Life of Pi is an inspiring tale of courage and endurance. The movie centers on Piscine Molitor Patel aka Pi Patel and his extra-ordinary adventures to survive on a lifeboat along with a Bengal Tiger named Richard Parker.
Pi finds himself stranded on the lifeboat surrounded by nothing but the blue ocean after the Japanese ship that he and his family were travelling in, gets wrecked by a violent storm. A zebra, a hyena and an orangutan also manage to get onto the boat along with the tiger but they don't survive the tough conditions and become one another's prey.
The movie begins by introducing us to Pi and his early days as he discovers the meaning of God through the various religions. He is constantly searching for answers for his philosophical questions. We are also shown the zoo that he grew up in, the mocking fun that is created around his name 'Piscine' and his first love Anandi.
The reason why Pi got his name is very nicely told through his uncle's obsession for swimming in all the pools that he comes across. Piscine Molitor is actually a marvelous pool's name in Paris. The film has some tremendous visuals created through stunning VFX work. The blue ocean, the various sea creatures like the flying fishes, the sharks, the whales, the surreal carnivorous island with many weird creatures and a small pool in the middle etc etc. The visual magnificence is as close to Avatar's Pandora as it can get.
The way Pi tames and trains the tiger, his struggles to survive on the boat with minimal means, the way he pens his adventures with a pencil, the storms that he survives, the episode at the island and with the flying fishes etc. take the viewer on a jaw-dropping ride. The action and adventure is gripping thanks to the 'never seen before' dreamy visual effects. The movie in fact warrants a repeat watch just for the VFX work and the visual magnificence.
The tiger has been beautifully created. Some shots are of a real tiger while lot of visuals have been created painstakingly. It would be safe to say that the tiger is almost like the main protagonist along with Pi.
Great performance from Suraj Sharma as Pi. The role must have been physically demanding as we see the young actor go through a real physical metamorphosis as he struggles in the lifeboat in the most primitive and brutal conditions.
Irrfan Khan as the adult Pi, narrates the story in his nice base voice to an author who is seeking a remarkable story for his next novel. The boys who play the younger versions of Pi are adequate while Tabu is a beautiful presence in the movie as Pi's mother.
The bond that develops between Pi and the tiger is slowly and gradually told, very beautifully. The movie moves at a slow pace at other times particularly towards the end when Pi narrates a story that the Japanese insurance guys can believe. Also, when he has his conversations with God and when he seeks the meaning of God, the movie becomes a sermon giving out lot of religious 'gyaan'.
To sum up, the movie has tremendous visuals thanks to stunning VFX work and the human interest element in the movie is also gripping and moving. The similarity to Cast Away and to Forrest Gump (a tiny extent) can be excused.
No comments:
Post a Comment