Life of Pi is Everyone’s Life

                            When everything seems to fall apart, I blame no one but myself. Whenever I am in the midst of hurdles, I just cry as if it will fix the whole mess. When I cannot cope up with the speed of harshness life has been giving me, I just shut the world down drowning myself into such misery. Now, that I am currently hurdling such complexity of life I just want to stop living for a moment. Until I watched this very moving film entitled Life of Pi.

According to Wikipedia.com, Life of Pi is a 2012 3D adventure drama film based on Yann Martel's 2001 novel of the same name. Directed by Ang Lee, the film is based on an adapted screenplay by David Magee. The storyline revolves around a 16-year old boy named Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel, who survives a shipwreck in which his family dies, and is stranded in the Pacific Ocean on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. 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.

            The film aims to promote belief in an omnipotent and ever powerful God. With the aid of three religions in the film which are the Roman Catholicism, Islam and Hinduism, it had been shown that the mentioned religion do believe in one the same God. Specifically, the film showed how the power of God works over us human beings and other creatures. Hence, this film is but one of the best Bollywood films I have ever encountered.

            The story started with an American interviewing this Indian about the story of his life. This Indian Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel portrayed by Gautam Belur at age 6, Ayush Tandon at age 13, Suraj Sharma at age 16 and Irrfan Khan as  adult Pi was a unique man who happened to practice three religions at the same time since his childhood. The American writer acted by Rafe Spall was finding a subject to be featured in his book. He had met Mamaji who happened to be the godfather of Pi who told the writer that Pi is the best person to be introduced in his next book. And so, the American came knocking at Pi’s door one day. And the story of the life of Pi started.

            From his success in eradicating bullies out of his life and fighting for his belief in God against his atheist family during his childhood to his unimaginable experience with the animals for survival after a shipwreck which killed all of the human passengers in the vessel they rode into including his family made the storyline so interesting, exciting and moving. The storyline itself especially the part where Pi has experienced struggle yet he had not let his faith be ruled over by fear and hopelessness played a big role in making the film a noble one.

            Implications in films are very amusing. They tend to make the audience think deeper of whatever has been shown where they can reflect and relate themselves into. Using animals to be with Pi during his survival in a shipwreck was unique. It depicted how animals do have souls and should be respected. It was amazing how the whole production made these animals act like they are professional actors on films too. Storms and other horrible things that happened in the Pacific Ocean where Pi stayed for 227 days with a Bengal tiger was beyond interesting. It implied problems, challenges, obstacles in life where one needs to overcome. As an audience, the optimism and faith of Pi during these times with only a tiger and his belief in God made me motivated and stronger. The American started the whole storyline of the film, the person who claimed that he doesn’t believe in God and would like to be persuaded that God exists by the story of Pi. For me, it suggested that whites don’t have that much faith in God compare to the Easterners. And yes, it made me proud that I am a Filipino who lives in a country who has loads of faith incomparable to other nations. Last but definitely not the least, the use of religions in the film made it noteworthy. In the film, Pi believed and practiced the three religions – Roman Catholicism, Islam and Hinduism--- at the same time. It was never portrayed clearly how he does it however, it still made a sense by telling its audience that religion is not what it is, and it’s the faith that signifies.

            With its unique storyline, outstanding human and animal actors and vivid and ingenious cinematography made the whole production of Life of Pi a success. Furthermore, the remarkable lesson that the film wants to tell the audience was achieved due to the effectivity of every aspect in filmmaking. Everything in the film is so simple yet so deep and which put it to the must-watch list. Indeed, the hardships of every people involved in making such a masterpiece have been paid off. I congratulate the whole production staff for a job well done.

            God has always been with us even if He seems distant. He has always been by our side even if we don’t give time to Him. He has watched us since we were born even if we don’t know about it. He has loved us even if we don’t believe in Him. He has always been patient with us. He may have given us many storms yet He has never left us alone. And He’s just there, waiting to open our hearts to Him, seeing us grow and learn in every hurdle He gives us. Yes, indeed, Life of Pi has shown effectively that God doesn't give anyone problems which he cannot handle --- hence, it’s all about that big faith.