Life Of Pi- Spectacular, Sweet But Slow

      

It is not every day that a boy raised in the multi-cultural Pondicherry by a Westernized father and traditional mother is named after not just the eponymous mathematical symbol but firstly after a swimming pool. Both director Ang Lee and novelist Yann Martel have taken the name of the story’s character far too seriously. So, Piscine Molitor Patel aka Pi does not only showcase an impressive grasp on mathematics. He also lives up to his original name- Piscine, which is obviously a term meaning fishy and sleeps with the fishes and a tiger in a lifeboat.

 

 

Pulpy as it may sound, all credit goes to Martel for weaving a Booker winning novel around that quirky premise of adventure in the seas and to Lee for recapturing it on the large screen in a truly larger-than-life manner. Lee’s latest film ‘Life Of Pi’ is as magical as it can be, sticking loyally to Martel’s simplistic prose and at heart a simple, neatly cut tale of how the biggest perils teach us a lot and all that. It is good, old-fashioned cinema and storytelling as pure as clear-eyed as the waters of Piscine Molitor, the pool.

It is a truly spectacular ride as well. Lee, clearly one of our most artistic filmmakers, decided to opt for CGI, motion capture and 3D- all rolled together and doled out in truly stunning style, as the central adventure- Pi stranded on a life-boat with a Royal Bengal tiger named Richard Parker after a disastrous shipwreck-begins to unfold. The CGI touches are a bit blatantly distinct in some moments, but most of it- the raging seas, the thick clouds, the tiger’s snarls and roars- feel alive and kicking. This is more Steven Spielberg than Werner Herzog but it is none the worse for it and Lee delivers bang for the buck.

Yet, Yet. One can’t help but wish that this could have been more than that. There are notable times when Lee’s film soars beyond the mainstream territory. ‘Life Of Pi’ has all the makings of a classic but it falls short on some crucial levels. Just when you expect it to stun you on a personal level, it comes off short, it misses the boat. And from then on, you don’t even care about the good parts. Almost.

 

The first 30 minutes or so- focusing on the origins of the character Pi Patel (Suraj Sharma)- is perhaps the closest thing we have to a plot in the film. We are told, by an adult Pi himself narrating (a reliable Irrfan Khan), about a bittersweet upbringing in a pretty and picturesque Pondicherry- about his father’s stubbornly Westernized ways, about his mother indulging him to discover religions and the beauty of music. It comes off a bit choppy but Lee handles the emotional heft well and it all feels well-placed.

 

It is the ship-wreck scene that delivers much flesh and blood into the languid pace. Lee choreographs the scene with terrific urgency- as Pi is eventually stranded while the animals from his family zoo try to flee the situation as well. It is a beautifully crafted scene, helping the audience to transcend the mere words of Martel’s book and savor everything as sensational and thrilling. A moment lingers best in the mind- Pi diving underwater to watch the whole ship with his doomed family sinking into the depths.

The adventure kickstarts shortly thereafter as Pi finds himself with a sick zebra, a melancholic orangutan and a nasty hyena who finishes up the other two. That is just before the big surprise- in a fantastically thrilling shot, the fearsome beast shoots out like missile and Lee stuns the audience by this creation, which feels genuinely sprightly, dangerous and equally vulnerable.

 

But from there on, it goes terribly downhill. Lee is clearly in a problem, trying to sort out his priorities- is it an adventure movie? Is it a movie about animals and humans? Or is it still concerned about that intriguing concept of God, earlier highlighted in the film? Handling so much is indeed a tall order and while David Magee’s adapted script smartly, briskly cuts out most of the sermonizing parts of the novel, Lee suddenly becomes indifferent. In the parts where he should have really delivered the most, Lee suddenly begins to drag his feet.

The second half is terribly bogged down by repetition, predictability and bad pacing- Lee does little to make things interesting between Pi and his unlikely companion on the boat, other than just sharing stars, supplies and fish. Martel’s novel has some crucially flawed elements and Lee and Magee could have ideally cut them out to bring in a refreshing essence into the film. But save for a few stunningly scripted moments- the initial ones with the orangutan and hyena are very well-done indeed, as is the scene when Pi gives the tiger another chance at survival- the rest is as predictable it can be and the relationship between Pi and Richard Parker the tiger feels underdeveloped.

 

And of course, it can always be justified that Lee was perhaps more interested in the adventure, the use of technique and so on. Indeed, it is a valid argument but even then Lee could have given us a truly phenomenal adventure. After some stellar bits- one in which a Humpback whale shoots out of the seas at night and another in which a bunch of fish are hunted by what look like carnivorous Puffer fish, Lee simply stops trying and the film drags a bit too much. Another storm at sea does not quite click as a really cool idea and a stopover at a carnivorous island, while stunning and promising, feels quite half-baked.

Most crucially, the ending feels so abrupt and sudden that it completely mars our experience with the adventure. One cannot blame Lee for that- Martel chooses to do that as well but it leaves all of us befuddled. It is easy to see why the relationship between Richard Parker and Pi feels so underdeveloped. And while it can be argued that the former is after all a wild tiger, it still hurts.

 

 

Still, with such serious flaws, Lee’s film is worth a watch, if only for the visual palette that it presents, than the final outcome on the canvas. It is not every day that the 3D and motion-capture technology are used so effectively, not just convincingly but also to evoke some genuinely jaw-dropping moments. Lee achieves that splendidly, helping us to forget some of the disasters (‘John Carter’ is the most dreadful). His compositions are energetic, vibrant and the landscape of sea, the gently rocking boats and cloudy skies feels amazingly authentic. There are some truly phenomenally poetic moments- like the golden morning sky beautifully reflected on the water or the night creeping on Pi and Richard Parker, as they look forward to hope.

 

Suraj Sharma is quite good playing Pi, infusing his character with vulnerability and heroics. The supporting cast does not have much to do- Adil Hussain and Tabu are predictably fine as Pi’s parents while Irrfan Khan as the grown-up Pi is good as usual. However, by now we had enough of him in such roles and we want more from this terrific actor. Not that it matters, though, as this is eventually Lee’s ship and he steers it through visually beautiful territory, just not too enthusiastically.

This is clearly the Ang Lee of ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ rather than ‘Brokeback Mountain’, the film which is unanimously called as his best work and deservedly so. So, don’t quite expect ‘Life Of Pi’ to be the compelling drama that it promises to be. Just sit back on your life boat and marvel at the scenery around you. Be warned though- you will be only floating slowly without really reaching anywhere.

My Rating- 3 Stars Out Of 5