Life of Pi – A Review

If you have not yet seen the movie Life of Pi, you might not want to read this review, it contains spoiler!

This is not one of the movies I had anticipated and wanted to watch for a long time, but the trailer was rather fascinating and since it won some of the BAFTA awards, I figured it was time to see it. We didn’t book in advance and we were late (not my fault, though, I was waiting for 30 minutes for the others to arrive), so there were only seats in the front row left. I very much dislike this perspective, especially since we were seated to the right; it was all a bit disproportioned.

But let’s come to the movie itself. It’s a very strong movie, with amazing digital effects and I am sure it was inspired by Disney’s Fantasia: the colorful jellyfish which are glowing in the night, the huge whale that is jumping over the boat, the swirling states and visions between reality and dream. Those picturesque moments alternate with the harsh reality of surviving and not being eaten by a tiger. The tiger is truly stunning, both fiercely beautiful and terrifying.

There are parts in the movie that I thought were too much, too unrealistic. The most prominent of those is the island where Pi and the tiger land on during their journey. I don’t know if it is a myth among Hindus or in India, maybe there was a meaning behind this, but for me that was just weird.

I very much liked the ending. There are two stories Pi tells and the spectator can decide for him- or herself which one is preferred and believed the truth. It is in some way like Inception where you have to decide in the end whether you believe Leo DiCaprio is in the reality or a dream. So in Life of Pi, you have to choose to either believe the rather fantastic story of a journey with a tiger or the more rational one. I haven’t decided yet. Maybe because I am both a rational and imaginative person and I just can’t decide for one or the other. Maybe I believe in both.

In any case, I liked the movie. It is not my favorite and I wasn’t completely overwhelmed by awe, but it was great to watch, especially with the 3D effects. It is a movie where you can be pensive and contemplate about life and faith, but it is also a movie where you can just sit back and enjoy the photography and the action. The young actor, Suraj Sharma, is amazing and the BAFTAs for Cinematography and Special Visual Effects are well deserved. So if you have nothing to do on the weekend, why not go watch Life of Pi?