"Life of Pi" | Review and Analysis

2012 - Adventure/Drama

Spoilers Ahead!

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The film, “Life of Pi”, truly deserved all the awards and praise it received back when it was released in 2012. The movie was yet another film that was popular during its time, but, for some reason, I had never seen; that was a mistake I am now fortunate to have corrected. The imagery, cinematography, acting, storytelling – everything – was simply beautiful.

I found myself entranced even though I had simply watched a boy and (mostly) CGI tiger on a boat for majority of the film, which is not an easy feat to keep viewers interested by. Nonetheless, by the end of the movie, I was left clinging to my cat in tears due to his resemblance to Richard (the mostly CGI tiger), and happy I had given this film a watch.

The film, as many already know, portrays the story of a boy from India who had been moving with his family and zoo animals to Canada. Traveling by boat, the family intended to sell the animals in order to make a profit that allows them to comfortably live in their new country. However, after an ill-fated storm hit their ship during the night, the boat had sunk, killing everyone except Pi Patel and Richard Parker, the seemingly scary tiger.

Relationship Between Pi and Richard

Now, I loved the build in relationship between Pi and the Richard. My assumptions going into the movie was that there had already been a formed bond and close connection between Pi and Richard, yet that was far from the case. Richard appeared to view Pi as a potential dinner option, while Pi was terrified and avoiding the possibility of ending up in Richard’s stomach.

At first, it was sort of a trial-and-error situation between the two where they were forced to adjust to one another, as it became clearer by the day that they would need to depend on one another for survival. Though, was Richard ever purely a vicious creature? I don’t think so.

From the beginning of the film in which Pi was attempting to feed the baby Richard raw meat, it was very apparent to me that there was more heart and kindness to this seemingly terrifying creature despite the initial fear. I’ll admit, I was nervous as Pi held his hand out to this feral, untrained tiger, but the animal lover in me saw Richard’s hesitation as a sign of gentleness and curiosity. It was a sort of foreshadowing towards the true nature of the assumed ferocious creature that, in the later part of the movie, acts in similarity to a playful, kind, domesticated house cat.

He clearly cared for Pi, and I found myself tearful seeing him struggle with starvation, potentially drowning, and hanging on the boat for hours on end as Pi attempted to find a solution that didn’t place him and Richard on the boat together. Seeing a CGI tiger look so cute while swimming in the water was too much handle! All in all, I loved the realization and understanding the two had with one another, finding their relationship to be one of my favorite aspects of the film.

The Acting and Unexpected Outcomes

In continuation, I found the acting to be brilliant! It is NOT easy acting alone as Suraj Sharma (Pi Patel) did. He truly made me believe there to be a tiger on the boat while undergoing a wide array of emotions – grief, fear, sadness, desperation - and portrayed them all without the ability to play off another actor. It was simply true talent. Not only that, but the story had me on the edge of my seat!

I did not know the direction this film was going to go and was amazed to see they truly spared no concerns at maintaining audience comfort. As a viewer, you couldn’t help but wish Pi’s family would have been found alive, that the monkey and Zebra in the boat would live, or that Pi and Richard would get a proper goodbye – but the movie didn’t do that.

It did the exact opposite of what you’d expect, or rather what films I’m accustomed to would’ve done, and, while I hated it in the moment, I respect the choice now. I will forever be sad that Pi and Richard didn’t get a proper goodbye and that I had to watch animals be brutally killed, but the reality is that the world isn’t always meant to be sugarcoated to make us comfortable.

The animal kingdom is violent and scary; families, unfortunately, do pass away in freak and tragic accidents; people don’t always get to properly say goodbye. I had simply just gotten used to films catering to the sensitive and optimistic perspective of modern-day viewers, including myself.

The Only Two Criticisms

I do want to point out the two criticisms I had, which was the slow beginning 20 minutes of the film, as well as the scene of Pi telling a false tale after he was rescued. Simply put, the beginning of the film felt super slow-paced and had me struggling to pay attention until the introduction of Richard. Some of the scenes felt overly drawn out, attempting to provide almost too much dramatized background information. It would’ve been better had they simply started from Pi and Richard’s introduction, in my opinion, and then later revealed to be a grown him telling this story.

Next, I carry similar sentiments towards the scene after Pi was rescued, in which he is telling those from the boat company his story involving his mother and the cook; the scene felt too drawn out and unnecessary. Where I once was staring at the screen, hanging onto every moment, I now was tuning out from the several minutes of dialogue about a false tale that really didn’t have much significance to the plot.

It primarily existed to pose the idea of Pi having gone insane from being stranded at sea, and, in reality, had imagined Richard and the island of Meerkats, making most of what the viewers saw a part of his delusion. And while parts of the movie did seem far-fetched, I choose to believe what viewers saw on the screen was real, and that scene with the representatives from the boat company having been unneeded.

I feel as though there were other aspects of the story that could've been closed up, such as whether Pi ended up with Anandi, a brief synopsis on how Pi's life was after his ordeal, and less focus on trying to determine the realness of what we saw on the screen for the past hour and a half.

Conclusion

All in all, to end on a positive note, the imagery in this film was BREATHTAKING! Shots of Pi in the water while staring at the sinking boat containing his family, the images of Pi and Richard at the Meerkat Island, the water in contrast with the orange-colored sky – purely beautiful! The CGI, given the time this was created and the extent at which it was used within this film, was done wonderfully.

The soundtrack played perfectly in tune to the scenes being displayed on the screen, the acting, again, was brilliant, and I thought the script to have been very well-written. Overall, this film was a massively deserved success, and an exciting watch for me!