Life of Pi was fucking amazing!

[BigG]

Best movie Ive seen in a long time! Seriously recommend it...maybe the only movie in recent years Id give "classic" status

[salvador]

Really? I think I'm the only person I know who couldn't get through the book.

[Spyder]

The imagery looks amazing, but I take it the story line is compelling as well?

[BGv4.0]

The other 4 people that saw it said the same thing!

[lloyd mayflower]

Im a realist. Havent seen it but i wont since i cant accept anything other than that tiger swallowing that little chap whole

[BigG]

The scenery/graphics are amazing and brilliant to watch. It's got a good little story it but I wont spoil but its something great to watch with your fam/friends/girl/wife/kids for sure.

[Warlord]

Agreed. I read the book in 2005 when I first went to China. I think the film is actually superior to the book. Did you catch the allegory the film was making?

[Warlord]

Guess I'll go into some of those allegories since there's been such an overwhelming demand for me to do so.

Spoilers below.





































































The beginning of the film introduces us to the Zoo that Pi and his family own. The zoo as it is shown is a clear metaphor for Paradise (Eden), and I think most people with firing neurons in their brain caught this. The zoo is tropical, bright, and sunny, and all the animals are shown living in harmony with one another.

When we are introduced to the snake, however, it is not with sunshine. We are met by a dark, cold, grey, rainy scene where he slithers down the tree. This stands in stark contrast with the rest of the imagery within the film. Ang Lee clearly has a symbolic message here, of a snake in introducing darkness into paradise.

The film's two primary protagonists are a boy named Pi, and a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. In the film, Pi is the metaphor for God, while Richard Parker is the metaphor for Man. (More on that later.)

Our first image of Richard Parker is through bars. We aren't presented with this image anywhere else in the zoo. Why is Richard Parker shown behind bars? Because inside Richard Parker there lurks a darkness and a danger which is not manifested so long as he resides in the zoo (paradise). It is only outside the zoo (outside paradise) that his (Man's) true nature is revealed.

This is the elementary symbolism we are given to begin the film, but it runs rampant throughout.


Pi, again, is symbolic of God. Pi is an infinite mathematical constant that cannot be explained or expressed accurately. This is also a rather succinct explanation of God Himself.

Throughout the course of the film, Pi can be seen practicing many different religions (Hinduism, Christianity, Islam). His family laughs at him, but the symbolism is that God, like Pi, is present in all of these religions. But more on that later. Now let's get back to Richard Parker.

In Muslim tradition (not the Qur'an), there is a great story about how Lucifer fell from grace. The story goes that Lucifer loved God so much, that he could not bend his knee to man, even though God had requested it. Lucifer felt that only God was worthy of such prostration. So Lucifer sought to disgrace Man by tempting him with the forbidden fruit, to prove to God that Man himself was inferior. (He is made of dust, I am made of fire.)

Pi's father performs a similar action in the film. Pi believes that Richard Parker has a soul, but his father attempts to prove him wrong by presenting Richard Parker with a baby goat. Richard Parker of course kills the goat suddenly and violently, taking it into his den where he presumably consumed it.

Pi's father symbolizes Lucifer in this way, a caring, loyal figure who disgraces Man (Richard Parker) in an effort to show God (Pi) of Man's true inner nature. However, like God, Pi still believes there is something more to Richard Parker (Man) than meets the eye. He believes, somewhere deep inside the tiger (Man) there must be something else.

Once Pi, Richard Parker, and the other animals are all trapped on the boat (a journey through life) Richard Parker displays the full extent of his destructive nature. He destroys all the other animals on the boat, in much the same way we as humans wantonly destroy our fellow creatures, both human and animal alike.

Richard Parker, in his ignorance, cannot perceive Pi's greatness, nor his compassion. Pi tries to feed Richard Parker, to take care of him, to keep him safe, but Richard Parker simply doesn't understand. In one scene Richard Parker nearly drowns after jumping off the boat to catch fish. Pi is faced with a dilemma. Does he allow this destructive beast to die? It would be the easiest thing to do. But no, he doesn't. Pi still believes there is something more to Richard Parker, and so he saves him. The way most religious people believe God has saved humanity.

The journey itself is a fascinating one. The ocean is clearly symbolic of space and the cosmos, as the water reflects those things from above. The stars are passing below, there are countless amazing creatures at every turn, and of course Richard Parker himself (Man) takes no notice of it. It is a very linear journey for him, he neither perceives nor conceives of his amazing surroundings. The one or two times that he does become even slightly aware, he attacks and/or kills it. (The fish, for example.) He supposes them to only serve some material purpose, he does not understand the intrinsic value within or without.

There is lots more stuff I could talk about, but I'm really tired of typing now. I'll finish with the story that Pi tells his rescuers. When he tells them what happened, they don't/can't believe him, and they ask him for a different story, one that they can believe. And so he gives it to them.

As Pi says, the facts are the same in both stories. A ship wrecked, his family died, he suffered, he was found off the coast of Mexico. It was up to everyone else to decide which story they liked best.

This is religion. They're all stories attempting to explain the same thing: The life of God. The Life of Pi.

[BGv4.0]

And I just thought it was about an Indian kid screwing a tiger.

[Spyder]

BGv4.0 Wrote:And I just thought it was about an Indian kid screwing a tiger.

So they do have sex?

Cool, I'll check it out.