Visuals yes, ending no.

Rating: 3/10 (14 January 2013)

Pi by Ivette Fred-Rivera The beginning sets partially the premises of the narration: a pond, animals, birds, humans, interacting serenely in a natural setting. A mural displayed at the background, a very common element in the Indian landscape, reiterates this atmosphere. Indian landscape is one of the first things that capture our eyes, strikingly exuberant, shrubbery, trees, flowers, animals, green everywhere. On the left of the screen, we can see an image of god Ganesha, son of Hindu gods Shiva and Parvati, whose head is that of an elephant, showing the divine nature that animals can have in the Hindu pantheon. "I was prepared for the first day of classes. I'm Pi", he explains about his school life in Pondicherry. Boys and girls are separated at classrooms. Pi is an irrational number. Never settles into a permanent repeating pattern, as the teenager Pi. Indian newspapers publish student's high scores on national academic tests as a way of expressing national pride. Religion was the only contact between Pi's mother and her culture. "I knew Krishna first", explains Pi. Krishna contains the entire universe in his mouth. 'Animals have souls. I have seen them in their eyes', Pi says to his father. "Animals do not think. The tiger is not your friend. You are projecting your eyes on him ", the rationalist father responds emphatically. We have to be careful. Tigers are called 'big cats' but are not pets. Richard Parker is a digitally created Bengal tiger, though looks amazingly real. Who does not want this tiger in the garden? The protagonist is the tiger. His first appearance is phenomenal. Indians are very resilient people. Pi wants to know what happens, whatever it is. "Thank you for giving me my life", he says during the storm. Watching in another previous scene the beautiful innocence in the eyes of Pi and Anandi â€“which I have seen so many times all over Indiaâ€“ reminded me that the Delhi gang rape victim watched this movie just before being raped. She fought desperately for her life, but, very sadly, could not survive as Pi did. 'We have to let things go, but the worst is not being able to say goodbye. Appa was right. The tiger was not my friend. He did not look back to say goodbye." But, Pi, remember, Richard Parker was in captivity from the very start. It was his time to be free. The Japanese bureaucrats, who came to the hospital after Pi's rescue to ask him about the ship wreckage, did not like Pi's story, found it unbelievable, how the tiger did not eat him? It did not explain also why the ship sank, the technical reason involved. Pi invents a flat story and then asks them: 'Which story do you believe: the fictional or the true one?' Pi asks, in turn, the writer: 'The one with no animals, no island, no carnivore islands? In both stories, my family dies, I suffer. Which one do you prefer? So it is the same with God', Pi affirms. 'It's an amazing story. The story has a happy ending', answers the writer. 'It depends on you, The story is up to you now', says Pi. I do not like the end. It should have ended when the tiger disappears on the island. This is a fatal error, it weakens the narrative. Although the idea of choosing between the stories illustrates the belief issue, it could have been presented more creatively. Pi equates believing in the story with the tiger with believing in god. The alternate story is so boring that no one will like it. So we become believers trivially. Work on India is very hard. We, non-Indians, run the risk of being superficial, either dismissing or idealizing it. The cultural imaginary conceives India as the land of spirituality and magic realism. India is the last place to find god since it is the last place on earth that he will abandon. The majority of Indians are very good people. No other way is possible for us to see them. A very good Bengali friend in Kolkata once told me: "We are not that good, you see us better than we are". "Through our gaze you may see your better self", I insinuated. I am surprised this movie has 11 Oscar nominations. This is excessive. Animal lovers should see it! Excellent visual effects, the tiger, the storms, and the music. In this respect, Philip French has expressed it beautifully: "The movie does for water and the sea what did Lawrence of Arabia for sand and desert."