Life of Pi
3/4
Starring: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Rafe Spall
Rated PG for Emotional Thematic Content Throughout, and Some Scary Action Sequences and Peril
Watching "Life of Pi," I was reminded of Paulo Cohelo's bestseller "The Alchemist." Both are novels, yes, but rather than be about characters and plot, they're really about philosophy (or in this case, religion). Frankly, I'm surprised that Fox 2000 put up so much money to make this film. I haven't read the book by Yann Martel (although it was a bestseller), but based on the film, this doesn't seem to be a movie that lends itself well to the screen. Particularly in multiplexes.
Pi (Gautam Belur, Ayush Tandon and Sharma) is a young boy curious about religion. He explores and experiments, taking in pieces of each one into his own. One day, his parents are forced to move from India to Canada, and in order to start a new life, they are taking the animal inhabitants of their zoo with them to sell. But a storm causes the ship to sink, and Pi is left all alone on a lifeboat with a tiger (who has already eaten the other animal stowaways). It will take an act of God for both of them to survive.
The acting is effective. Really, there are only three performances that matter, and all three do effective work. Suraj Sharma is good, but not great. He gets us involved with him mentally, but not emotionally. I wished the best for him (Irrfan Khan's interview with is spliced into the story makes it obvious that he survives his ordeal), but I didn't share his emotions. Irrfan Khan gives another wonderful performance as the older Pi. He's wise and tells his story with the skill and grace of the greatest storytellers. Rafe Spall (taking over from Tobey Maguire, who filmed his scences as the character, but was deemed too big of a star for the role) is mainly a reactor, but he manages not to become invisible next to a force of nature like Khan. Tabu, who was wonderful in Mira Nair's "The Namesake," is also on hand as Pi's mother, but her role is small.
One of the great pleasures of watching a film by Ang Lee is feeling the non-manipulative but powerful emotions bubble off the screen. This can be seen with the likes of his wuxia masterpiece, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," and also his landmark gay romance "Brokeback Mountain." That's missing here. We understand Pi's emotions mentally, but we don't connect with him on an emotional level. Whether that's due to the nature of the story or Sharma's lack of range, I'm not sure.
What can be said about the film is that it's visually dazzling. This is a colorful and artistic film, and it's clear that the $120 million budget was well-spent. The film is almost worth seeing just for that.
The film is at least twenty minutes too long, and it fails to connect Pi's story with the question of faith and religion in a convincing way. Still, I'm going to recommend the film. It's less artsy than "Cracks," but it's going to appeal to the same audience.
Starring: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Rafe Spall
Rated PG for Emotional Thematic Content Throughout, and Some Scary Action Sequences and Peril
Watching "Life of Pi," I was reminded of Paulo Cohelo's bestseller "The Alchemist." Both are novels, yes, but rather than be about characters and plot, they're really about philosophy (or in this case, religion). Frankly, I'm surprised that Fox 2000 put up so much money to make this film. I haven't read the book by Yann Martel (although it was a bestseller), but based on the film, this doesn't seem to be a movie that lends itself well to the screen. Particularly in multiplexes.
Pi (Gautam Belur, Ayush Tandon and Sharma) is a young boy curious about religion. He explores and experiments, taking in pieces of each one into his own. One day, his parents are forced to move from India to Canada, and in order to start a new life, they are taking the animal inhabitants of their zoo with them to sell. But a storm causes the ship to sink, and Pi is left all alone on a lifeboat with a tiger (who has already eaten the other animal stowaways). It will take an act of God for both of them to survive.
The acting is effective. Really, there are only three performances that matter, and all three do effective work. Suraj Sharma is good, but not great. He gets us involved with him mentally, but not emotionally. I wished the best for him (Irrfan Khan's interview with is spliced into the story makes it obvious that he survives his ordeal), but I didn't share his emotions. Irrfan Khan gives another wonderful performance as the older Pi. He's wise and tells his story with the skill and grace of the greatest storytellers. Rafe Spall (taking over from Tobey Maguire, who filmed his scences as the character, but was deemed too big of a star for the role) is mainly a reactor, but he manages not to become invisible next to a force of nature like Khan. Tabu, who was wonderful in Mira Nair's "The Namesake," is also on hand as Pi's mother, but her role is small.
One of the great pleasures of watching a film by Ang Lee is feeling the non-manipulative but powerful emotions bubble off the screen. This can be seen with the likes of his wuxia masterpiece, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," and also his landmark gay romance "Brokeback Mountain." That's missing here. We understand Pi's emotions mentally, but we don't connect with him on an emotional level. Whether that's due to the nature of the story or Sharma's lack of range, I'm not sure.
What can be said about the film is that it's visually dazzling. This is a colorful and artistic film, and it's clear that the $120 million budget was well-spent. The film is almost worth seeing just for that.
The film is at least twenty minutes too long, and it fails to connect Pi's story with the question of faith and religion in a convincing way. Still, I'm going to recommend the film. It's less artsy than "Cracks," but it's going to appeal to the same audience.
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