Title: Life of Pi
Release date: 21 November 2012
Starring: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Rafe Spall
Director: Ang Lee
Synopsis: After a tragic shipwreck, a young Indian boy named Pi finds himself stranded in a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger. What follows is an extraordinary tale of survival, faith, and the blurred lines between reality and imagination.
Reviewed by: Sarah
A Visually Poetic Odyssey That Explores Survival, Spirituality — and the Power of Storytelling
Life of Pi Movie Review
Sure to leave you scratching your head, the partially computer-animated adventure film is essentially a story within a story about a boy called Pi (played by Suraj Sharma) and his journey of self discovery on the open ocean.
After a treacherous storm causes a horrific accident at sea, Pi’s family perish as their vessel sinks and he wakes to find himself on a small life raft all alone…or so he thought until he realises he’s sharing the raft with some of the animals from his family’s former zoo that were on board the ship that sank.
An epic journey of fear and friendship begins between Pi and Richard Parker, a Bengal tiger on the life raft. Nearly half of the film is consumed with Pi’s struggle for survival, fearing both Richard Parker and the elements of nature at sea. Through brilliant directing and acting, viewers feel as though they’re sharing the same tiny boat and feeling every bit of rain, sun, thirst and starvation that Pi does.
Life of Pi is a survival tale that trades realism for reflection, drifting between wonder and wisdom on a sea of imagination.
Pi’s 227 days at sea test his patience, his spirit and his physicality until he finally reaches land and is separated from Richard Parker in a heart wrenching way.
Life of Pi is utterly entertaining from beginning to end and causes viewers to question the reality of what they saw at the close of the film. Unlike some films that leave viewers angrily confused, Life of Pi leaves you considerately questioning whether reality is sometimes stranger than fiction.
