Life of Pi
–By the Numbers:
- 11: Oscar nominations
- 88, 79: Rating on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic
- 110, 465: Millions of dollars earned at the domestic, and foreign box office
- 23: Shots in the film that used a real tiger
–Major Contender for: Best Director (Ang Lee), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, numerous technical awards.
–Success on the Awards Circuit: Won Best Visual Effects, and Best Cinematography at the BAFTAs, with scattered wins for Best Picture, and Best Director in smaller awards circles.
–Synopsis: A close adaptation of Yann Martel’s 2001 novel of the same name, the short of Life of Pi is that it’s the story of a 14 year-old Indian boy, Pi Patel, who is standed at sea following a shipwreck. Having just lost his whole family, the only companion he has to console him is a fully-grown Bengal tiger, nicknamed Richard Parker. The long of it is that Martel uses a survival tale as the jumping off point for a grad thesis on storytelling and religion, with the ocean action framed within an older Pi recounting his experience to Martell, selling it too him as “a story that will make you believe in God.”
–Oscar-appropriate Themes: Multi-denominational spirituality, overcoming extreme adversity
–Juiciest Piece of Oscar Bait: It’s an existential think piece from an acclaimed director, who manages to make the visuals as ambitious as the ideas (see: Tree of Life)
–Buzz Going into the Oscars: 5/10. Though a close second in terms of total nominations, and directed by frequent Oscar invitee Ang Lee (this is his fourth film nominated for Best Picture), Pi’s subject matter might prove too philosophical to really gain voter traction. It is, however, gorgeous, meaning its odds of walking away with some of the aesthetic awards are pretty good. Only using real tigers for a few scenes, the CG version of Richard Parker still gives one of the most convincing supporting performances of the year, which will likely translate into a Best Visual Effects win.
–Trivia Tidbit: The book received a film option back in 2002, with many directors attached to the adaptation before Lee. Among them were Amélie director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Children of Men director Alfonso Cuarón, and M. Night Shyamalan.
–Talking Points if Your Crowd Loves it: For a film so heavily concerned with the existence of god, Life of Pi’s reception has been surprisingly warm, from both critics and audiences. It doesn’t choose sides, and plays up a feel good, love-in message of religion as a by-product of universal spirituality. Leverage the upbeat vibe into any contemplative discussion you feel like; a transcendent movie should transcend discussion of it as just a movie, so you’ve basically got a license to go deep on any out there thought that comes to mind. Or, just talk about the kitty, and how, despite how dangerous it might be, you’d really like to have a pet tiger one day. This is also one of the rare cases where you can make a case for 3D being necessary to “get” a movie, because the poetry of the visuals is a lot harder to argue against than that of the prose. Watch the trailer to find a few money shots worth referencing.
–Talking Points if Your Crowd Hates it: The beauty of a film this diffuse is that you can criticize it for pretty much the same things other people will adore it for. What is the movie really about? Forget the vagaries and cerebral spit-balling about God, life, and all that jazz: does Life of Pi say anything important, or does it just hope you’ll take one of its dozen contending ideas, and run with it? You’re dealing with the equivalent of a first-year philosophy student fresh off their first bong rip, throwing out unanswerable questions in rapid succession to imply wisdom, but really only trying to mask a complete cluelessness. For a more structured approach, you could argue the visuals look like a cheap Dali rip-off, but focus more on the incredible achievement that is Ang Lee finding a way to make a film so listless and boring when it co-stars a goddamn tiger.
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