February Movie #5: Life of Pi

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

February Movie #5: Life of Pi

Starring: Irrfan Khan, Suraj Sharma
Run Time: 2 hours 6 minutes
Directed By: Ang Lee

Life of Pi is based on the book by Yann Martel. It follows the journey of Pi, the sole survivor of a shipwreck that claimed the lives of his entire family. He floats adrift in a life boat for over 150 days. As if that weren't bad enough, Pi's companion on the boat is an adult Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. Pi fights to feed himself, feed the tiger, get drinkable water, and not get eaten by the tiger.

I read this book in anticipation of the movie. Because I had read the book, I was disappointed by the movie's version of the story. I think if you go into the movie not having read the book, you won't be disappointed. A lot of things were left out of the movie. I was disappointed with that. Some were just little things left out - like the meerkats sleeping on him, Richard Parker and his burning feet, how he truly discovered the island was carnivorous, the blindness, the bumping into the Frenchman, the end of the orangutan, eating turtles, even the fact that Pi kept food under his blanket in the hospital and floating the bananas to prove his point. I don't understand why the smallest of images were omitted. They really helped the story - like the floating of the bananas. When I read the book, I was so looking forward to how things would appear on screen. And then they omitted those things that I was most looking forward to. Why? And I also wondered how they were going to show the second story and they took the cowards way out - simply a verbal retelling and not a visual. They glossed over a very important, a very emotional, a very strong moment in the second story - what happened to his mother. A simple verbal retelling of these events did not have the impact they did in the book. I was actually dreading the second story but the glossing over cured that. There was not much to it, no real powerful impact. A lot of the omission of images, scenes, had an impact to the movie. It's a sad story. I just didn't feel as sad as I thought I was going to.

It took me a long time to read the book because there were at least a 100 or so pages about Pi dabbling in religion. There were probably 100 pages more before the boat sank. I wanted it to leap into the heart of the story because I already knew it was going to happen. The movie cut to the boat sinking faster. There was plenty of Pi growing up so you did get a sense of him and his family very well. I enjoyed that the heart of the movie was exposed sooner.

The images in this movie were beautiful, even the boat lying at the bottom of the ocean. Overall, I did like the movie. I liked the visuals. They were pretty, especially the bio-luminescence encounter. That was cool. The 3D helped, too, to enhance the beauty. The uncle swimming, with the view looking up so that you see his stomach and the sky above him, which helped enhance the notion that the water was the clearest he'd ever seen. The whales and ocean life swimming below Pi in the water. I did find it interesting that the zoo looked like I pictured it.

Because the emotions - particularly the ending with the second story - are so much more intense in the book, I have to say that I liked the book better than the movie. While the visuals were stunning, it certainly didn't capture the essence of the trauma, the drama, the book. The movie fell flat. You should see the movie just for the beauty of it but just know that the book is better.

