On 31st of January last year I had blogged on The Great Expectations by Dickens. I also had dreams and expectations that were not fruitful. I was unable to write twelve reviews for the twelve months of the year. I do nonetheless, relentlessly write in my mind. Unfortunate though, I am seemingly unable to find time to produce them here. Yet, time itself is subjective.
I started writing this during the last month of the past year. How apt, I thought to begin my stories at the beginning of the `watched' year and end it before the Mayan’s prediction of a change. To my regret, I was unable to complete it.
They say, whatever you do on the first day of the New year, you would do for the rest of the days. So believing that, I am here writing this and will undoubtedly post it in my blog before the end of the day.
After my return from Da Nang, I did embark on a travelogue. But before I could end it, it was all swiped away from me, due to my own folly, after which I was distressed and could not carry on writing. I stopped. And at that instant, conceivably in annoyance, I contemplated not writing about my travels again. I am unsure if I will change my mind some day, but currently, the thought still holds.
I completed my review on Martel’s `life of pi’ on the 30th of May 2007, at which time, I was delighted to know that Shyamalan, being born in Pondicherry himself, was considering the movie. I couldn’t have been more pleased to know that.
5 years later, it came to my attention that Ang Lee took up the challenge to form the book into a movie. Lee created the Richard Parker I imagined and felt. That was the most important thing for me.
Bold and energetic, this movie cannot be dismissed because there is too much in it. Perhaps I am biased because I am passionate about Martel’s book as much as I am about Lee. I hope though, that it will not cloud my judgment but should it in anyway, I still hope it would relate easily to others.
I watched it in 3D only because Raja recommended it. It would have been a mistake to settle for anything less. Life of pi, the movie, was wildly delightful, intoxicating and breathtaking. Lee gave me the `algaes’ as I imagined them. Being an agnostic, I still fail to understand the stress on God here, but I believe coexistence and spirituality encircle you throughout the movie.
He remains true to the book. Having just returned from Taiwan, I loved Claudio Miranda and his team, the cinematography was enchanting and I have no doubts, it would run for some nominations. It was an absolute visual masterpiece.
Life of Pi is a magical adventure, and if I may say so, a near impossible one. It is the story of a subtly profound friendship built on an inspiring survival. In my blog I had mentioned that at many times, I imagined myself to be Parker and because of that in the movie, he was perhaps the best thing for me. I was not too fond of Suraj. Kaufman says she depended on her guts while casting Suraj, she felt he was perfect for the scenes. I however, would like to differ in thought.
Shyamalan could have made this possible. But just when the project was becoming a distant memory after directors like Night Shyamalan, Alfonso Cuaron, and Jean Pierre shelved or abandoned it, Ang Lee’s zeal finally gave it a conclusion. I couldn’t have been more ecstatic.
One of the greatest contemporary filmmakers, from his first major film, also his thesis, `Fine Line',which won him the best director and best film at the NYU annual film awards, he continued outperforming himself until his last `Sense and Sensibility' before the LOP. I never missed his films whether in Chinese or English, infact, I even visited his birthplace in Pingtung, East of Kaohsiung in Taiwan. Popular for his listening skills, spongy absorption, and `the feel’ as opposed to demanding and speaking, he gave the movie a remarkable sense of authenticity when it came to facts that were a part of an entire world of fantasy.
Ang Lee is a genius.
Lee has a special place in my heart so I am naturally prejudiced, but who wouldn’t be about a man who is so big in success, yet so down to earth, incredibly unassuming and simple, someone who hasn’t allowed fame and wealth to change him, someone who is talented beyond his years and can still remain humble, someone who can readily give orders, yet he chooses to listen to others’ contributions.
To me, he made an unfilmable book available on screen.
Based on the bestselling book by man booker prize 2002 winner, Yann Martel, Life of Pi, the movie, tells a story of struggle and survival through seemingly insurmountable odds. Fighting against fate, and participating where the heart is reluctant, the shipwrecked inhabitants of the life boat do extraordinary, unexpected and even heroic deeds to survive. In survival, however, one performs shameful and cannibalistic actions on realization of the possibility of extinction.
An outstanding 3D epic adventure film, so alive with brilliant colours, powerful imagery, and impressive cinematography, one forgives anything, even if it appears unreal. Pi who creates a fearful intimacy with a startlingly realistic Bengal tiger, Richard Parker, spends turbulent months at sea, after Orange juice, the peaceful Orang Utan and the wounded zebra is killed by the ferocious hyena. Driven by both spectacle and substance, along with the fantasy island of meerkats and algaes, the amazing technology and special effects is so magical and mystical, it totally drowns you in its world.
Although Lee brings in the three religions as beautifully as Martel does, he leaves out an important scene towards the end, which is perhaps a wise decision since the movie would have been seen as provocative. Simply said, we choose to believe in what we need to, in order to adjust to our own absurd circumstance of our questioned existence.
Storytelling can be viewed as a lot of things. Like I mentioned in my Martel blog earlier, here too, the whole movie is about Pi’s magical adventure. Only the last few minutes he recasts his account and tells us an entirely different story devoid of animals. Do we choose to believe the reality or do we rather dwell in the adventure? Does the real content of the story matter or do we struggle to reason between the two?
In conclusion, for me, it is never easy coming across someone I can greatly admire. An auteur director, Ang Lee, to me is a master of cinema. He manifests earthly delights like no other.
As for the movie, life of pi is an elegant film that will present us various emotions, with a dash of faith to believe in. An almost near impossible feat of transforming from a book, the film does wonders to the soul. Not to be missed, the whole magic can only be felt on 3D big screen. Here's wishing all happy watching and a very happy and magical year.
