Life of Pi (2012)

A young man who survives a disaster at sea is hurtled into an epic journey of adventure and discovery. While cast away, he forms an unexpected connection with another survivor: a fearsome Bengal tiger.

Director:

Ang Lee

Writers:

Yann Martel (novel), David Magee (screenplay)

Stars:

Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Adil Hussain

Top 250 #198 | Won 4 Oscars. Another 44 wins & 72 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Suraj Sharma	...	Pi Patel
Irrfan Khan	...	Adult Pi Patel
Ayush Tandon	...	Pi Patel (11 / 12 Years)
Gautam Belur	...	Pi Patel (5 Years)
Adil Hussain	...	Santosh Patel
Tabu	...	Gita Patel
Ayaan Khan	...	Ravi Patel (7 Years)
Mohd. Abbas Khaleeli	...	Ravi Patel (13 / 14 Years)
Vibish Sivakumar	...	Ravi Patel (18 / 19 Years)
Rafe Spall	...	Writer
Gérard Depardieu	...	Cook
James Saito	...	Older Insurance Investigator
Jun Naito	...	Younger Insurance Investigator
Andrea Di Stefano	...	Priest
Shravanthi Sainath	...	Anandi

Storyline

In Canada, a writer visits the Indian storyteller Pi Patel and asks him to tell his life story. Pi tells the story of his childhood in Pondicherry, India, and the origin of his nickname. One day, his father, a zoo owner, explains that the municipality is no longer supporting the zoo and he has hence decided to move to Canada, where the animals the family owns would also be sold. They board on a Japanese cargo ship with the animals and out of the blue, there is a storm, followed by a shipwrecking. Pi survives in a lifeboat with a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena and a male Bengal tiger nicknamed Richard Parker. They are adrift in the Pacific Ocean, with aggressive hyena and Rickard Parker getting hungry. Pi needs to find a way to survive.

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Plot Keywords:

tiger | zebra | survival | lifeboat | orangutan | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for emotional thematic content throughout, and some scary action sequences and peril

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA Taiwan

Language:

English Tamil French Japanese Hindi

Release Date:

21 November 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

Una aventura extraordinaria

Filming Locations:

India

Box Office

Budget:

$120,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$22,451,514 (USA) (21 November 2012)

Gross:

$124,863,505 (USA) (17 May 2013)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fox 2000 Pictures, Dune Entertainment, Ingenious Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

127 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Piscine Molitor Patel (Pi) was named after a swimming pool (Piscine Molitor) in France. It is next to the park Bois de Boulogne, and between Stade Roland Garros and Parc des Princes. The pool was classified as a French monument historique on March 27, 1990, after having fallen into disuse and closing in 1989.

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Goofs

When Pi is telling the story, the camera is reflected in his eyes.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Writer: So, you were raised in a zoo?
Adult Pi Patel: Born and raised. In Pondicherry, in what was the French part of India. My father owned the zoo, and I was delivered on short notice by a herpetologist, who was there to check on the Bengal monitor lizard. Mother and I were both healthy, but the poor lizard escaped and was trampled by a frightened cassowary. The way of karma, huh? The way of God.

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Crazy Credits

The end credits are also in 3D

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Connections

Referenced in Mad: James Bond: Reply All/Randy Savage: 9th Grade Wrestler (2013)

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Soundtracks

"Tiruppukal"
Written by Arunagirinathar

User Reviews

Wow...

Saw this the other night at the NYFF. Wow. It's an incredible film, a true cinematic achievement, possibly a classic and maybe will be the first 3D movie to break through and win the Best Picture Oscar. Some of the images were so beautiful that the audience gasped at many of them. I felt transported and like I was seeing a movie for the very first time. I haven't felt that sort of magic in a movie theater in a long, long time.

I read the book and liked it and the film may even improve upon it which is kind of a miracle considering it's kids, animals and water just about all the time. The spiritual themes are simple and deep and raise more questions about faith and belief than answer anything. No preaching going on here and there could be. Without giving anything away, it's a wonderful story about storytelling and how telling our stories can get us through the most horrible life experiences and to help deal with the aftermath of them.

It's an incredible film experience. Go see it!