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MUMBAI:
When Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Brokeback Mountain)
helms a film, the least you can expect from him is a saga with insights
and with his newest film Life of Pi, he doesn't disappoint. He takes
the seemingly impossible-to-film book, written by Yann Martel, and
transforms it into a visual delight with 3D and CGI thrown in for
good effect. Not since Avatar have these two been used with better
results though 3D has since gone on to be a widely used filmmaking
tool.
Life
of Pi seeks to encompass a wide array of emotions and situations
and succeeds in all of them. The result is a film about finding
faith, the triumph of human endeavour, coming of age and childlike
delight all seamlessly woven together without missing a beat. And,
considering that most of the film has only one boy and a tiger adrift
on the Pacific Ocean on a life boat, that is saying a lot. Even
the otherwise overused 'voiceover' tool is so well used it becomes
unnoticeable.
It
is the story of a young boy, Pi, and his family moving bag and baggage
and a hold full of zoo animals from Puducherry to North Amerca on
a ship. When the ship sinks in a storm, Pi and a handful of animals
are the only survivors. The ménage of animals is gradually
reduced to only Richard Parker, the tiger. How Pi manages to tame
the wild beast to form an uneasy and easily broken truce, gives
the thrust to the film. It is almost impossible to believe that
the tiger is largely CG though for some scenes Bengal tigers were
used for reference.
But
alone on the ocean, Pi's mind wanders and as the director takes
you through some of the fantasy he experiences, the viewer gasps
in delight at the sheer beauty of the imagination. With the physical
and the metaphysical so well blending into each other it's almost
impossible to tell the difference between the two. Truly, suspension
of disbelief was never more rewarding.
Some
debuts are just meant to happen and such is the case with young
Pi, Suraj Sharma, who is entirely believable and will be a talent
to watch for in the coming years. While Irrfan Khan and Tabu, in
short roles are as competent as they are expected to be, Adil Hussain,
as Pi's father caps his unconventional career with another brilliant
performance.
But,
of course, this is Ang Lee's film, one of the best directors of
contemporary times.
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