2013

I had read the book when it was published but never revisited it, and was intrigued by the positive reviews for the film. Ang Lee has pulled off a great coup in translating a seemingly uncinematic story into a piece of excellent cinema. For me he achieves a near-perfect tone in depicting the magical realism of the book - Pi's life in India and then the miraculous sea-voyage with Richard Parker. The whale & flying fish sequences are breathtaking, and the tiger CGI properly amazing. I was never taken out of the film by the CGI - just gave myself up to the fable.

Ultimately this is a story about storytelling, and the myths we create in our own lives to make a more palatable reality. As in the book, this is a bit shoe-horned into the last scenes, but it does succeed in making the viewer reconsider what they have seen.