If Life of Pi was merely the story of Piscine "Pi" Patel (Suraj Sharma), surviving a shipwreck only to find himself stranded on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker for 227 days, it would still be a great film. It’s gorgeous and profound, with many scenes you wish you could rip off the screen and frame on your wall. But this isn’t just a harrowing, emotionally-charged, struggle for survival. There is a turning point towards the end that asks you to reconsider everything. Your reaction to it says a lot about who you are.
Before we discuss what the film is ultimately all about, let’s talk about the presentation. This is a special effects-heavy production with some stunning visuals. Particularly effective is the use of color to reflect the protagonist's mood and the use of the water’s reflective surface. There are some great bits of symmetrical imagery here. The images are so convincing you'll only realize director Ang Lee did not shoot this film on the Pacific Ocean once the end credits begin rolling.
The story would have still worked with so-so special effects but the illusion is so persuasive you become immersed in the emotional journey. You're gripped as Pi figures out how to find food, water, shelter and a way home. That's just the beginning, once Pi masters his situation, he eventually becomes comfortable enough to relax and drink in the full majesty of his situation.
If you’re watching the film at home, it probably won’t be in 3D, which is a shame. The flat Blu-ray does approximate the impact it had in theatres by having certain animals and objects jump out of or into your view by passing through the black bars above and below the main picture. You'd think most of this adventure would be fairly static; centered around the lifeboat, the water around it and the passengers but Pi's near-death experience gives him an insight into the divine. The narration throughout along with the visuals helps convey so much and combined with Pi’s own, bizarre upbringing, they form an insightful look at a young man’s journey toward the meaning of life.
This brings us to the point where Rafe Spall’s character (never named) is given an alternate story to the one we just saw. It’s gruesome (though perhaps not as ghoulish as in the book), dark, depressing, upsetting and lacking in any wonder whatsoever. Once this other story ends, the now-grown Pi (played by Irrfan Khan) asks the listener (and the audience), which story they prefer. As we contemplate them, he reminds us that neither can be proven or disproven. The story you ultimately choose says a lot about you. Before you pick, consider that you never questioned anything previously, no matter how ridiculous. The origin of the boy’s name, the way he memorized all those numbers to prevent himself from being ridiculed at school, his co-existence with the tiger on the raft, the miracle of the school of flying fish, the island of meerkats and the tooth Pi discovers on it, and so on. Before being presented with a more “realistic” viewpoint, you never doubted there was magic, beauty and hope in the world. Earlier in the film, Pi mentioned how doubt is not only inescapable but also necessary in one’s faith. Which story are you choosing? Which story do you think happened? Do you wish you could change either of your answers? Does that detail about whether or not bananas float change your mind?
Anyone who looks at Life of Pi becomes entranced. This story of a boy and the tiger that threatens his life but also becomes his friend is moving. You cannot forget this story, certainly not after the bombshell that comes right before the ending of the film; a masterfully handled turn that makes the movie more than a passive experience. You have to think about what you just saw and consider what you will do with it once you (like the hero), return to the real world. It’s a movie that changes you, which makes it a masterpiece. (On Blu-ray, August 23, 2019)
