No thread on this?

I liked it. Good story, good drama with some fantasy elements.

11/26/2012 12:27:08 AM

Went ot go see lincoln on friday but it was sold out so I saw this instead. VERY VERY surprised at how much I liked it

11/26/2012 12:48:27 AM

Ha we went to see Skyfall and it was sold out, so we ended up watching Lincoln instead.

11/26/2012 9:58:55 AM

lol I went to see Life of Pi but it was sold out so I saw Skyfall instead

11/26/2012 10:06:16 AM

lol i went to see skyfall but it was sold out so i saw hung shemales 8

I'm Krallum and I approved this message.

11/26/2012 10:07:32 AM

never been more pissed off at a story's ending in literature or film than i was over life of pi. i won't be going to see this.

11/26/2012 10:59:06 AM

i went to see hung shemales 8 & it wasn't sold out, so i saw it

11/26/2012 12:36:37 PM

^^really? i take it you read the book and it pissed you off? I left not knowing how I felt about it but the more I thought about it the more I liked it

11/26/2012 3:15:37 PM

I'm not sure why anyone would be pissed off at the ending...

There's plenty of foreshadowing IMO.

11/26/2012 3:43:01 PM

i didn't know how i felt after i finished it, but the more i thought about it the more frustrated i became because it seemed like a complete waste of time. i knew it was supposed to have religious/spiritual themes, which is fine even though i'm not religious, but yann martel's point came across as incredibly lazy to me. it was pretty apparent that the events that you read/watch for 90% of the story did not actually happen when pi recounts the two versions of it to the japanese men. i don't remember there being much dialogue about god when pi was stuck on the raft (i could be wrong about this), but then he comes out of nowhere at the end and basically says that even though the story with the tiger sounds ridiculous, it's the better story of the two, so even though the concept of god sounds ridiculous, it's the better story than there being no god. so basically he's saying to believe in something that you know is not real just because it's more heartwarming than not believing in it at all and makes you feel better about yourself, or something. yann martel said the life of pi is supposed to get you to believe in god, which obviously isn't likely to happen just by reading a work of fiction, but the way he tries to communicate that message is done pretty poorly. i feel like i understood what the guy was trying to say, but i just can't believe it's been met with such widespread acclaim.

and on top of that, he admitted he ripped off the concept of the story from a brazilian author who wrote a fictional story of a jewish boy who is stuck on a raft with a panther after a boat sank that was carrying his family's zoo animals to the US. so yeah. dude stole someone else's idea and used it for his own stupid book.

11/26/2012 4:09:08 PM

*spolier maybe*






okay, so just clarifying that you've read teh book and not seen the movie, cool

for me, as someone who had no IDEA what the movie was about other than something about a dude and a tiger and a boat that I had seen in one preview I was left with a lot of questions. I felt by the time you got to the island it was not a real story but I wasnt sure what it was. I was actually RELIEVED by the island and the realization because leading up to that point I had been walking a very tight line of suspended disbelief. Thinking "okay I'll believe the monkey somehow survived the crash and has been floating around on bananas, but I dont know how much more I can believe." It was a good story and I didn't want it to get totally implausible but when we hit the island, I was relieved knowing that what we were in wasnt reality. I didnt know what it was but it wasnt reality. I had no idea of the whole "this story will make you believe in god thing" and feel you're better served not hearing that before you read/see it as thats a pretty ridiculous claim in any circumstance. I will say that I havent read a fiction book in years and after watching this and wanting more clarification I'm planning on reading the book. I had a hard time discerning what Pi said at the very end due to his accent







*spoiler maybe*

11/26/2012 4:19:51 PM

Quote :

"as someone who had no IDEA what the movie was about other than something about a dude and a tiger and a boat that I had seen in one preview"

i was basically in the same position as you. i thought it sounded like an interesting concept and only heard that it did have some religious/spiritual stuff associated, but obviously that wasn't a turn-off

Quote :

"I felt by the time you got to the island it was not a real story but I wasnt sure what it was"

yeah, i started wondering what was going on there too since it wasn't terribly absurd before that. i mean, obviously a kid on a life raft with a tiger is a recipe for disaster, but that whole concept requires some suspension of disbelief from the beginning.

Quote :

"I had no idea of the whole "this story will make you believe in god thing" and feel you're better served not hearing that before you read/see it as thats a pretty ridiculous claim in any circumstance"

i didn't read that until after i had finished the book and started looking for other people's opinions on the point of the story, none of which did anything to make martel's message any more meaningful or refute what i said above. i also spoke with my roommate and neighbor who had read the book, and they both pretty much said, "yeah. we came away with the same impression you did. it's not a good book."

edit: posted before saps' ghost edit

[Edited on November 26, 2012 at 4:32 PM. Reason : .]

11/26/2012 4:31:40 PM

*spoiler!!

Quote :

" I had no idea of the whole "this story will make you believe in god thing" and feel you're better served not hearing that before you read/see it as thats a pretty ridiculous claim in any circumstance."

