Life of Pi (2012)

Ang Lee’s ‟Life of Piˮ is about a teenage boy who spent 227 days of his life drifting across the

Pacific Ocean in a lifeboat with a Bengal Tiger. The story begins in Pondichery, India where Piscine ‟Piˮ Patel

(Suraj Sharma) and his family lived. But when their zoo goes broke, Pi’s father decided to go to Canada with

them and a few valuable animals like zebra, a tiger named ‟Richard Parkerˮ, a Hyena, and oragutan on a ship

bound to go to Canada. The night comes in the sea when they’re travelling to Canada, a storm comes. Pi with

the wounded zebra, aggressive hyena, a friendly oragutan and the large tiger known as Richard Parker in a

boat swept with the high waves and his family were never seen again.

This is so hard and hazardous to film especially for Suraj Sharma who plays the role of Pi. As the

movie goes by, Suraj was also getting thinner and his skin color deepens, and his hair was also getting longer

to fully portray how Pi lived across the Pacific Ocean with Richard Parker (the tiger). The film focuses on the

sea journey, during which the human demonstrates that he can think with great ingenuity and the tiger shows

that it can learn. I am astonished because of the tiger as if it really exists and also to all the scenes that turns

out real. I am also amazed to all the editing that they do to make the film more real and to make the audience

drops their jaw because of the exciting scenes especially the scenes where Pi and Richard Parker spent time

together. Lee never uses it for surprises or sensations, but only to deepen the film's sense of places and

events.

The movie quietly combines various religious traditions to enfold its story in the wonder of life.

What will happen if a human and a wild animal spend their time together. How remarkable that these two

mammals, and the fish beneath them and birds above them, are all here. And when they come to a floating

island populated by countless meerkats, what an incredible sequence Director Lee creates there. This film is a

must to watch because of the messages that the movie trying to say. Also, that a human and an animal can be

together and live together despite all the hardship they’ve faced.

When I first watched the movie, I’m just wondering ‟Is it real? ˮ ‟Is it possible? ˮ, things like that.

But when I watched it again, I said “Yes, It is real”, “It is possible” to happen in real life. It’s true that Pi can be

considered as a hero, because he did not give up despite all the hardship he faced. But through it all, he

remains determined and optimistic, relying on his strong faith to see him through every challenge he must

face.

Life of Pi is one of the movies that I cherished and that this movie is a must to watch. It is one of

the best film of the year.