Life Of Pi Review
***
Based on Yann Martel's Booker Prize winning novel was in the development hell for the last 10 years and has seen numerous director changes form M. Night Shyamalam (Signs, The Sixth Sense) to Alsonso Cuaron (Children of Men, Harry Potter and the Prisoner Of Azkaban) to Jenne-Pierre Jenuet (Alien Ressurection, Amelie) to finally Ang Lee( Brokeback Mountain, Lust Caution). The book , considered to be unfilmable and unfathomable, proved to be a good read.
The film begins with a reporter (Rafe Spall) taking an interview with Piscine Molitor Patel or Pi, the adult version played by Irrfan Khan, who tells his story. Piscine got his name after a swimming pool in France but became a laughing stock of his classmates who called him Pissing Patel. He changed his name to Pi, the irrational number which is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to the diameter. The name somewhat signifies the irrationality of the protagonist Born as a Hindu, Pi juggled one religion with another and finally accepting bits of part of all religion. His father worked as a zookeeper and when he turns 16, his father decides to transfer all the animals and zoo to Canada
The real story does not begin until about an hour when the ship he and his animals are going to Canada shipwrecks. Pi jumps on a lifeboat with three other animals:- A wounded Zebra, an Orangutan , a Hyena and finally Richard Parker, a Bengal Tiger. After the hyena kill the zebra and orangutan. Richard bludgeons the hyena to his death. All that is left is Pi and Richard Parker.
The film is a visual marvel and is a must watch in 3D. I found the movie similar to last year's Hugo. The 3D was well used, not only to throw things at you but also to give depth . Richard Parker which was part CGI and part real was excellent but the real flaw is the script written by David Mague. The film takes a lot of time to reach the shipwreck and also gives a feeling of distraught right in the middle act.
Overall the film deserves a better script, and I deem it as atleast one time watch and in 3D.
I'll go with 3 stars out of a possible 4.
***
The film begins with a reporter (Rafe Spall) taking an interview with Piscine Molitor Patel or Pi, the adult version played by Irrfan Khan, who tells his story. Piscine got his name after a swimming pool in France but became a laughing stock of his classmates who called him Pissing Patel. He changed his name to Pi, the irrational number which is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to the diameter. The name somewhat signifies the irrationality of the protagonist Born as a Hindu, Pi juggled one religion with another and finally accepting bits of part of all religion. His father worked as a zookeeper and when he turns 16, his father decides to transfer all the animals and zoo to Canada
The real story does not begin until about an hour when the ship he and his animals are going to Canada shipwrecks. Pi jumps on a lifeboat with three other animals:- A wounded Zebra, an Orangutan , a Hyena and finally Richard Parker, a Bengal Tiger. After the hyena kill the zebra and orangutan. Richard bludgeons the hyena to his death. All that is left is Pi and Richard Parker.
The film is a visual marvel and is a must watch in 3D. I found the movie similar to last year's Hugo. The 3D was well used, not only to throw things at you but also to give depth . Richard Parker which was part CGI and part real was excellent but the real flaw is the script written by David Mague. The film takes a lot of time to reach the shipwreck and also gives a feeling of distraught right in the middle act.Overall the film deserves a better script, and I deem it as atleast one time watch and in 3D.
I'll go with 3 stars out of a possible 4.
