Visual feast but difficult to grasp meaning

Rating: 7/10 (24 November 2012)

Visually, this movie is a knockout. Scene after scene produces audible gasps as we see images we never thought possible. The colors just pop off the screen, the various animals shown are incredibly realistic, and the views of sky and sea are just phenomenal. Even if there was no plot whatsoever, you should see it just for the visuals.
There is a plot, of course. A boy/young man is stranded on a lifeboat and is forced to survive for endless days through unbelievable hardships. And if that alone were the plot, I'd be content, but the framework around the shipwreck story claims something more, that this story says something about the human condition, about God and man, about sin and salvation, about how we should live our lives. My problem quite frankly is that I just did not see the connection. Maybe I need it told more directly, I certainly have a low tolerance for ambiguity. So if you can live with agonizingly uncertain outcomes, where you question everything you have just seen, then you will love this. But if you like things told to you clearly, you may walk away a bit puzzled, as I did.
But regardless, this movie redefines the word "beautiful." I was just amazed to see the many, many moods of the ocean as it is portrayed, in fact it becomes one of the primary characters as it is sometimes benevolent, sometimes treacherous; calm or stormy; gray or overflowing with color; etc.