Life of Pi

For the first time in a long time, I found it very difficult to find in a film flash of value added, a release from stultifying intellectual dullness. Because it’s seriously not enough that this Lif of Pi is in colour and 3D. The book is not an intellectual masterpiece either, but at least it leaves a lot more room for our imagination and does not immediately cut dead the offer of an alternative interpretation by using an idiotic summary of which animal represented whom. Compared to the film with its single narrator, the book is also more distinctly structured as a contemplation of the reliability of storytelling, on the infinite adaptability of “our” stories (3.14...). In the book, we are encouraged to exercise greater caution in our judgment if we get from a given person only information that fits their version of the story. The beginning of the book, when Pi prepares the groundwork for what he will tell later, thus makes much more sense than in the film, where the beginning is basically used only to present the multiplicity of paths to higher knowledge (including ordinary earthly love, which is absent in the book and which gives the film an unnecessary melodramatic aspect). Whereas there are several narrators in the book and each of them can pursue their respective goals, e.g. “you will believe in God”, the film lets Piscine do all of the talking and thus leads us to a “religious” interpretation, which is further supported by the unambiguous, magical-realistic visual aspect. While reading the book, which doesn’t skimp on descriptions of the brutalities that man commits against animals in the interest of survival, my head was definitely not inundated with so many colours. The absolutely most powerful moment of the film is fittingly its most visually pure, when Pi merely retells the second version in words and it is up to us to imagine it in colour. Though other scenes (the sinking of the ship, the initial confrontation with Richard) are breathtaking in their execution – long shots, the rocking camera that stays in close proximity to the protagonist – they seem uneven and don’t resonate. In the end, the film offers mainly a visceral experience rather than intellectual or emotional enrichment, which is simply not enough, and the painfully high price of a 3D movie ticket doesn’t help. 65% (06/12/2012)

People like to look for a noble, spiritual dimension in suffering. I suffered like a hyena for two hours, but I didn't find any such dimension (although "my mother is an orangutan" at least brought a wicked laugh to my lips). Objectively, it's very nicely colored, smooth and cleverly told, but I always prefer the adrenaline and animality of 127 Hours over the spiritual Circus Humberto. Perhaps one of the 33 million gods who spiritually sponsor this film will not send me on a ship with Suraj Sharma. Because at the moment I want to kill him. (05/12/2012)

"The Life of Pi" is a film that I had been putting off for a while, but in the end, I managed to get to it and I don't regret it at all. I was afraid of how it would turn out, what the film would actually be about, that it would be quite boring, a struggle for life on a boat with a tiger, it just didn't seem like something that would impact me, but one should never judge a book by its cover. In this case, it definitely held true and I am really glad that my girlfriend and I didn't miss this film. Ang Lee is a director who can always surprise, both in a positive sense and unfortunately in a negative sense - see "Hulk". More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2013/02/pi-jeho-zivot-2012-85.html (23/03/2013)

Two stars are quite a decent result for a film that I didn't enjoy at all. Ang Lee approached the laws of physics his way, relied on CGI and made a film about high moral values, with no chance of appealing to me (a shallow individual). The film is technically distinguished, but its story left me cold. (02/06/2020)

Colours, animals and gods in a pleasant adventure, and a twist that can be considered nice or nasty, depending on your nature. I reckon the book version was sharper and Ang Lee probably blunted the edges, but it doesn’t matter. Great filmmaking that the ending prevents from being a mere naive religious tale. Thumbs up. (06/01/2013)