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IMDbPro

Life of Pi

  • 2012
  • PG
  • 2h 7m
IMDb RATING
7.9/10
645K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
1,412
40
Suraj Sharma in 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.
Play trailer2:38
27 Videos
99+ Photos
AdventureDramaFantasy

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 Be... Read allA 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.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
    • David Magee
  • Stars
    • Suraj Sharma
    • Irrfan Khan
    • Adil Hussain
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    7.9/10
    645K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    1,412
    40
    • Director
      • Ang Lee
    • Writers
      • Yann Martel
      • David Magee
    • Stars
      • Suraj Sharma
      • Irrfan Khan
      • Adil Hussain
    • 1KUser reviews
    • 573Critic reviews
    • 79Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Won 4 Oscars
      • 81 wins & 135 nominations total

    Videos27

    Winner: Best Director
    Trailer 2:38
    Watch Winner: Best Director
    International Version
    Trailer 2:30
    Watch International Version
    No. 1
    Trailer 2:17
    Watch No. 1
    "I Would Have Died by Now"
    Clip 0:42
    Watch "I Would Have Died by Now"
    "The Tiger"
    Clip 0:52
    Watch "The Tiger"
    "Flying Fish"
    Clip 1:26
    Watch "Flying Fish"
    Life of Pi: Alone with a Tiger (UK)
    Clip 1:04
    Watch Life of Pi: Alone with a Tiger (UK)
    Life of Pi: I Would Have Died By Now (UK)
    Clip 0:43
    Watch Life of Pi: I Would Have Died By Now (UK)
    Life of Pi: The Tiger (UK)
    Clip 0:53
    Watch Life of Pi: The Tiger (UK)
    Life Of Pi: Flying Fish
    Clip 1:19
    Watch Life Of Pi: Flying Fish
    "Ang Lee's Pedigree"
    Featurette 2:34
    Watch "Ang Lee's Pedigree"
    "Impossible Journey"
    Featurette 2:30
    Watch "Impossible Journey"

    Photos208

    Suraj Sharma in Life of Pi (2012)
    Forrest Harding in Life of Pi (2012)
    Forrest Harding and Suraj Sharma in Life of Pi (2012)
    Suraj Sharma in Life of Pi (2012)
    Forrest Harding in Life of Pi (2012)
    Forrest Harding and Suraj Sharma in Life of Pi (2012)
    Suraj Sharma in Life of Pi (2012)
    Suraj Sharma in Life of Pi (2012)
    Forrest Harding and Suraj Sharma in Life of Pi (2012)
    Ang Lee in Life of Pi (2012)
    Ang Lee, Tabu, and Suraj Sharma at an event for Life of Pi (2012)
    Tom Hiddleston at an event for Life of Pi (2012)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Suraj Sharma
    Suraj Sharma
    • Pi Patel
    Irrfan Khan
    Irrfan Khan
    • Adult Pi Patel
    Adil Hussain
    Adil Hussain
    • Santosh Patel
    Tabu
    Tabu
    • Gita Patel
    Ayush Tandon
    • Pi Patel (11-12 Years)
    Gautam Belur
    • Pi Patel (5 Years)
    Ayaan Khan
    • Ravi Patel (7 Years)
    Mohd. Abbas Khaleeli
    • Ravi Patel (13-14 Years)
    Vibish Sivakumar
    • Ravi Patel (18-19 Years)
    Rafe Spall
    Rafe Spall
    • Writer
    Gérard Depardieu
    Gérard Depardieu
    • Cook
    James Saito
    James Saito
    • Older Insurance Investigator
    Jun Naito
    Jun Naito
    • Younger Insurance Investigator
    Andrea Di Stefano
    Andrea Di Stefano
    • Priest
    Shravanthi Sainath
    Shravanthi Sainath
    • Anandi
    Elie Alouf
    • Mamaji
    Padmini Ramachandran
    • Dance Master
    T.M. Karthik Srinivasan
    • Science Teacher
    • (as T.M. Karthik)
    • Director
      • Ang Lee
    • Writers
      • Yann Martel
      • David Magee
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Ang Lee hired Steven Callahan as a "nautical consultant." In 1982, Callahan survived 76 days adrift on a rubber lifeboat in the Atlantic after his sailboat sank.
    • Goofs
      In the flying fish scene Pi fights Richard Parker with a boat hook. In one shot, the boat hook has a splintered end but then is completely restored.
    • Quotes

      Adult Pi Patel: I suppose in the end, the whole of life becomes an act of letting go, but what always hurts the most is not taking a moment to say goodbye.