I too saw the movie knowing nothing about it, and this part too from the movie didn't make sense to me. I wasn't sure what aspect was supposed to make me believe in god? I was thinking that it was the idea that only god could forgive someone for being a cannibal and lying about it, but this was a pretty weak argument. I didn't get that it was trying to make the case that believing in a god was more pleasant than not. I really just dismissed this aspect of the movie, but i still thought it was a good movie.



































* spoiler

11/26/2012 4:31:53 PM

agreed, I understood it was a very spiritual movie within the first 15 minutes but never felt like that was where it was trying to lead me. afterwards my thoughts were more tied into pi/"evil" pi vs. pi/richard parker

seems the movie didnt quite capture what the book was trying to do but stands alone as a great film

11/26/2012 4:37:42 PM

Quote :

"I wasn't sure what aspect was supposed to make me believe in god?"

that's the thing. i wasn't either, but as i remember from reading the book, it basically went down with the japanese guys telling pi his story with richard parker sounded ridiculous, and pi responds by saying that the idea of god is ridiculous too, but that doesn't mean it isn't the better of the two options. it just came out of nowhere. so yeah, the version i spent 250 pages reading with the animals is the better story because it's more entertaining, and you wouldn't have much of a book if things happened the other way. but trying to make some kind of religious point out of that was just really silly and poorly done, i thought. sounds like maybe it wasn't as overt in the movie though.

11/26/2012 4:38:52 PM

to me it seemed like more of pi's coping mechanism with the truth rather than some proof of god

the writer does say "I hear you have a story that will make me believe in god", and their are very overt spiritual overtones throughout the movie, but I didnt go in thinking "This movie will show me something new about faith/god/religion" and if I had it would have been a disappointment.

11/26/2012 4:50:00 PM

Quite frankly I didn't really care for the book. Seemed kind of silly the whole way through.

11/26/2012 10:04:14 PM

Quote :

"to me it seemed like more of pi's coping mechanism with the truth rather than some proof of god"

i guess that could be a fair assessment of it. i just took the whole thing as, "nobody can prove anything because no one really knows for sure, so therefore god, or believing in god, makes for the better story all around just like this here story with the tiger and floating carnivorous algae island with meercats all over it makes for the better survival story than the one with actual human beings stuck on a raft."

i just don't understand why this book/movie has been received so well by so many people over the last decade when the final 10% of it just amounts to a really bad analogy

11/27/2012 8:20:29 AM

11/27/2012 11:19:28 AM

We need a fan of the book to come in and provide some sort of counterpoint to rat soup. I'd like to hear the opposing viewpoint. I know woodfoot loved it but he no longer posts. Someone on here had to have read it and enjoyed it.


I will say, that as a stand alone and from someone who didnt even know it was a book to begin with until the people behind me in the theater mentioned it, it was REALLY good. For me, after the reveal it was trying to figure out what the interaction between pi and richard parker were metaphors for (i.e. taming his evil side, coping with it, god scaring it, nuturing it). At the end he did ask the writer which story he preferred and he said the one with the animals and pi said something like "as it is with god" but I didn't really take it how you describe the book as meaning. Honestly, I'm still not sure how I took it.

11/27/2012 2:21:48 PM

i'd like to hear someone's counterpoint as well, because up until now i haven't found one on my own that makes me feel like i didn't quite "get it." unless the whole thing was more like "this is how people justify god and religion" more so than "this is why it's better to believe in god." ultimately this guy is trying to say something, so if i'm wrong then i'd like to know exactly what that something is.

11/27/2012 3:11:50 PM

Here is my two cents from the book...which I really liked...and just finished on Sunday.

Religion is discussed constantly in the book, but mostly at the beginning. Pi is clearly a very religious person. However, he claims to be Hindi, Christian, and Muslim. No one understands this but him. He finds value in each religion and is a devout follower of all three. This causes him a lot of problems with his elders. However, his main point is always "there is a God, regardless of what package He comes in." He feels each religion has their on take on it, but they all believe in the same God. People just choose which version of God they are comfortable or familiar with.

Comparing the religious aspect to the stories he tells, here is what I get from it. He was on a boat, it sank, he was lost at sea for 7 months, he lived to tell about it. He could tell that story in any number of ways, but the basic facts still exist....he was on a boat, it sank, he was lost at sea for 7 months, he lived to tell about it.

So it is with God. God exists and it doesn't matter which version you choose to tell or believe...from completely outlandish elephant gods (Hindu), to a simple teacher who could make miracles happen and rose from the dead (Christianity), to prophet who lived and died (Islam). The basic fact is the same...God exists.

That may not be as deep as what you're looking for, but that's what I got from it if the intention was to get people to believe in God.


[Edited on November 27, 2012 at 3:30 PM. Reason : asdf]

11/27/2012 3:28:56 PM

yo lp, lemme hold that book

11/27/2012 3:31:04 PM

I had to return it to the library....there are like 283749832748923789 people on the waiting list for it

11/27/2012 3:31:41 PM

damn, I dont wanna buy it but I may have to

anyway, I think this whole "This book/movie will make you believe in god" is a very absurd claim and can completely alter the way its viewed

11/27/2012 3:33:46 PM

I definitely didn't get that from the book either...but then again that would literally be like preaching to the choir for someone like me

11/27/2012 3:35:13 PM

Quote :

"Religion is discussed constantly in the book, but mostly at the beginning"

well, i wouldn't say constantly since it basically stops when the boat sinks and doesn't resume until pi reaches land, but yes, much of the beginning was about his dabbling in multiple religions.

