A Visual Feast, but Not Much Else

Rating: 5/10 (14 July 2013)

LIFE OF PI is quite simply a visual feast of spectacle. From the Indian locations of Pondicherry in the past, to the sequences taking place at sea, a quite wonderful evocation of an uninhabited island where the plants are predatory, to the final sequence taking place in sunlit suburbia in Canada, the film is full of memorable images. The moments involving the animals - especially Richard Parker the tiger - are equally memorable; if they have been created using CGI, they certainly did not seem so. Director Ang Lee has a wonderful way of suggesting the animal's predatory nature, yet at the same time its straightforwardness (unlike the human characters). At the same time, I have to admit that the plot of LIFE OF PI is slight, to say the least: one can understand the central character's desire to discover himself and his relationship to God, but the progress of moving towards self-awareness is sometimes a slow one. The film drags on occasions; one wishes that more character- conflict had been introduced, especially involving Gérard Depardieu, who has a memorable cameo as an obstreperous ship's cook.