Review: Life of Pi (2012)

November 27, 2012 Reviews 1 Comments

Cast: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Adil Hussain
Director: Ang Lee
Country: USA
Genre: Adventure | Drama
Official Trailer: Here

Of all the common threads in storytelling, faith is probably the trickiest one to work with. It can be at once universal and also personal: faith in God, life, humanity, or lack thereof. Ang Lee’s newest film, Life of Pi, based on the novel by Yann Martel, is concerned with faith from the very beginning.

Our main protagonist, Pi, meets with a writer as an adult. Pi’s uncle told the writer, an atheist, that he had a story for him that would make him believe in God. Intrigued by the possibility, he decides to interview Pi about his life. We see through flashbacks that he was born a Hindu, but is introduced to Catholicism and Islam as a teenager. Fascinated buy all three faiths, he ascribes to each one, much to the annoyance of his atheist father, who insists that “religion is darkness” and that “if you believe in everything, you end up believing in nothing at all”. A man of science, he refuses to take part in the old ways, considering himself part of the new India. He owns a zoo, and when Pi tries to interact with the zoo’s magnificent new tiger, his father scolds him, telling him that the tiger does not feel like he does, that he only reflects Pi’s own emotions.

After selling the zoo, Pi and his family travel by Japanese cargo ship to Canada, and that’s where our story truly begins. The massive ship capsizes in a brutal hurricane, and Pi is stranded in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on a lifeboat with a zebra, a hyena, and orangutan, and of course, the tiger. One by one the animals are picked off until only Pi and the tiger, Richard Parker, remain. His battle for survival begins now.

Unfortunately, not everything in the film is as multi-layered or complex as the concepts it tackles.

What follows is an incredible journey of self-discovery and reflection on faith that tests everything Pi once knew, or thought he knew, about himself, the world, and the universe. Unfortunately, not everything in the film is as multi-layered or complex as the concepts it tackles. The film, when focused on the fantastical tale of survival, is riveting. There is a very real emotional center to the story, but none of it deals with the themes of faith that it constantly wants to address. Instead, it becomes a truly heartbreaking story about the way a boy and a tiger keep one another alive, and not because they necessarily want to. Their adversarial relationship that grows into something closer to mutual respect, keeps the two of them on their toes, fighting for survival not only against one another, but also against the elements. Towards the end of the film, there’s a moment that, while openly meant to be emotional, still got me choked up. Pi and Richard Parker are both so weak and frail that they are dying, and Richard Parker can’t even lift his head. Pi places the tiger’s head on his lap and apologizes to him for everything. It’s a truly heartbreaking scene that brought the entire journey these two have been on to a head.

When dealing with issues of faith, the universe, and beyond, the film isn’t quite as impressive. There’s nothing particularly new or insightful said, and everything feels way too “on the nose” with regards to the thematic through-line of the film. Oh, and if you’ve read the book, you know how it ends. If not, just be prepared for an ending that’ll either make you think about the story and appreciate it further, or you’ll feel truly cheated out of a satisfying conclusion. I’m somewhere in the middle, myself.

In some ways, the film’s stunning visuals are a metaphor for the lack of subtlety in the themes, but at the end of the day, the film tells a simple story of a boy and a tiger adrift at sea, and how they saved each other’s lives. That’s the story that I believe in, and the one I wanted to see more of. At one point, Pi asks the writer “Which story do you prefer?” He replies “The one with the animals.” Pi simply looks to the heavens and says “And so it goes with God.” While not a true revelation in any way, it’s a film about the power of storytelling, and the sheer ambition on display to get at the heart of that power is something to be admired.

77/100 ~ GOOD. While not a true revelation in any way, it’s a film about the power of storytelling, and the sheer ambition on display to get at the heart of that power is something to be admired.

By Kevin Ketchum

Austin Film Critic. I am a blogger, critic, and writer living in Austin, TX. I first became serious about film after seeing The Lord of the Rings trilogy in its original theatrical run between 2001 and 2003. Since then, film has become my life and there's no better job than writing about what I love.