Life of Pi (2012)

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Tuco

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Izuldan_sl said:
In the book, it's pretty clear that the story with the animals, lemur island, etc. is what really happened.
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Devlin_sl said:
Pi's story with the animals is religion, it is a beautiful story full of wonder, it isn't real.

Pi's real story is sad and terrible, it is real life.
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It's interesting that two people who ostensibly read the book came away with wildly different interpretations. I guess the book/movie is commendable for achieving that.

Having watched the movie and not read the book, I'm with Devlin. The tiger is all bullshit or at best metaphorical and Pi is just choosing to believe in a fantasy to escape truth and uses it as an allegory toward faith.

Honestly if the meerkat island wasn't in the movie I'd be much more likely to side with Izuldan. The island thing really jumped the fantasy shark.
 
ham

ham

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With or without the island thing, the scene where he explains it to the writer makes it pretty clear that the real story is a very tragic one, and so he prefers the animal version, which obviously isn't real.

Friends and family read the book first as well and came to the same 'the animals aren't real' conclusion. Izuld is the only person I know who has read the book or seen the movie who thinks that
 
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Mikey78_sl

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I thought the movie was great (way better than Argo) and I think it is interesting reading these comments.

The reason the movie was cleverly done is because people are disagreeing here.

Viewpoint 1:
This is a story about why people do not believe in religions. It is easier to not have faith in miracles, or gods, or God sending his son down to earth in sacrifice to the greater good. This is why people are skeptical (like the Japanese company men) - if they cannot see and touch something, they will not believe it.


Viewpoint 2:
This is a story about why people believe in religions. Fantastic stories are addictive and people want to believe in more than base human emotion and instinct (like the author and the writer of the report). Religion fills that void for people and that is why religions continue to exist.


I initially read it as number 2 and, as a christian, was a little disappointed at first. After sleeping on it, viewpoint 1 came to me and I gained a lot of respect for the subtlety of the story.
 
Chukzombi

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this is one of those movies that you cant grasp how you truly feel about it until some time after you have seen it. i posted right after watching it and at first i was like its ok. a little slow, but as the weeks go by i now find that its a wonderful film and stirs emotions and even can give you faith in a greater power. i simply loved it. this was best picture as far as i was concerned. argo was a good watch but i dont give a fuck about it 2 days after having seen it.
 
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Mikey78_sl

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Also worth noting that the Pi does believe in God. . .many of them in fact. If he made up the story, one could argue that it would have separated him from his spirituality. Also worth noting that the last sentence could be a load of hooie.
 
Tuco

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What bothers me about the portrayal of Pi and faith is that I don't know of any truly religious people who think that faith and religion is just fantasy. There's a lot of people who just view it as a part of their culture and just go along with it, but saying it's just fantasy and that you believe seems mutually exclusive exclusive.
 
Chukzombi

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Could be he was traumatized by what really happened to his family and purposefully blocked it and decided he wanted to believe his tiger story which is a more pleasant memory. The fact he was religious doesnt mean he was mocking belief. Just that the truth really hurts and he wasnt ready to accept until the japanese questioned his story.
 
Tuco

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Maester Chuk_sl said:
Could be he was traumatized by what really happened to his family and purposefully blocked it and decided he wanted to believe his tiger story which is a more pleasant memory. The fact he was religious doesnt mean he was mocking belief. Just that the truth really hurts and he wasnt ready to accept until the japanese questioned his story.
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Yeah it could be, but the whole premise of "Oh once you hear this story you'll believe in God" drives that willful fantasy isn't just used as an escape but is used as an entire belief system. The joke with the premise is that you're not going to be convinced in God's existence, you're going to be convinced that you should pretend God exists.
 
Aychamo BanBan

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Maester Chuk_sl said:
this is one of those movies that you cant grasp how you truly feel about it until some time after you have seen it. i posted right after watching it and at first i was like its ok. a little slow, but as the weeks go by i now find that its a wonderful film and stirs emotions and even can give you faith in a greater power. i simply loved it. this was best picture as far as i was concerned. argo was a good watch but i dont give a fuck about it 2 days after having seen it.
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I'm sorry, but how can a good story make you believe in a greater power? It's something made up. Why would this made up story make you believe in a god more than, say, The Matrix, or Django Unchained?
 
Chukzombi

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im not religious, but the symbolism is pretty heavily religious. it discusses how believing in something which may or may not be true isnt really a bad thing to believe because it comforts you. i hear people all the time who have lost a loved one say. well they are in a better place now. or well they are looking down on us smiling. i dont roll my eyes and think of them as dumbasses because i know what they are saying is BS. if it comforts them to say their loved one is in a better place im glad.
 
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Devlin

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Maester Chuk_sl said:
im not religious, but the symbolism is pretty heavily religious. it discusses how believing in something which may or may not be true isnt really a bad thing to believe because it comforts you. i hear people all the time who have lost a loved one say. well they are in a better place now. or well they are looking down on us smiling. i dont roll my eyes and think of them as dumbasses because i know what they are saying is BS. if it comforts them to say their loved one is in a better place im glad.
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Yeah that's pretty much the point, religion gets a bad rap because of the people connected with religion.

If high profile religious people weren't such utter cunts then it wouldn't be a problem, the problems begin when people with an agenda use religion to further their agendas, which nowadays is pretty much all the time.
 
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summerdesigner_sl

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Utterly a very beautiful film ever because its based on real story. I love this movie because theme and presenting way was fab. After watched this movie, i believe in god power so much.
 
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Wintermute_sl

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Tuco_sl said:
Yeah it could be, but the whole premise of "Oh once you hear this story you'll believe in God" drives that willful fantasy isn't just used as an escape but is used as an entire belief system. The joke with the premise is that you're not going to be convinced in God's existence, you're going to be convinced that you should pretend God exists.
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I don't think this is the point of the story at all. Open ended stories like this say more about the reader than they do about the books true premise. A skeptic will read the book and think "Obviously the story with people is the true one." A person open to believing things that require a larger leap of faith will believe the tiger story is true. I think the person saying "This book will make you believe in God," is just a reviewer. Really, I think if you read the book closely the author accepts both the skeptic and the religious points of view as valid, especially when the author, speaking through a religious narrative, calls athiest his brothers. It's the agnostic, the person who is unwilling to decide, that is problematic to the narrative. I think the book and the movie are not meant to make us believe any certain way but to make us examine what we believe and why we choose which story is true.
 
Chukzombi

Chukzombi

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in the movie, Pi asks the interviewer if he wants to hear the story that will make him believe in god. my view is that he isnt being literal, rather he was being sarcastic because he wants to tell him an amazing story but also wants to present a riddle with the second one.
 
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