Life of Pi

Irrfan Khan, Suraj Sharma, Adil Hussain, Tabu, Rafe Spall, Gerard Depardieu

Dir. Ang Lee
Scr. David Magee (based on novel of same name by Yann Martel)

Few movies have ever looked so lush and wondrous. And finally, a 3D experience so immersive that I almost forgot I was wearing those awful glasses. Almost. Life of Pi is a lovely couple of hours in a darkened room but, while I was drawn into the visual, the emotional and spiritual was a little harder to buy. Certainly Ang Lee has certainly achieved a feat – not only bringing an unfilmable book to life, but doing so with such panache. But while the sights and sounds will stay with me, sadly, the spoon-fed messages won’t.

If you’ve read the book, you’ll know exactly what sort of experience you’re likely to have. If you haven’t, well, your eyes with either widen with wonder or narrow with derision. Pi Patel is an inquisitive and challenging young boy, living in India with his parents – who run a zoo – and his older brother. One day his father (Hussain) decides they will pack up and move to Canada, taking the animals with them to sell on arrival. So the Patels and their collection of exotic beasts board a Japanese freighter bound for a new land and a new life. When disaster strikes, Pi is left stranded on a lifeboat with just an array of animals for company, most notably a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker.

It’s all wonderfully far-fetched, which will turn some people right off. It is also unabashedly religious, which will turn others away. But, as with all movies, you take to it and from it what you will. What saves this film from everything that might have made it a disaster is just how amazing it looks. It’s staggeringly beautiful and awash with colour. The opening credits introduce us to some of the animals in the zoo and it was like walking amongst them. There is plenty of CGI on offer and most of it is excellent. Bringing the tiger to life must have been especially challenging and is a real achievement – Richard Parker is perhaps my favourite character in the film. Life of Pi is possibly the most sumptuous visual feast you will see all year.

The spiritual elements of the film didn’t annoy me so much as bore me. But I wouldn’t say not to see it because of this – the punch Lee manages to land visually makes it worth a viewing. And while the movie’s religious depths didn’t move it, it certainly manages to scare and amuse and delight. I just couldn’t shake the feeling that they wanted me to descend into tears and prayers, and didn’t shy away from bashing me over the head with the big messages I should ponder as I left the cinema. A dose of subtlety wouldn’t have gone amiss.

The performances on offer here are all very good indeed. Much of the film rests on the shoulders of the stranded teenage Pi, played absolutely brilliantly by Sharma. Khan, who plays older Pi recounting his story of survival to an intrigued writer, is enigmatic and excellent. Hussain and Tabu, as Pi’s parents, as well as all the incarnations of Pi and his brother Ravi, give very solid performances. Spall, who plays the writer, is a very likeable actor and has a pivotal role here – he is the audience; cynical and disbelieving at first, wide-eyed and converted by the end. I didn’t quite make the entire journey with him, but never mind. A wee appearance by Depardieu, as the ship’s cook, is grotesque and wonderful.

I really enjoyed Life of Pi. But while the visual journey was a treat, the story didn’t move me in ways I suspect I was meant to be moved. Nevertheless, this film is a wild ride that shouldn’t be missed.

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Pi Patel: I can eat the biscuits, but God made tigers carnivorous, so I must learn to catch fish. If I don't, I'm afraid his last meal would be a skinny vegetarian boy.