[Movie] Life of Pi

Discussion in 'Off Topic Area' started by Falcord, Dec 23, 2012.

  1. Falcord

    Falcord Valued Member

    I just had the pleasure to watch this on 3D.

    Wow... Even if you don't care for the message, the visuals are just stunning. Haven't seen anything this beautiful since Avatar.

    Also, it's one of these plots that you kind of have to assimilate with time. It will take a while to deduce what it means to me. I like that.

    I really recommend checking it out, and please, please, do it in 3D.
     
  2. inthespirit

    inthespirit ignant

    Yeah, saw it a little while ago. Very well made and beautiful to watch. Very close to the book, can only recall one minor scene missing.
     
  3. slipthejab

    slipthejab Hark, a vagrant! Supporter

    hmmmm

    My impressions...

    I saw this a few weeks back. While the visuals were pretty damn impressive when there was 3D and CG... which to be fair was 90% of the film... the rest of the shots were as flat and about as boring as possible. Ugh. Cinematic fail. Especially when the swimming pool scene that it opens with is so stunning and well thought out. Very annoying.

    I haven't read the book. I'd been meaning to getting around to reading its since it won the Man-Booker prize a few years back. I'm hoping the story in the book is rendered a bit deeper - the film felt like it was entirely rushed. The whole island that was slowly dissolving him or trying to as well as the others who'd come before him... was not very well introduced or explained. I kept waiting for some central thread to tie it all together but it sort of never really materialized... which left me hoping the book was better and that it was usual ball dropping that happens with book-to-film translations. However everyone has said its fairly accurate to the book.

    Not to disparage the entire film... for me the one moment of brilliance was when the Zebra crashed into the boat... it's hurt or lame... quickly succumbing to exposure... and then a hyena comes out from the tarp and starts ripping into it... biting chunks out of its belly.... and then as if that wasn't enough... the bloody tiger pops out and jumps into the fray... all why the Indian kid is sat their watching in horror... ahahahhahaha.... I sat there laughing so hard at the absurdity of the situation....not so sure anyone else in the theatre did. I thought that was insanely funny in an postmoder self-referential (cringe) sort of way.

    Though I ended up annoyed when that whole bit as to who in the boys family was represented by which animal and the cook and all.... just not very well crafted in my opinion from a storytelling point of view. Maybe the book is better but this was alluded to such a hamfisted style in the movie that I thought surely they've screwed up what must be something sublime in the book....

    Now I really have to read the book. :eek:


    It might be a movie worth going back and watching several times. Seeing as how certain things annoyed me so much. Often great films do that. Crap films do it to from time to time.. but hmmmmmm
     
    Last edited: Dec 24, 2012
  4. Chimpcheng

    Chimpcheng Yup... Giant cow head... Supporter

    I caught this last night and visually it was stunning in parts. It was the best use of 3D since "Avatar" and the CGI was tremendous. However, the film was a bit on the dull side...

    That's not to say there weren't some stunning scenes in there, there were, there just wasn't enough to sustain its two hour running time and often the story strayed dangerously close to boring.

    Still, give it a shot, you might enjoy it.
     

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