Art philosophy and survival at sea

Rating: 7/10 (15 January 2020)

This is a very unique artistic and philosophical take on a survival story at sea. The movie narrates the life of Pi, a young boy from India whose family decides to move to Canada along with the family's zoo animals. The ship sinks but the boy manages to save himself clambering on a stray lifeboat along with a few surviving animals including a tiger. The two develops a guarded friendship and understanding of one another as they struggle to survive and share an incredible journey to salvation. The movie is heavy on symbolism, philosophy, faith and God. The cinematography is breathtakingly beautiful. The CGI is also state of the art as the tiger looks genuinely real. The pacing is somewhat slow but this complements the lost at sea narrative where the boy passes time by indulging in philosophies of life, existentialism and rebirth which are central themes of the story. This is not an action movie and more of an artistic and philosophical drama so some viewers may find it boring. But I enjoyed it even though I'm not into symbolic philosophical movies disguised as high art. Spiritually minded viewers will enjoy this movie but some might find this tall tale a little out of reach and fall asleep.