LIFE OF PI (New York Film Festival New York City New York USA 2014)

Ben Meyers’ rating: 4.9|5.0 Stars ìììì

Life of Pi—a work of art—classifies itself as one of the best films of 2014. It’s fresh, real, and, not only entertains, but creates a little mental activity, too.  It has a ‘moral of the story’ feel that is not over the top: namely, life is a little sweet and little sour, but over the long run, life is great. 

Movie Poster Courtesy of Wikipedia

Storyline

The tale revolves around Pi Patel and his life from 5 years old (acted by Gautam Belur), to 11-12 years old (acted by Ayush Tandon), to a teenager (acted by Suraj Sharma), to an adult (acted by Irrfan Khan). Pi, an Indian boy of adventure and a risk-taking examiner of all things, finds himself in a state of change when his father Santosh Patel (Adil Hussain) decides to sell the family zoo in India and move his family to America for a fresh start. The family boards a ship with some of the zoo animals they plan to sell in America. On the way to America, their ship is hit by a huge wave. The ship sinks and the only survivors are the boy Pi and four of the zoo animals—a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena, and a tiger—on a lifeboat. An interesting lesson follows as Pi endeavors to survive in a world reduced to the eaters and those to be eaten.

Additional Thanks

The film, based on a novel by Yann Martel, turns into a best work effort for Director and Producer Ang Lee. Thank you to Executive Producer Dean Georgaris for making the film possible. Additional characters are: Gita Patel (Tabu), Ravi Patel at 7 years old (Ayaan Khan), Ravi Patel at 13-14 years old (Abbas Khaleeli Mohd), Ravi Patel at 18-19 years old (Vibish Sivakumar), and Cook (Gérard Depardieu).

Buy a ticket? Yes? No? Maybe?

Yes. Good intellectual watch. 

Video Critique Available Here:

Ben Meyers