While travelling from India to Canada on a Japanese cargo
ship, which is transporting animals from a zoo in Pondicherry and the Patel
family who own them, there is a violent storm and the ship sinks. Fortunately, Pi (Suraj Sharma) is thrown
into a lifeboat and is saved. Unfortunately, there’s a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan
and a Bengal tiger on board with him. The numbers soon dwindled and Pi is left
alone in the middle of the Pacific Ocean just trying to survive and to
stay out of the way of the tiger.
So, I’m going to be really annoying and just say it: I
prefer the book. I know it’s not really fair to compare books and films because
they tell stories in different ways and with different degrees of interaction
from the reader/viewer, but still. It could just be that I’ve read the book
quite a lot and I really do love it, and so I’m finding it hard to separate my
love for everything that happens in the book to what actually happens in the
film. I’m not saying it strayed massively away from the book (there are only a
couple of things I can think of that are missing or different) but it was a
completely different experience. The book draws you into the panic and the
devastation and the endless nothingness that Pi goes through during his time at
sea, and so when he has brief moments of relief or happiness you really do feel
it with him. This was definitely lacking in the film, I felt no real connection
with Pi. That’s not a slight against Suraj Sharma, he was very good
and I hope he’ll be in more things. There was just something missing for me.
The shots were beautiful and Suraj Sharma did a great job of
keeping me interested in his character. It was a good film. All I’ll say is,
read the book.
"Yeah, sloths are scary looking.
ReplyDeleteWhy are you doing an impression? Seems offensive.
"Religion is darkness."
So many people would've dipped their hands in that water, don't be drinking it. Ugh.
I forgot how much I loved the religious parts of the book.
Oh, so you're attractive.
Woah, must be terrifying being in a huge storm.
Bloody hyena. Not a fan.
YAY. I love that they kept that in, the orangutan on the bananas.
Absolutely love that he saves Richard Parker even though it would've made it so much easier for him to have let him die.
Jesus, that's a whale and a half.
Aw yes, forgot about the flying fish. Huh, it's not that exciting in the film.
I've forgotten at what point he goes blind.
Uh oh, not the island.
That's just too many meerkats, really. I'm uncomfortable with the large number.
The whole island thing is much more frightening in the book.
What happened to the blindness?
A story you can all believe, pfft, who'd want that?"