Life of Pi
Movie analysis
Title: Life of Pi
Genre: Adventure, Drama
Characters: Piscine Molitor, Richard Parker, & Pi’s family
Setting: Pacific Ocean
Symbolism:
Pi's lifeboat = faith
Island = Religion
Sea and Sun = harsh realities of real life, scrutinizing your faith
Trees = clergy/priests/rabbis/imams
Meercats = followers of religion
Sea and Sun = harsh realities of real life, scrutinizing your faith
Trees = clergy/priests/rabbis/imams
Meercats = followers of religion
The overall message is that although religion (organized faith) can aid us and stabilize us and nourish us spiritually in the short term, it is not a viable long-term answer to our spiritual questions, and will ultimately kill us mentally and spiritually.
Plot:A novelist has come to talk to Pi Patel, a
middle-aged Indian immigrant living in Canada.
Pi's parents named him Piscine Molitor after a swimming pool in France. As a child he changed his name to "Pi"
(the mathematical symbol, π) because he was
tired of being called "Pissing Patel". In flashback it was seen that
his family owned a zoo, and Pi took great interest in the animals, especially a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. When Pi
tries to feed the tiger in great curiousity, his father runs in and angrily
tells him that the tiger is dangerous and not like a human. He forces Pi to
witness the tiger killing a goat to prove his point. Pi is raised Hindu and vegetarian, but at 12 years old, he is introduced toChristianity and
then Islam,
and starts to follow all three religions as he "just wants to love
God."
When Pi is
16, his father decides to move the family to Winnipeg,
Canada, where he intends to settle and sell the zoo animals. They book passage
on a Japanese freighter named Tzimtzum.
One night there is a storm; the ship begins to founder while Pi is on deck. He
tries to find his family, but a crew member throws him into a lifeboat. Pi watches
helplessly as the ship sinks, killing his family and the crew. After the storm,
Pi finds himself in the lifeboat with an injured zebra,
and is joined by an orangutan.
A spotted hyena emerges
from the tarp covering half of the boat, and kills the zebra and then the
orangutan. Suddenly the tiger Richard Parker emerges from under the tarp,
killing the hyena.
Pi gets
out biscuits, water rations, and a hand axe. He builds a small raft and stays
at a safe distance from the tiger. Pi begins fishing and is able to feed the
tiger. He also collects rain water for both to drink. When the tiger jumps off
to hunt fish, at first Pi wants to let it drown, then he relents and helps it
climb back into the boat. After many days at sea, Pi trains the tiger to accept
him in the boat. He also realizes that caring for the tiger is keeping him
alive. Weeks later and half dead, they reach a floating island. Both Pi and
Richard Parker eat and drink freely and regain strength. But at night the
island transforms into a hostile environment: the fresh water turns acidic, the
resident meerkats sleep in the trees, the plants are
carnivorous. Pi discovers the island's secrets when he finds a human tooth. Pi
and the tiger leave.
The
lifeboat eventually reaches the coast of Mexico.
Pi is crushed that that the tiger does not acknowledge him before disappearing
into the jungle. Pi is rescued and carried to hospital, weeping. Insurance agents for
the Japanese freighter come to interview him. They do not believe his story and
ask what "really" happened. He tells a less fantastic account of
sharing the lifeboat with his mother, a sailor with a broken leg, and the cook.
The cook kills the sailor to use him as bait. In a later struggle, Pi's mother
pushes him to safety on a smaller raft, and the cook stabs her as she falls
overboard. Later, Pi returns, takes the knife and kills the cook.
In the
present day, the novelist notes the parallels between the two stories: the
orangutan was Pi's mother, the zebra was the sailor, the hyena was the cook,
and Richard Parker, the tiger, was Pi himself. Pi asks him which story the
writer prefers, and the writer chooses the one with the tiger because it
"is the better story", to which Pi responds, "And so it is with
God". Glancing at a copy of the insurance report, the writer sees the
agents wrote that Pi somehow survived days at sea with a tiger: the insurance
agents had also chosen the more fantastic story.
Questions:
1. What does the title mean in relation to the film as a whole?
- The movie talks about the a young boy growing up in India, young Piscine
"Pi" Patel is a thoughtful boy who finds himself curious about God in
all of his many forms. The strong, if unusual, hybrid faith that he develops
serves teenage Pi. Well he loses his whole family when their ship sinks during
a terrible storm and he finds himself adrift on a lifeboat with zoo animals.
Eventually just Pi and Richard Parker remain, and together they must figure out
how to stay alive on the open ocean.
2. Among the characters, to whom can you relate to?
I can relate
myself to Pi’s characteristic, because when problem occurs i face them with the
positive outlook and perseverance. Although when all hopes fail trust in HIM
and never surrender. I will always think that problem has a solution
and it will give us the courage to stand up again. Even when all solution, routes
and other ways fails, Trust and always have faith in HIM, HE’s always there
watching guiding us in our darkest moments. (Allahu Akbar) God is the greatest
3. Which part of the movie struck you most? Why?
- The part of the movie that struck me the most is when Pi want to give his life to God not knowing that the tiger wants to survive. Then he realize that how life is precious and strives to live overcoming the odds.
4. What is the movies message?
- The message of the movie is never give up! keep pushing through the odds that has given to you, face reality and move on with your life. When we face problems and we fall just stand up, by doing so we experiences life and we grow up and we learn our mistakes. "When life give you down put it in GOD MODE and kick some ass"
5. Did I like this in general?
- Yes, because he believes in him self and with his few tricks on his sleeves he manage to survive the harsh mother nature. I like the movie because even facing death doors the movies make Laugh.
6. Did I agree with the main theme/purpose? Why or why not?
-
Yes, because it made me realize that every life is precious and no matter what the odds keep your heads up and have faith in HIM. Make your time preciousness you don't know that life is short... so don't think for tomorrow, worry now on what to do so you can live your live's to the fullest.
7. What specifically did I like or dislike?
- I dislike the ending, because even though the tiger is an animal, that "THING" didn't look back to his savior even lion knows their master... sa video na ito!! JUKES
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZIQUb-d4GQ
8. Are there any aspects of the theme which are left ambiguous at the end? Why?
- Yes, because even though the tiger is an animal, that "THING" didn't look back to his savior even lion knows their master... sa video na ito!! JUKES
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZIQUb-d4GQ
9. How does the film relate to the things that are happening in your life?
- Yes, The movie relate my every day life when you facing obstacle even its small and when you make mistakes... so i take this movie in to my heart.
