A masterfully told story of survival, this is the stuff our worst nightmares are made of.
Featuring an international cast, this is quite the fantastical story directed by Ang Lee, known for another feature film that featured a tiger—at least in the name—Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
The theme of the story is not a new one: we know of Robinson Crusoe and Tom Hanks’ survival story in the film Castaway, but a story of survival on the Pacific ocean with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker gives new meaning to every human emotion, chief among them, fear.
Irrfan Khan does a fine job playing the adult Pi. There is not much acting involved, given that he engages in a monologue for the most part to convey the flashbacks of his life’s journey, but even this, he does with conviction. The younger Pi—who actually negotiates the vagaries of the ocean and the tiger—is played by the very competent Suraj Sharma, who also via a series of monologues must portray the fear and resolve to survive.
Beyond the theme of survival, there is also one other theme of religion, or the diversity of it, especially in a land like India where religion is so in-your-face at all times, that Pi’s father warns him with these words, “If you believe in everything, you will end up not believing in anything at all.” And this piece of wisdom seems to ring true in that Pi embraces religion without quite taking it seriously, and thereby actually believing in nothing at all.
The very sophisticated digital mastery of creating the 3D experience for the viewer is nothing short of brilliant, and the cinematography of the beautiful landscapes of Pondicherry, a sleepy town in the southern part of India is sublime.
Also, a quick nod to Tabu, the Indian actress who plays the role of Pi’s mother with much grace and realism.
