LIFE OF PI (Ang Lee, 20th Century Fox, 2012)

Sometimes films sneak up on me. I head into the theatre not really excited to see the film, or maybe I am trepidatious about watching it for whatever reason. Then, as I slowly find myself sinking into the narrative, captured by the images up on the screen I realize what a good film I am seeing. LIFE OF PI (Ang Lee, 20th Century Fox, 2012) did an incredible number on me. Going in to the theatre I was only seeing the film because it had been nominated for Best Picture. I had absolutely no other desire or reason to see the film. And what I saw was remarkable. A highly stylized wonder of a film with a narrative that packs quite an emotional punch. The narrative to the film is as I described, sneaky good. The narrative unwinds slowly, seemingly leading you down one path while innocuously supplying the films themes and messages. And for me these messages helped to make the film so revelatory at the end. Because it seemed pretty blatant in content from the beginning my viewing sensibilities were looking one way and the film snuck in and got me elsewhere. This was wholly unexpected and gives the film so much depth. I became immersed in the story told by Pi (Irrfan Khan) and his blossoming relationship with Richard Parker. You identify with their struggle and their need for each other, their symbiotic role in the survival of each other. This narrative resonates long after the film is finished. The lasting images of the film for me will be the excessive and hyper stylized nature of the film. From the opening frames this film tells you the world we are being introduced to is not real, that we are seeing things in the manner that Pi's mind prefers to remember them. This determined and purposeful stylization by director Ang Lee is masterful and they way in which he pulls all the elements of the film together is brilliant. The CGI is intense yet sublimely used. The use of colors poignant and meaningful. The technical work meshes together into a greater part of a whole. All of these things help propel a magnificent film and the credit is all due to a great director. One final thing I personally need to do now would be to read the novel. Already reading the script I not only want to compare the adaptation by David Magee but would like to explore more fully the themes and allegorical messages the narrative provides. Obviously the narrative deals with the isolation of man in contemporary society as he struggles with issues beyond his control; violence, rapid acceleration of technology, an ever shrinking global community and cross-nationalism (wow bet you didn't think that was all in there huh?). Or the role of religion and faith and the strength and power both provide to the human experience. The film is so well done that it makes the book worth reading and isn't that saying something about where we stand in contemporary society.