A beautiful and engrossing adventure from Ang Lee

Rating: 8/10 (9 March 2013)

In a manner somewhat similar to the recent adaptation of David Mitchell's 'Cloud Atlas', 'Life of Pi' shouldn't work. Based on the award-winning and widely-lauded 2001 novel of the same name by Yann Martel, it chronicles the life-changing maritime adventure of a young Indian boy humorously named Piscine or "Pi" for short, who after a surviving the sinking of a ship, ends up on a lifeboat, with a hyena, an orang-utan, a zebra and of course, a large Bengal tiger called Richard Parker (a moniker that came about wittily). Consequently, the book came to considered 'unfilmmable' (and for just cause), yet the world of cinema's interest in Martel's wonderful novel remained undying and after much development the proposed adaptation eventually landed at the feet of the excellent Ang Lee.
Despite Lee's having proved himself to be a director of considerable talent, with superb offerings like 'The Ice Storm' and 'Brokeback Storm', themselves both adaptations, it was doubtful whether or not the much-loved novel would translate successfully to the big screen. Many other accomplished directors have failed to capture similarly ambitious novels in film form, such as David Lynch's folly that was 'Dune'. Any worry has turned out to be unnecessary though as the Taiwanese filmmaker has delivered a beautiful and moving film that is easily one of his finest works yet.
There's no denying that 'Life of Pi' is filled with visual beauty, as in teaming up with DoP Claudio Miranda, Lee has utilised the film's ocean setting like an impressionistic artist to a blank canvas. Even though it is a scene that has done the rounds in the film's trailers, the night- set scene where the whale leaps out of the water is a thing of breathtaking majesty. Similarly, there are numerous moments that are nothing short of gorgeous in a way that could see even Terrence Malick become envious. Adding to this, the use of CGI is one of the most remarkable in recent years, exemplified with the meticulous detail put into Richard Parker, which renders him a significant achievement in CGI, as it becomes rather difficult to tell when the tiger is real or not.
Yet, it's worth noting that this is a film that resonates on an emotional level as well as a technical. From the moment proceedings kicked off, I was engrossed in Pi's story, with its smooth fluidity, whether I was looking at Irrfan Khan or Suraj Sharma. The latter, a first time actor, delivers a great and at times subtle performance as the titular character, consistently helping me to engage with Pi and ultimately, like him. Even as he was simply sitting upon a raft in silence, I still couldn't help but find myself enthralled in the journey he had (unwillingly) embarked on.
'Life of Pi' is a wonderful film, bursting with imagination and in love with the possibilities of storytelling, which sees Ang Lee wield 3-D expertly, forgoing the usual gimmicky 'things leaping out of the screen' and instead adding more depth and texture to the colourful cinematography. It's not just a technical marvel, but a true wonder all round, because the fact that Martel's novel actually works (rather well, at that) as a film is quite a miracle, and for Ang Lee should applauded.