by Kevin Gaussoin, Editor-in-Chief

Like any story, Life of Pi can be described in many ways, from multiple points of view. And even in so doing, my audience might, no, must receive my description, my review, in a unique way based on their own “lens”, as each of us carries with us all of the burdens and blessings of our own personal life stories, just as I am bound and educated by my own set of life experiences to tell you in the way that one such as I would. So then I’ll try to tell you about my perception of this film, and hope that you will enjoy my review and go see Life of Pi and experience it for yourself.

Let’s start with technical aspects. Life of Pi is the most visually beautiful film. Seriously. Ever. From the introductory titles to the end, this film is stunning. Here, the story is enriched by the animals, the water, the sky, and of course the people. Life of Pi is also one of the rare films worth the trouble of balancing 3D glasses over your existing glasses. The audio is amazing too. I would be surprised if this film doesn’t win top awards for cinematography, sound, and visual effects.

But what of the story? Fans of 1001 Arabian Nights or Patrick Rothfuss will appreciate that Life of Pi contains nested stories. It’s a story of a middle-aged man, Piscine Molitor “Pi” Patel (Irrfan Khan – The Amazing Spider-Man, Slumdog Millionare) recounting stories of his youth to a reporter, who will then write the book that will become the movie that you are watching… It’s a bit meta, yes.

Pi recounts his days growing up on his parents’ zoo in Pondicherry, India, how he got his name, and how he struggled from a young age to know God by investigating and practicing multiple religions simultaneously. Pi posits that once the reporter has heard his story, he will himself know God–A bold assertion, to be sure.

Eventually, Pi’s family decides that due to political and economic concerns, they must leave India and dissolve the zoo. They arrange to sell many of the animals and board a Japanese freighter with the animals, bound for their new life in Canada. When the freighter is crossing the Mariana Trench late one night, Pi wakes up with energy and excitement about a storm beginning. He races up to the deck to enjoy the rain, but soon witnesses that this storm is too severe for even this huge ship, and it sinks.

Pi survives the shipwreck in a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger, a hyena, a zebra, and an orangutan. Pi must then survive long enough for the current to make him cross the Pacific.

Is it Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, or some combination that allow him to survive? Is God really there at all? How long can a person’s sanity survive without human contact? Why doesn’t Richard Parker say goodbye?

I can tell you that I think that Life of Pi is safe for all ages. I think that it is at once peaceful and violent, beautiful and terrifying, spiritual and humanistic, full of all the right details, and exactly the right length to tell all the important parts of a facinating and life-changing story that is warmly wrapped up at the end. I can tell you the casting and the effects are perfect. I can also tell you that while amazing and powerful, I expect that the presentation of the story itself won’t resonate so strongly with all viewers.

OR I could tell you that this movie is too long and scary for your ADD and skittish and coddled kids, and the exposition is too long and the time spent out on the water is too long and anyone without patience to listen to a long story with plenty of digression will be frustrated and in the end it’s all more horrible than you think.

Which version would you prefer? That’s what I said too.

Rating:
ComicsOnline gives Life of Pi 4.5 out of 5 epic tales of survival.

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