A compelling story. 85+%

Rating: 9/10 (15 January 2013)

I can't say that I was very excited to see this movie but I thought I'd give it a shot and found it very rewarding. In fact, it has repeat viewing value, given the ending. What surprised me most, perhaps, was the wit and humour in the dialogue.
Not having read the book on which it was based, I have nothing else to compare it to, and found the story worked well as a spectacle...of which there are many.
Without giving too much away, the story concerns the life and adventures of Pi Patel. We see him as a small boy and as an adult recounting the adventure most of us would be familiar with via the commercials for this film...himself as a teenager (played well by Suraj Sharma) adrift at sea, with a wild tiger as both a constant threat to him yet a constant but uneasy companion. Most of the movie is set at sea and here the cinematography (which I saw in 3D) is absolutely magnificent. You really do feel a sense of the infinite as Pi drifts endlessly on an endless ocean. Even some of the urban settings in Pi's childhood do have a wonderful picture postcard quality to them.
Another contender for most surprising aspect to this movie was the theme of religion. I just did not expect this to be part of this movie, for whatever reason. In a way the movie is about religion. Or stories. A story about stories, in other words. Some professional reviews do mention the issue of how to interpret the movie. Maybe it is a parable? Could it be like a dream, requiring Freud to make sense of it? In these interpretative strategies there is the problem of mapping one thing from the sea adventure to some other thing from Pi's ordinary life. And doing that to account for everything. The desire to do so is powerful but the adult Pi does comment near the end of the movie about the merits of this procedure.
Some professional reviews I've seen criticise the narrative device of having an adult Pi interviewed by a writer. Since I don't know whether this was in the book or not, I can say that it wasn't so much of an issue for me. There was a concern before I saw this movie that it might come across like one of Kamahl's commercials for a certain brand of tea, but it worked well for me. The writer (played by Rafe Spall) functions as an 'everyman' asking the kind of questions the curious audience might want to ask. Being a literal minded person, I did really appreciate the writer's attempt to interpret Pi's sea adventure...it is that titbit of information which gives the movie repeat viewing value...I had expected to give this movie 80%, but it's this potential repeat viewing value which bumps my score up to 85+%.
Special mention should be given to the special effects in this movie. It's great. Having this volatile mix of carnivores and herbivores on Pi's boat interact with each other in a believable way was admirably achieved. At times the tiger seemed to be a CGI creation, but maybe I was wrong on that? It's very rare that you think these special effects don't feel quite right.
It was a surprise to me to see so many young children watching this movie at the cinema. Appropriately, perhaps, the animal life cycle was sanitised on the boat...there is no great gore to speak of, but there are some dark themes verbalised at the end of the movie, which makes me wonder how suitable it is for children. But that darkness houses felt pain, which was another rewarding aspect to this film. It has great humanity.
Whilst a movie like "Seven psychopaths" is my pick as the most entertaining movie for the year, I don't think I would be allowed to pick that as my choice for best movie. "Life of Pi" seems a more intellectual choice to make and I do feel that an award for the best movie of the year would be well deserved, along with awards for cinematography. Ang Lee deserves a nomination for direction too. Suraj Sharma is also worthy of a nomination.
This movie is a wonderful spectacle but the tale has hidden depth to it, which makes it ripe for revisiting and seeing it anew. Which viewing would explain the meaning of the movie best? That is the question. When Pi's father states his preference for the scientific story of life, I do wonder whether the movie agrees with him or not...or if there is truth in any story...just preferences for one story over another. Was the other story Pi told the writer true?