    • Crazy credits
      The making and legal distribution of this film supported over 14,000 jobs and involved over 600,000 work hours.
    • Connections
      Featured in Maltin on Movies: Life of Pi (2012)
    • Soundtracks
      Pi's Lullaby
      Music by Mychael Danna

      Lyrics by Bombay Jayashri

      Performed by Bombay Jayashri

      Produced by Mychael Danna

    User reviews1K

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    9/10
    Powerful storytelling and splendid performances presented in a brilliant 3D
    With his latest movie, "Life of Pi", Ang Lee further establishes himself as one of the greatest contemporary movie directors. Starting from his Taiwanese beginnings, and his highly enjoyable, family-harmonizing "Father Knows Best" trilogy (1992-1994), through his Academy Award winning works on gracefully choreographed, highly spiritualized Far East martial arts tour de force "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (2000, best foreign-language film) and on an uncommon yet nostalgic portrayal of the Old West in "Brokeback Mountain" (2005, best director), to his other titles like "Sense and Sensibility" (1995), "The Ice Storm" (1997), and "Lust, Caution" (2007), quality and Kubrick-like versatility shown in his movies offer continuous attraction for wide audience of his admirers.

    Lee's latest and, so far, easily, greatest movie, "Life of Pi" is based on a screenplay adapted from the acclaimed fictional adventure novel written by Canadian author Yann Martel.

    Throughout his childhood, due to matching pronunciation of French word "piscine" (pool, swimming pool) and English word "pissing", Piscine Molitor Patel, named that way after later abandoned Parisian swimming pool, so predictably suffers from being nicknamed "Pissing Patel". In order to avoid it, once in high school he finally shortens his name to Pi Patel... Nowadays middle-aged Pi tells the story of his life to a visiting writer, apparently a book author Yan Martel's alter ego, who is seeking for the literal inspiration. Retrospectively, Pi divides his childhood and adolescence into three segments. In the first segment he gives shorter account of his life until the age of 16, describing his interaction with his family and schoolmates, in particular his relationship with his father and a girlfriend, concentrating on his exploits of God and spirituality, meandering between multitude of religious practices… while in the last one he briefs about his testimonial given to officials from the Japanese Ministry of Transport, investigating the reasons why the ship his family was relocating on from India to Canada sank. Most detailed, and therefore the longest, is recollection of his 227 days in a lifeboat, an extraordinary ordeal he went through after the ship has capsized and everybody else, crew and passengers, died…

    …Well, everybody human, but not everybody living. Namely, a number of terrestrial animals from their discontinued family zoo, offered for sale and brought along with other family belongings, have survived, too. But, not for long, because, while confined in the most limited space as they were, surrounded by vastness of the ocean, the law of the "survival of the fittest" prevails, takes its tall, and pretty soon Pi finds himself in a company of a single one topping the food-chain, a Bengal tiger curiously named Richard Parker.

    Not to reveal the story further, it is with greatest pleasure to inform that cinematic excellence has been achieved in several categories: in an engaging tale—whether allegory or depiction of realistic, believable events, filled with protagonist's rarely matched curiosity, imagination and his often reasonably unanswered doubts, encouraging the same in viewers—of an uncommon character, indeed, brought to on-screen life by outstanding performances from two contributing leads, remarkably presented via ubiquitous, yet inconspicuous animation, exceptional, CGI aided visuals and superb usage of 3D photography, all along complemented with an uplifting score. All these assets work seamlessly together in unfolding an intense relationship between Pi and Richard Parker, complex yet basic, difficult yet simple, initially charged with Pi's dreadful fear, swiftly shifting to respectful care, instantly boosting his never overbearing confidence and relentlessly improving his survival skills. Wholesome artistic experience reaches and maintains its pinnacle particularly in clever tactics and constructive survival techniques 16-year old Pi uses—amply benefiting from his instructive lifestyle of a zoo owner's attentive son, certainly well acquainted with animal psychology—to suppress the fear and convincingly impose himself as an equal to the one of the most elaborate "killing machines" among mammals, desperately striving for his own survival, nevertheless, generously, for survival of his seemingly sufficiently tamed companion, but still, initially and ultimately, magnificent adversary, Richard Parker, as well.

    "Life of Pi" is, certainly, one of the most impressive movies of 2012, year that has just come to a close.
    helpful•227
    56
    • Davor_Blazevic_1959
    • Jan 3, 2013

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    FAQ9

    • Is this a "preachy" movie?
    • What is the true meaning of Richard Parker?
    • Did "God" sank the boat because Pi was tempting him?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • November 21, 2012 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • United States
      • Taiwan
      • United Kingdom
      • Canada
      • India
      • France
    • Official sites
      • Official Facebook
      • Official site
    • Languages
      • English
      • Hindi
      • Japanese
      • French
    • Also known as
      • Cuộc Đời Của Pi
    • Filming locations
      • Grafton, Auckland, New Zealand(Train Station)
    • Production companies
      • Fox 2000 Pictures
      • Dune Entertainment
      • Ingenious Media
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $120,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $124,987,023
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $22,451,514
      • Nov 25, 2012
    • Gross worldwide
      • $609,016,565
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 7 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby
      • Datasat
      • SDDS
      • Dolby Atmos
      • Dolby Surround 7.1
      • Sonics-DDP
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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