Movie Review: The Life of Pi

Hi everyone,

Hope everyone managed to get something good on Black Friday! My mom decided to go to the movies with me that day, so no shopping for me~ OTL Anyways, she really wanted to watch The Life of Pi for reasons unknown to me. I read part of the book before, and I liked it, so I agreed to see it with her.

*SPOILER ALERTS BELOW~*

Summary:

A boy, Piscine Patel, or Pi for short, and his family own a zoo and live in India. Pi learns about different types of religions, so he tries to worship all of them at the same time. His father tells him that this worshipping is ridiculous, and to worship all of them is like worshipping no religion.

Later on, Pi tries to feed Richard Parker, a Bengal Tiger, some meat, but his father stops him before the tiger can fully approach him, and yells that the tiger is not his friend. He punishes Pi by forcing him to watch Richard Parker kill a goat that was placed in front of its cage.

Many years later, Pi fills in for a teacher in this dance class and falls in love with a girl, Anandi. They spend a lot of time together, but unfortunately, Pi's parents decide to sell the zoo animals and move to Canada. They pack all the animals on a Japanese cargo ship, and then get on as well, planning to sail to Canada.

One night, Pi and his family sleeping in the ship cabins, and Pi wants to get out and see the storm. His brother refuses to go with him and continues to sleep. Pi decides to go up by himself, only to be overwhelmed by the storm and the sea's waves. When he goes back to the ship cabin, it is already flooded with water, and he is forced to resurface to the top. He then sees some of the ship residents trying to lower a lifeboat into the water. He tries to get help for his family, but is shoved into the lifeboat. A zebra jumps in and the whole lifeboat falls into the water. Pi watches in horror as the whole ship sinks. He sees Richard Parker floating in the water and tries to force it away from the boat. A large wave hits the lifeboat, and he blacks out.

When Pi wakes up, he finds that only the zebra is on board. An orangutan comes floating out on the sea, and he helps it onto the boat. A hyena comes out, and Pi is terrified of it. Sometime later, the hyena succumbs to hunger, and it later kills the zebra and orangutan. In the heat of the moment, Richard Parker jumps out from under a sheet that covers half the lifeboat and kills the hyena.

Now, Pi has to survive on a boat with a tiger.

What I liked about it:

I thought the movie was really heart-wrenching during the scenes in which Pi was stuck on the lifeboat. His devotion to God plays a role in how he felt about the situation. Although the whole movie was practically about a boy trapped on a boat in the middle of the sea, the acting was good, and I ended up crying for like, the entire film.

What I disliked about it:

Nothing. The movie had meaningful subtext, and I was really moved by it. My mom didn't get the subtext though, and thought it was really boring because "it was just about a boy on a boat!"

Overall:

I think everyone should watch this movie. I know I haven't really described what's so good about it, but it's something I can't really explain. The acting was good, I cried because I was so convinced by the acting, and it felt like I was there on the boat with Pi when I watched.

- Melissa He, 12th Grade