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List O' Movies Watched

2016 Movies
16). Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
15). Suicide Squad
14). Star Trek Beyond
13). Ghostbusters
12). The Legend of Tarzan
11). The Secret Life of Pets
10). Finding Dory
9). Central Intelligence
8). X-Men: Apocalypse
7). Captain America: Civil War
6). Zootopia
5). Deadpool
4). Kung Fu Panda 3
3). Norm of the North
2). Spectre
1). Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens
2015 Movies
45). Peanuts Movie
44). Goosebumps
43). Scouts Guide (to a Zombie Apocalypse)
42). Suffragette
41). Burnt
40). Last Witch Hunter
39). Crimson Peak
38). Bridge of Spies
37). The Martian (3D)
36). The Intern
35). Hotel Transylvania 2
34). Everest
33). Man from U.N.C.L.E
32). Vacation
31). Terminator: Genisys
30). Ant-Man
29). Pixels
28). Minions
27). Jurassic World
26). San Andreas (3D)
25). Spy
24). Inside Out
23). Ex Machina
22). Tomorrowland
21). The Age of Adaline
20). The Avengers: Age of Ultron (3D)
19). Danny Collins
18). Fast and the Furious 7
17). Home
16). Cinderella
15). Focus
14). Kingsmen
13). Paddington
12). Whiplash
11). The Imitation Game
10). American Sniper
9). Selma
8). Birdman
7). Theory of Everything
6). Boyhood
5). Jupiter Ascending (3D)
4). Night at the Museum 3: Secret of the Tomb
3). Taken 3
2).The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (3D)
1). Into the Woods
2014 Movies
20). Big Hero Six (3D)
19). Gone Girl
18). Dracula Untold
17). Boxtrolls (3D)
16). A Walk Among Tombstones
15). Frank
14). Expendables III
13). Guardians of the Galaxy (3D)
12). Chef
11). X-Men: Days of Future Past
10). How to Train Your Dragon 2 (3D)
9). Maleficent
8). A Million Ways to Die in the West
7). Transcendence
6). Captain America: The Winter Soldier
5). Muppets Most Wanted
4). The Grand Budapest Hotel
3). The LEGO Movie
2). Non-Stop
1). Saving Mr. Banks
2013 Movies
52). Philomena
51). Delivery Man
50). Frozen (in 3D)
49). Homefront
48). Hunger Games: Catching Fire
47). Thor: The Dark World (in 3D)
46). Free Birds (in 3D)
45). About Time
44). Escape Plan
43). Gravity (in 3D)
42). Don Jon
41). Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (in 3D)
40). Riddick
39). Planes
38). Red 2
37). Despicable Me 2 (again)
36). Turbo
35). Despicable Me 2 (in 3D)
34). The Heat
33). Monsters University
32). This is the End
31). Now You See Me
30). What Maisie Knew
29). The Hangover III
28). Star Trek: Into Darkness
27). Fast and the Furious 6
26). Gatsby (in 3D)
25). Iron Man 3 (in 3D)
24). Disconnect
23). Pain & Gain
22). Place Beyond the Pines
21). Side Effects
20). G.I. Joe: Retaliation
19). The Croods
18). Jack the Giant Slayer (in 3D)
17). Oz the Great and Powerful
16). A Good Day to Die Hard
15). Snitch
14). Zero Dark Thirty
13). Life of Pi (3D)
12). Beasts of the Southern Wild
11). Oscar Nominated Animated Short Films
10). Warm Bodies
9). Parker
8). Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (3D)
7). Django Unchained
6). Amour
5). The Last Stand
4). The Impossible
3). Les Miserables
2). Silver Linings Playbook
1). Lincoln
2012 Movies
42). Wreck it Ralph
41). Skyfall
40). Argo
39). Hotel Transylvania (3D)
38). Looper
37). Taken 2
36). ParaNorman (3D)
35). Ice Age 4: Continental Drift
34). The Expendables 2
33). The Odd Life of Timothy Green
32). Total Recall
31). The Amazing Spider-man
30). Brave(again)
29). Magic Mike
28). Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (3D)
27). Brave
26). Prometheus
25). Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted
24). Snow White and the Huntsman
23). Men in Black III (3D)
22). Battleship
21). Dark Shadows
20). The Pirates! Band of Misfits
19). The Avengers
18). Mirror Mirror
17). The Hunger Games
16). Titanic (3D)
15). Coriolanus
14). The Lorax (3D)
13). The Artist
12). Extremely Close & Incredibly Loud
11). The Help
10). Hugo
9). Journey 2: Mysterious Island (3D)
8). Oscar Nominated Live Action Shorts
7). Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts
6). Safe House
5). A Dangerous Method
4). My Week with Marilyn
3). The Grey
2). The Descendents
1). Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
2011 Movies
56). Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
55). The Muppets
54). Arthur Christmas (in 3D)
53). Puss in Boots (in 3D)
52). In Time
51). Martha Marcy Mae Marlene
50). Margin Call
49). Real Steel
46). Dolphin Tale
48). 50/50
47). Ides of March
45). Killer Elite
44). Moneyball
43). What's Your Number?
42). Drive
41). Winnie the Pooh
40). Fright Night
39). Crazy, Stupid, Love
38). Captain America: The First Avenger
37). Cowboys and Aliens
36). Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
35). Cars 2 (again)
34). Zookeeper
33). Midnight in Paris
32). Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon (in 3D)
31). Bad Teacher
30). Cars 2
29). Mr. Popper's Penguins
28). Green Lantern
27). X-Men: First Class
26). Kung Fu Panda 2
25). Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides
24). Bridesmaids
23). Thor
22). Rio
21). Hanna
20). Source Code
19). Fast Five
18). Hop
17). The Adjustment Bureau
16). Limitless
15). Rango
14). Beastly
13). The Housemaid (Ha-nyeo)
12). I Am Number Four
11). True Grit
10). The Kids Are All Right
9). 127 Hours
8). Unknown
7). Oscar Nominated Live-Action Short Films
6). Oscar Nominated Animated Short Films
5). The Fighter
4). The Mechanic
3). The King's Speech
2). The Green Hornet (in 3D)
1). Black Swan

Robin's World - Movie Valley

Movie Reviews

Tuesday, February 26, 2013