The Life of Pi

The Book

I was thinking of taking my daughter to see this film, but having read the book I am slightly concerned, regardless of the PG rating here.
The story is the ultimate survival manual, with the majority of the novel taking place on a lifeboat following the sinking of a freighter carrying Pi, his family and some of their zoo animals to a new life from India to Canada.
Pi tells the story of his 227 days living on the raft with only a Bengal tiger for company, establishing his superiority, marking territory and keeping them alive.
There is an interesting background tale setting the scene in Pondicherry, whereby Pi visits the Muslim, Hindu and Christian places of worship and decides to adopt all three. When it is discovered the religious leaders are outraged, thinking Pi had settled on their own one true teachings. It highlights the inflexibility and stubborn attitudes to religion, where all the follower is looking for is a path to God, regardless of the ritual.




Following the struggle to find a spiritual survival of the soul, the story then examines the more pressing struggle of survival of the body. The initial determination of survival of the fittest on the lifeboat by the zebra, orangutan, hyena, tiger and boy, is quite gruesome but nature is cruel and devoid of conscience.
The tale of the passing shipwrecked passenger is macabre but the time spent on the floating island is a masterpiece of dark horror -  a seeming paradise is gradually revealed to be a complete ecosystem of survival.
This all sets the tone for the final reveal at the end, whereby a recovering Pi tells a comic Japanese ship investigation duo a different and more brutal story of human savagery and cannibalism.

And so Pi survives mentally by replacing the truth with a fictional tale, because reality is too revealing of how easily humanity can slip its veil of civilisation and become another part of the battle in nature's survival. The fact that the Japanese report at the end chooses to tell the fictional version too, means we would all rather not examine how small the distance is for us to step back into savagery.



 Film website for Life of Pi

The Film

Ang Lee has so carefully crafted Life of Pi as a film spectacle that just needs to be seen on the big screen and is, unlike so many films where the film companies have decided to cash in by making it 3D, designed for 3D from the start. It enhances the claustrophobia and near claws reach of Richard Parker, brings depth to the wonders of the living world (and gives you a cheeky face spray of musk from a tiger's bottom!). Rafe Spall's writer, to whom the older Piscine tells his stories, works well as a means to bookend the film rather than the Japanese investigators. Much of the book is spent on the sea, so to avoid complete seasickness for the viewer, the film adds a bit more to the initial Indian story, including Pi finding a first love. This helps in building Pi into a person you connect with.

The CGI renditioning is amazing and completely believable. I don't know if it is because it has been used to create animals that we already know, but the Hobbit's Wargs and Goblins become mere cartoons in comparison. 

Some of the darkness of the book has been excised and we do not get a visual representation of the "alternative" story, but a simple shot of Pi telling the story that the investigators push to hear and then wish they hadn't. This is such a wise choice in direction, for as a result, it becomes more emotional and personal - we do not need to see the gory details. Still quite disturbing for a young child, however, so I don't want to subject my own 10 year old to such a rude awakening into the harsh realities of tragedy.

My first film of 2013 and I think it may take something very special to surpass it as the best of 2013 already.

 

 If you enjoyed the book, try Lord of the Flies for other descents into savagery or Robinson Crusoe for another shipwreck survivor.

If you enjoyed the film, try Alive or Cast Away for similar tales of survival against the odds.