A truly extraordinary adventure

Rating: 9/10 (5 January 2013)

Amidst movies like The Hobbit, Jack Reacher and Skyfall, all packed with action, fighting, shooting, killing and breaking, comes "Life of Pi", from director Ang Lee, someone who brings a different kind of cinema to audiences.
I should tell you that I'm a fan of Ang Lee's and he's only let me down once (Hulk, anyone?), but I went into this film with an open mind and ready for whatever came my way.
"Life of Pi" follows the life of Pi Patel from his very early childhood to his grown up years as he tells it to a writer interested in his unusual life story. We get a glimpse of Patel's life as a boy in India, his relationship with his parents, brother, God and.....animals. As a teenager and after surviving a shipwreck, Patel will experience loss, faith and the loss of it as well, but he will also develop a bond with a Bengal tiger that will change and shape him forever, and challenge everything he knew about life.
Most of the movie is spent in showing this relationship and its effects in the leading character. Nothing can really prepare you for what's in store for you: I suggest you abandon any preconceptions you might have and simply enjoy the experience because as simple as it sounds, this story is absolutely surprising and there's no way to tell where it will go and how it will end.In fact, the characters in the movie didn't know it either and this helps your own disbelief.
Additionally, the film is a visual feast. Unlike some other visually stunning films, however, the effects here are used to tell a story and to actually enhance it, not to dazzle the audience with outstanding visual effects. As beautiful as it is, the story is the most compelling part and though it might not be 100% original (we've seen movies of human befriending animals before), I guarantee you, as a movie junkie that I am, that you have never seen one like this; I think the fact that the protagonist is Indian and the director Taiwanese helps this film to be culturally and philosophically very different to what we're used to and this factor made the experience all the more rewarding.
As a side note, this movie is ideal for families: the movie theater was full of kids and they all enjoyed it. There are no scary scenes, no brutality, no cursing: just life, with its share of sadness, love and happiness.
I wouldn't go as far as saying this is the best film of the year, but I can say for sure that you will not see another film that even slightly resembles this one in terms of story, visuals and life lessons. Go see it, you won't regret it.