Stunning

Rating: 8/10 (19 January 2013)

Stunning. That's the only appropriate word to describe this film. Almost every minute, Ang Lee has some visual treat in store that makes you wonder: how did he do it? Already during the opening credits, with paradise-like scenes from a zoo, you know that this film is going to be a feast of spectacular images.
It's not just the scenes with the boy and the tiger on the lifeboat. That in itself is a marvelous accomplishment for a film maker. But it's so much more. The way Lee uses visual effects makes this film a sort of cinematographic fairytale. Everything is colourful, bright, beautiful and a bit unreal.
Of course, we know how Ang Lee did it: with computers. But the fact that a lot of what you see is computer generated, doesn't make it less impressive. Lee is able to tell a story with computer generated images that can make the audience laugh, shiver, an perhaps even cry. At the end of the film, the audience understands how Pi feels about the tiger. And that's not because of the special effects, but because of the way Lee has told the story.
You could argue that it's just that: a sort of fairytale. There's no deeper meaning, no link to the real world. 'Life of Pi' is a visual showcase, not a gripping realistic drama. But that didn't bother me. I was awed by what I saw.
Perhaps the film could have been more focused. The references to religion ('thank you Vishnu, for letting me know Jesus') are a bit out of place. I suppose the philosophical and religious aspects of the story are much more elaborated in the book than in the film. Also, the visit to the floating island with the meerkats could just as well have been left out, because it isn't really necessary for the story. That was the only part of the film I thought was a bit overdone. But then again, without it we would have missed some spectacular visual effects. And that's what it's all about in this film.