Director: Ang Lee
Starring: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Ayush Tandon, Gautam Belur, Adil Hussain, Tabu, Rafe Spall and Gérard Depardieu
Running Time: 127 Minutes
Synopsis: A young man who survives a disaster at sea is hurtled into an epic journey of adventure and discovery. While cast away, he forms an unexpected connection with another survivor … a fearsome Bengal tiger.
Based on the best-selling novel by Yann Martel, LIFE OF PI has been brought to the big screen beautifully by visionary director Ang Lee. In the book, the story follows Yann Martel as a writer trying to find a great story to tell and here Rafe Spall takes that role. He’s tracked down an older Pi (Irrfan Khan) in Montreal because he’s been told that he has a story that would ‘make him believe in God.’ Once Pi sits Rafe’s fictional writer down, he starts to tell his story in a series of flashbacks.
Re-telling his tale, we start with Ayush Tandon as the young Pi, growing up with his business-minded family at Pondicherry Zoo. This part reveals the truth behind his name and how Pi came to practice three religions: Hinduism, Christianity and Islam…at the same time.
As we move forward, the teenage Pi is played superbly by Suraj Sharma. He’s the focal-point of the film who leaves India for Canada with his family, and their aforementioned Zoo, sailing across the Ocean on the Japanese cargo ship. Tsimtsum. One dark night, Pi wakes to a savage storm and heads to the deck to enjoy the crashing winds and water but in that moment, the ship is hit by tragedy and he’s thrown onto a lifeboat by the crew. This is the first moment that really shocks, as the pure power of the ocean become an absolute reality as it overpowers everything onscreen and in the story. It’s astonishingly achieved and brutally realised.
Any concerns for how the animals should look is instantaneously thrown aside, as Pi finds himself stranded on a lifeboat with a Hyena, a Zebra and most importantly…the perfect, stunning Bengal tiger, Richard Parker. Lee has mixed CGI & animatronics and without mentioning every animal incident, there is plenty that balances their beauty and true animal instinct. It’s paramount that Ang Lee’s version, with a screenplay by David Magee who also wrote FINDING NEVERLAND, kept the soul of the novel on board and he succeeds; I also think he’d be a good bet for that upcoming Best Director gong at the Oscars and would wholly warrant it.
The only missing piece for me is the reduced focus in depth that would have given the characters a bigger back story, this includes the animals and Pi himself but this just isn’t possible without a nine-hour, three-part trilogy, which this film doesn’t require or need. Even though some might say, and it’s literally suggested, that the overall story arc hints at something ‘that will make you believe in God’, the film is respectfully ambiguous enough to allow you to come to your own conclusion.
If you’re open to exploring the human spirit, on a original level, then LIFE OF PI will be the boat for you to stowaway on and Ang Lee brings Yann Martel’s visionary epic to life. It will give you a thrilling adventure, awe-inspiring visuals and it is truly a journey of unique discovery. You may not leave the cinema with a belief, or any change in your belief, of God but you’ll believe in LIFE OF PI.
LIFE OF PI opens in the UK on December 20th
