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

Won 4 Oscars. Another 79 wins & 129 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 Richard Parker getting hungry. Pi needs to find a way to survive.

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Plot Keywords:

tiger | india | journey | faith | pi | 

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Taglines:

Don't lose hope.

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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 UK Canada

Language:

English Tamil French Japanese Hindi Chinese

Release Date:

21 November 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

Una aventura extraordinaria

Filming Locations:

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$120,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$22,451,514, 23 November 2012, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$124,987,023, 25 July 2013

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$609,016,565, 25 July 2013

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fox 2000 Pictures,Dune Entertainment,Ingenious Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

127 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Datasat SDDS Dolby Atmos Dolby Surround 7.1 Sonics-DDP

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Tobey Maguire was originally cast as the Writer. Ang Lee thought Maguire was too famous for such a small role, and would have been distracting.

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Goofs

When Adult 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 On Cinema: 'Red Dawn' and 'Life of Pi' (2012)

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Soundtracks

Pi's Lullaby
Written by Mychael Danna and Bombay Jayashri
Performed by Bombay Jayashri
Produced by Mychael Danna

User Reviews

Very impressed

I was lucky enough to see Pi in full 3D Imax at a pre-viewing in San Diego last night, and as a huge fan of the book, I was intensely satisfied.

Believe it or not, I was more impressed with the the casting choices and performances of the players than by the effects. Granted, the movie was very beautiful, but in the end, Life Of Pi was more character driven than anything. Suraj Sharma as the young Pi was charming, funny, and incredibly engaging, while Irrfan Khan as the older Pi was fantastically genuine and warm. Adil Hussain as Pi's father was also a joy to watch. The characters are so rich and full of life that you really can't help but fall in love with them. I would also like to add, as someone who spends time with tigers on a daily basis, the animators did a wonderful and accurate job of bringing Richard Parker to life and making him the active and vital character that is so incredibly essential to the success of this story.

I would recommend seeing Pi in 3D, but I don't think that's it's essential to your viewing enjoyment. The 3D just takes a beautiful film and makes it a little bit nicer. Also, if you've read the book and are concerned that the story you loved may have been compromised in anyway, worry no longer. This is easily, one of the best book to film adaptations I have ever seen.

Happy viewing folks. I hope you enjoy this film as much as I did. I'll be seeing it again in theaters very soon.