The
Life of Pi
Ang
Lee's "The Life of Pi" based on the beloved novel of the same name by
Yann Martel has arrived in a cloak of henna and saffron. Lee, who is to be
applauded for treating his tale with the care of an Indian miniature, uses a
florid palate and this visual mix. He’s nothing less than a virtuoso that would
make Disney himself pea-green with Envy.
From
the start, we are at a zoo in Pondicherry, treated to a veritable Who's Who of
the animal kingdom. There are pink
flamingoes, proboscis monkeys and an espresso-faced sloth that looks us right
in the eye. Most of the animals, at first, are seen as if they are above us as
human interlopers. At one point, we look through the bars of a cage. And, as
this is a film shot in 3D, we realize that we are perhaps more "animal"
than these spectacular beings who are just going about their daily lives.
With
these first frames we are hooked.
This
is the story of Piscine "Pi" Molitor, (so named from a relative with
a swimming fetish) whose family owns a zoo. As a young boy Pi (Suraj Sharma) is
spiritually inquisitive and takes on all three religions, Hinduism, Islam and
Christianity on equal ground. Pi is Buddhist as well, for in his realm, (wise
beyond his years) both animal and human have suffering and survival as their
universal center.
One
fateful day, the zoo is forced to relocate to Canada. The mighty ship is quite
a Noah's Ark, with every animal on board, including a surly Gerard Depardieu as
a chef. The ship takes on water and Pi takes to a lifeboat with a zebra, an
orangutan and one numinous tiger named Richard Parker, named from a mutinous
character in Edgar Allan Poe's The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym.
Pi
is existentially forced to sink or swim as it were with Richard Parker the
tiger. Is he something to fear? Or is he a guardian? This is one of the film's
central questions.
The
first half of "The Life of Pi" is affectionately visualized right out
of the pages of a Tin Tin comic book by Herge, while the second half is a tense
cat and mouse battle of wills between Pi and Parker in the tradition of
directors Danny Boyle and Ridley Scott. There are also compelling interludes of
an adult Pi (Irrfan Khan) relating his philosophic odyssey tooth and
nail---literally. By filming the adventure in 3D, Ang Lee expresses the
concrete reality that we are all players in an immense comic-hero story, no
matter if we are cat-eyed or clothed.
"The
Life of Pi" is a kaleidoscope for the eyes. The visuals alone are
masterful and the 3D is no trifling popcorn gimmick here. And while the film
does anthropomorphize its animals a bit, it doesn't pander or dumb down the
audience. Ang Lee approaches his film like calligraphy. Everything has its
place and point and even the empty, bluer-than-blue skies are spoken for.
Write
Ian at redtv_2005@yahoo.com
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