'Life' is rough but beautiful in 'Life of Pi'

Imagine a life where being lost in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, stranded in a tiny lifeboat with a 450 pound Bengal tiger is an everyday routine. Meet Pi Patel, (portrayed by Suraj Sharma) the young courageous, religious boy who believed in everything. His father was a zookeeper and forced his family to move to Canada by boat. The boat, had a crew and tons of different animals, some were vicious. One night, during a horrific storm, the boat crashes and Pi strives to save his family. He runs to the outside of the boat and is thrown into a lifeboat with a zebra, and another man. The water deemed to rough, propelled the other man out of the boat and sends Pi off into the middle of the ocean. Since it was nighttime, Pi couldn’t see, he helped an orangutan aboard the boat and in the distance saw an animal swimming to come aboard. Not being able to see he is blindly helping this animal up onto the boat, until he sees it’s Richard Parker, the 450 pound Bengal tiger that he witnessed days prior attack and kill an innocent goat. Fearfully shooing the tiger away, but it was too late, he climbed aboard. And thus, the story of ‘Life of Pi’ begins to unfold on this epic, extraordinary adventure.

‘Life of Pi’ is full of gorgeous camera shots, and unbelievable CGI. Academy Award winning director Ang Lee does a fantastic job creating a remarkable story upon a backdrop of beautiful, breathtaking shots. Most of the film takes place in the middle of the ocean, but everything is crystal clear and awe-inspiring. Richard Parker, the tiger, is completely CGI-ed, but an audience member would not know this, there are only certain scenes throughout the film where the tiger doesn’t look real but there was always a question as to what is real and what is fake. Lee does a great job keeping the audience at the edge of their seat, patiently waiting what is next for Pi and Richard Parker.

‘Life of Pi’ is based off the novel of the same name written by Yann Martel. It starts off with Pi retelling his tale the night his boat sank, with his family inside along with a crew of workers and zoo animals. The underlying factor in ‘Life of Pi’ is faith. Pi believes in Catholicism, Hinduism, and Muslim. As a young boy, Pi’s father stresses that if he believes in everything it is the same as believing in nothing, and urges the young boy to do his research and choose what to believe. Being shipwrecked out at sea, Pi wanted to believe that Richard Parker had a soul behind those frightening eyes. He wanted to believe that God could help him, and possibly save him and his new found friend.The acting in this film is outstanding. Lee took quite a risk to have a completely unknown actor carry an entire film by himself with just a computer generated tiger, but Suraj Sharma was astounding. Sharma portrayed Pi with such tenacity, and strong emotions, that although he was suffering to survive, his acting was refreshing to watch.

‘Life of Pi’ is highly recommended to anyone that enjoys films with exquisite scenes, remarkable acting, and the belief that a bond between a human and a tiger can be just as beautiful as that of best friends or loved ones. It is also recommended for anyone who enjoys a tale that is filled with hope, love, life and the thought that anything is possible if one believes.