Life of Pi is a 2012 adventure-drama film directed and produced by Ang Lee and written by David Magee. Based on Yann Martel's 2001 novel of the same name, it stars Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Rafe Spall, Tabu and Adil Hussain in lead roles. The storyline revolves around two survivors of a shipwreck. One is a sixteen-year-old Indian boy named Pi Patel (Suraj Sharma) and the other is a ferocious Bengal tiger named Richard Parker that are on a lifeboat stranded in the Pacific Ocean for 227 days.
The film began development shortly after the release of the book and would see directors M. Night Shyamalan, Alfonso Cuarón and Jean-Pierre Jeunet involved at various stages before the hiring of Lee. Filming was split between India, Taiwan and Montreal in 2011, with Rhythm & Hues Studios (R&H) handling the visual effects work. The film had its worldwide premiere as the opening film of the 50th New York Film Festival at both the Walter Reade Theater and Alice Tully Hall in New York City on September 28, 2012. (Wikipedia)
Film screening of Life of pi
– (Some notes)
Pre-viewing task:
- Go
through the text
- Get some
knowledge about Robinson Crusoe and Gulliver’s Travels
- Metafiction
- (a Self-consciousness literary style in which the narrator or characters
are aware that they are part of a work of fiction)
While viewing task:
- Observe
the beginning scene
- Naming
of Pi and Tiger (Swimming pool, Pi, hunter, ‘Thirsty’)
- Thirsty
Pi (Curiosity regarding religion and spirituality)
- Discussion
on ‘hidden lotus’
- Ocean as
symbol (archetype – balance of life – regeneration)
- Scenes
of Pi and Richard Parker (the struggle)
- An
island (shape of a human – Day and night)
- The
goodbye scene (giving up an addiction)
- Story
within a story (Pi explains the journey to others)
Post-viewing task:
- Share your views (movie review)
- Which version of the story is more appealing?
- What is the significance of ‘Tiger’?
- What is the significance of ‘Island’?
- What is the difference between spirituality
and religion and what is the significance of doubt in it?
