A magical journey, no matter what you believe in

Rating: 10/10 (9 December 2012)

I love coming of age movies. They have been my go to movies for over a decade. A real world experience that molds a person's character for rest of his/her life is a universal subject that would never dry up. But then there is this book called 'Life of Pi' that I came across and provided more than my staple coming of age diet and take me through a journey of faith and beliefs. This book acts as a disguise to be spiritual (given that is set in India), but at the core is a coming of age story of a boy finding answers of faith and beyond having born in a nation of millions of gods. And to turn this book into a captivating movie, we have Mr. Ang Lee; who clearly love challenges.
Set in India and made by Hollywood studio; you should expect the simplistic description of a very complex nation and its affair with religions of the world. But Mr. Lee manages to breeze through the shallow storyline based in India. Almost all of the situations and scenarios about young boy Pi's life in Pondicherry, India are created to suit the taste buds of western audiences. As we watch the young Pi grow in dreamy India along with a soulfully spoken narrative by Irfan Khan in background; we instantly are lost in the color and the mood of the film. We never look beyond those colors into reality and we are ready to accept anything.
But as we move on from Anglo India into open sea; faith and personal beliefs of Pi collides with nature's fury. After Pi Patel's father, a zoo owner decides to move his family in Canada and sell the animals to a North American zoo for a good prize; they begin their journey. The entire family along with all the animals travels through a Japanese cargo ship across the oceans. There they have encounter with a borderline racist French cook and a very gentle Buddhist. There reel time is only for one sequence, but there presence and importance will be felt late in the movie. As the journey of the ship abruptly ends in a very violent ocean; Pi is survived on a life boat with an injured zebra, an Orangutan, a Hyena and a Bengal Tiger.
And from here on the journey could not be more breath taking and satisfying. It literally and astonishingly unbelievable with Pi surviving on a life boat with these animals and they are animals. They will do anything to survive like humans. The mystery of the journey and whether you believe in the memories of the adult Pi about his experiences across the vast ocean will make you rethink about all the mystical fantasies that we have ever came across.
The story already hooks the audience into the ongoing proceedings and Mr. Lee's breathtaking visuals puts 'Avatar' in its place & carries you through a journey of vast beauty across our planet. After Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Brokeback Mountain, Mr. Lee successfully trumps those monumental achievements in Cinema history with this visual masterpiece that deserves compulsory 3D viewing.
For more reviews visit http://cinemadose.blogspot.com/