First part of the film review: the story.
‘Life of Pi’ is an American adventure film released in 2012 and was directed by the Taiwanese-born American director (Ang Lee). It was a success both on the commercial scale and artistically in the Critics’ circles. It was nominated for eleven of the Academy Awards, which is astounding in itself. Pi, played by (Suraj Sharma), is the protagonist of the Booker prize winning novel written by (Yann Martel) on which the movie was based. The film opens by a scene where the adult Pi relates his life story to a European writer who was traveling in the search for the truth and God and met him accidentally. He was an Indian boy raised in a city in India which was under French rule for a period of time called (Pondicherry), by two loving parents and a supportive brother. Pi, which is short for Piscine, was chosen by our hero while he was a student in school after being pursed by mockery from his colleagues. Pi was a smart boy, and always had questions about life and God, so that he studied and practiced Hinduism, Christianity and Islam at the same time. His parents earned their bread by running a private Zoo which they owned. Due to financial troubles, his father decided to sell the Zoo and immigrate with his family and the animals to Canada. During their trip on a Japanese cargo ship, a tempest caused the capsize of the ship. Pi, managed to survive and unleashed a life boat. His parents, brother, many of the animals and the ship-crew all drowned. While struggling with the waves and the elements, he was left with a Zebra, a monkey, a hyena, and a tiger. The hyena attacked the Zebra first and killed it then the monkey and killed it, while Pi, was on his guard to protect himself, dangling from the boat. Then the tiger, attacked the hyena and ate it. Now, Pi, was facing a furious tiger. Rapidly he used his ruse to construct a raft to stay on it, to keep a distance from the tiger which was on the boat. While on the raft, he snatched some of the food, tools and life-saving instruction booklets from the bottom of the life-boat. Returning to the raft, he started by feeding himself then began reading, what will be the guide that helped him to stay for 227 days stranded alive in the middle of the ocean. After many trials and failures, Pi succeeded in taming the tiger. Pi, realized that that the tiger can help him to stay alive. After they both endured severe hardship, they reach a floating unknown island full of meerkats. Pi and the animal, regained their bodily energy and strength by feeding themselves freely. Due to the unwelcoming environment of the island at night, Pi, decided to leave it. Their boat in the end reached the coast of Mexico, and both were quasi half-dead. The tiger left him to the jungle amid tears of Pi. Pi, was rescued by local people. While at hospital, employees from the Japanese company that owned the cargo ship came to meet him and ask what has gone wrong during the tempest. He faked an imaginary story of sharing the lifeboat with his mother, a sailor, and the cook. The cook killed the sailor then in turn struggles with Pi's mother and stab her to death, so that Pi was forced to revenge and kill the cook. Returning back to the present day where Pi is an adult living happily with his wife and kids, and telling the story to the novelist, Pi alluded that the monkey was Pi's mother, the zebra was the sailor, the hyena was the cook, and, the tiger, was Pi himself. Pi asks the writer which story of the two, he prefers, and the novelist chooses the one with the tiger and the animals because it was more fantastic. (to be cont.)
