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Feb 07, 2023
7:28 PM
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The Booker Prize went to Yann Martel's book Life of Pi, while the Academy Award for Best Picture went to Ang Lee's film version. Both were intriguing in their own right. The tale of Piscine "Pi" Patel, the son of a Pondicherry zookeeper who claims to have survived a shipwreck on a life raft with a Bengal tiger in tow, has recently been turned into a stage spectacular by Lolita Chakrabarti (premiered in Sheffield in 2019).
From the teeming zoo of large-scale puppets (superbly made by Nick Barnes and Finn Caldwell) to the visual effects (which surge, dazzle, and undulate like ocean waves), the charm of this show comes largely in its visuals (stage design by Tim Hatley with video design by Andrzej Goulding and lighting by Tim Lutkin).
The tale and its characters, on the other hand, are unconvincing: "I've had a terrible voyage," Pi admits from his hospital bed at the beginning (the framing device here is different from the book and film). It is meant to be hilarious, but it falls flat, as does most of the remainder of the speech papa's pizzeria
Martel's poor initial narration gave readers plenty of leeway to judge whether Pi's narrative was one of hope, faith, and tiger-taming, or one of survivor's remorse, sorrow, and delusion. He condenses significant truths about God, the natural world, and narrative into succinct soundbites that investigate the nature of reality while giving the essential fantasy comforts.
The bulk of the film is dedicated to the protagonists' attempts to remain alive while at sea, which is horrifying, uplifting, and fascinating at times. We never lose sight of the reality that this is a spiritual trip, yet the meticulous story of Pi's survival rivals masterpieces like Cast Away. Suraj Sharma portrays the young Pi so convincingly and naturally that it's difficult to believe this is his first film role.
The film's bookend, which neatly ties up the film's philosophical ideas in a nice knot, almost ruins it. After reading the story, I knew this would be the finale, yet it still irritates me. I can't say much more without giving away the plot, but the author discards everything excellent that came before it in order to concentrate on one fantastic concept that is brilliant in and of itself.
This isn't the fault of the film; it was always going to be like this in the original material. Spike Lee's cinematic adaptation could scarcely be described as faultless. It's difficult to overlook in terms of looks.
Life of Pi has a lot of computer-generated imagery (CGI), but it's all so brilliantly done that it's difficult to tell whether or not Richard Parker's primary breakthrough is genuine (most of the tiger scenes, apparently, have been created using CGI effects). Animal spectacles such as schools of flying fish, waves of flashing jellyfish, and a massive whale almost capsized the liferaft are equally amazing.
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