Life of Pi (2012) is an Academy award-winning film directed by Ang Lee and was based on Yann Martel’s fantasy adventure novel which was published in 2001. This movie depicts the story of a boy from Pondicherry, India who makes his journey across the Pacific Ocean on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger, but explores the realms of spirituality and pragmatism at the same time. This film will leave its viewers questioning reality and what truth really is.

The movie begins with Piscine Patel, or Pi Patel as he named himself, as an adult who tells the story of his journey to Canada, a journey that would make anyone “believe in God.” Back in India, Piscine Patel, or Pi Patel as he named himself, was the son of zookeeper Santosh Patel and Gita Patel, both very traditional Indian parents who had opposing views of religion since his father believed in rationalization and logic more than a God. But Pi encounters and embraces many different religions at a very young age, when his curiosity and practical thinking sparked his interest in Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam. As a young adult, he is forced to move with his family away from India, taking along all the animals from his father’s zoo on their ship.

Suraj Sharma does an excellent job as Pi in his adolescence during his journey. His curiosity and innocence throughout the movie enhances the fantasy and adds a little more humor to the fact that he is traveling on a lifeboat with a tiger named Richard Parker. But this innocence and yearning for knowledge adds to the spiritual awakening that Pi has throughout his journey, alluring viewers to adopt the same pragmatic approach while watching the rest of the movie. Richard Parker also plays an essential role in the movie. The fact that he’s a tiger has a comedic effect, but also keeps viewers on their toes as they watch to see how long Pi could possibly survive the journey. This element also contributes to the fantasy behind the reality that is depicted by Yann Martel in his book, and serves as an aspect of the movie that viewers must interpret themselves to understand the significance of the fantasy and questioning what is actually true in the movie.

The movie’s plot has many instances of suspense and unrealistic occurrences that have readers doubting what kind of reality Pi was living in. The storyline continues with many mini adventures that Pi must confront as he makes his way across the Pacific Ocean, each one progressively becoming more unrealistic as the plot unravels. But with this, Pi also matures more and has a greater understanding and love for the God that he tried to praise with the three religions he followed since childhood. The sequential order and extent of each situation in the movie make the ending of the movie almost unbelievable.

Ang Lee incorporates a lot of special effects in the production of scenes like the whale scene, the animals on the boat, and the island scene. Much of the movie was shot in India, Taiwan, and Canada. India’s culture and greenery added to the beauty of the movie and enhanced the importance of Pi’s Indian background and journey.  The cruise ship sinking scene also incorporated a lot of effects that left viewers amazed because of not only the quality, but also the intensity of the event in the movie. The visual effects are one aspect of the film that it is noted for, winning it an Academy Award for Visual Effects. These make the film very appealing and enjoyable.

Yann Martel’s message along with Ang Lee’s direction and amazing visual effects make this movie very engaging and captures the viewers attention enough for them to question the truth behind what they are seeing and leaves the message of the movie up to their interpretation in that sense. But Suraj’s portrayal of Pi’s innocence and blunt responses add humor to the movie as well, for example when Pi tries to talk to Richard Parker and train him to remain in his territory. It adds to just how bizarre and unrealistic the situations in his journey are.

Throughout the film, this idea of what is true and choosing to perceive reality through the fantastical perspective of religion and God or to see reality as it is in the practical manner is something that repeats itself in the movie. As the Japanese men in the end of the movie chose between the two stories that Pi presented, the viewers are prompted to choose a perspective as well, therefore questioning their own spirituality. This movie is not only entertaining, but also is an experience and opportunity for self-reflection and questioning what they prefer to believe is the truth and what isn’t.  I would recommend this movie because it opens your perspective on your own reality while leaving some of the movie up to your own interpretation, which gets the viewers very involved.