6 March 2023

Life of Pi updated March 2023

 

Life of Pi 2012

Updated March 2023


  • Director: Ang Lee
  • Seen by this director: Taking Woodstock, Brokeback Mountain, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, The Ice Storm, Sense and Sensibility
  • Based on book by Yann Martel
  • Cast: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Adil Hussain, Tabu, Rafe Spall, Gérard Depardieu
  • Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor/actress in:
    • Irrfan Khan – Slumdog Millionaire, The Amazing Spiderman, Darjeeling Limited, The Namesake
    • Tabu – The Namesake
    • Rafe Spall – The World’s End, Prometheus, Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead, A Good Year
    • Gérard Depardieu – La Vie en Rose, Paris je t’aime, Boudu, Hamlet, Jean de Florette
  • Why: the book
  • Seen: January 6, 2013, at the movie theater with Hal, B-I and ÖB. Now 4 March 2023. 

Oh what a film!  What an achievement! When one of the best novels ever written becomes one of the best movies ever made – well. Once in a while the universe slips into a moment of harmony.

Who could have believed it – a novel that was impossible to film. A shipwrecked boy in a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger.

No, they don’t become friends. This is not a kid’s-pet-of-the-week movie. It’s an existential action drama about life and nature. And it’s incredibly exciting and beautiful. Overwhelming ocean storms, glorious skies, explosively surging whales. And, of course, a snarling clawing tiger.

One asks oneself how they do all that. Or not.  It’s easy enough to just accept the wonder of it.

Read the book. Then see the movie. Hindu-Christian-Muslim Pi promised his story would make his listener believe in god. It didn’t. It went one better. It made me believe, in case I didn’t already, in the impossible artistic achievements of us humans. 

10* of 10. 

Update 4 March 2023. Well, it seems I liked the film the first time. Of course, on the big screen it was overwhelming. It was overwhelming enough on the TV screen. Maybe I won’t go so far as 10* of 10 this time, but I’m very happy to give it 5* of 5.

 

 

No comments:

Post a Comment