Quote :

"his main point is always "there is a God, regardless of what package He comes in." He feels each religion has their on take on it, but they all believe in the same God. People just choose which version of God they are comfortable or familiar with."

right. i remember that point being fairly evident.

Quote :

"Comparing the religious aspect to the stories he tells, here is what I get from it. He was on a boat, it sank, he was lost at sea for 7 months, he lived to tell about it. He could tell that story in any number of ways, but the basic facts still exist....he was on a boat, it sank, he was lost at sea for 7 months, he lived to tell about it. So it is with God. God exists and it doesn't matter which version you choose to tell or believe...from completely outlandish elephant gods (Hindu), to a simple teacher who could make miracles happen and rose from the dead (Christianity), to prophet who lived and died (Islam). The basic fact is the same...God exists. That may not be as deep as what you're looking for, but that's what I got from it if the intention was to get people to believe in God."

no, that's basically what i thought martel was saying too. my problem with it is that he's using pi's story as an allegory for, well, everything that exists and is saying that there are different ways that you can choose to follow the "story," but ultimately the version with god is the best or the most fulfilling. but by saying that he's also making a hollow statement that the other version(s) are somehow less, i don't know, valid or desirable than the one that he has deemed more preferable. it's just like, who are you to say that? i can understand how it could be heart warming and all, "hey.........yeah " for some people, but on the other hand it also falls completely flat and is a pretty empty message. i know it's impossible to like everything you read/watch, but it's just frustrating when you spend money and several hours of your time reading something and you enjoy it 90% of the way only to get to the last 10% and feel like you've wasted your time.

11/27/2012 3:56:50 PM

damn, it's about "god". well, i probably won't see it.

11/27/2012 3:57:59 PM

Quote :

"but it's just frustrating when you spend money and several hours of your time reading something and you enjoy it 90% of the way only to get to the last 10% and feel like you've wasted your time. "

This seems to be a common criticism on the web.

A friend on facebook called it "a major flaw in act 3".

That doesn't mean you don't get entertained by acts 1 and 2 though...

But that does make the point that this movie/story could have been significantly better without the lame attempt at a religious message near the end. I guess it's somewhat redeeming that it doesn't push for any 1 religion in particular.

11/27/2012 4:22:58 PM

Quote :

"damn, it's about "god". well, i probably won't see it."

again, I didnt get that from the movie having seen it with no previous knowledge. Sure there are spiritual aspects, but in no way did I feel it was "about god". I thought it was a very very good story

11/27/2012 4:48:38 PM

wiki describes the plot like this:

Quote :

"Pi is raised a Hindu, but as a fourteen-year-old he is introduced to Christianity and Islam, and starts to follow all three religions as he "just wants to love God."] He tries to understand God through the lens of each religion and comes to recognize benefits in each one."

11/27/2012 4:55:51 PM

Thats a plot detail covered in about 5 minutes of the movie, I mean if you dont ever want to see a movie that mentions religion then good luck.

11/27/2012 5:04:57 PM

^^

same here.

I wouldn't characterize the movie as "about god".

11/27/2012 6:19:33 PM

I saw it, knowing nothing about the movie, book or story, other than that it was about a kid in a lifeboat with a tiger. I thought it was very good and I enjoyed it.

11/30/2012 1:10:26 AM

Quote :

"Comparing the religious aspect to the stories he tells, here is what I get from it. He was on a boat, it sank, he was lost at sea for 7 months, he lived to tell about it. He could tell that story in any number of ways, but the basic facts still exist....he was on a boat, it sank, he was lost at sea for 7 months, he lived to tell about it. So it is with God. God exists and it doesn't matter which version you choose to tell or believe...from completely outlandish elephant gods (Hindu), to a simple teacher who could make miracles happen and rose from the dead (Christianity), to prophet who lived and died (Islam). The basic fact is the same...God exists. That may not be as deep as what you're looking for, but that's what I got from it if the intention was to get people to believe in God."

The key is what happens when Pi is being interviewed by the insurance reps for the Japanese shipping company, I think. They want to know how the ship sank. They are not genuinely interested in how Pi made it to safety. That isn't their job or their concern. And yet, in both stories, Pi seems to address the question, "How did I make it back to shore safely?", even though it's a question that no one asked.

And so it goes with God (or religion). Religion typically aims to address the big questions about our lives. Why are we here? How did we get here? Why do bad things happen? Why do good things happen? Religion ("a story") helps us cope with reality, even when our circumstances cannot be explained or understood, but it is ultimately only a story. Pi lacked the knowledge and expertise to understand and explain the sinking of the ship, but he still had to come to terms with the awful, traumatic ordeal he went through.

12/10/2012 2:37:51 PM

I enjoyed this movie.

12/10/2012 9:32:18 PM

I want a fan of the ambiguous nature of the book or the ending.

12/11/2012 2:06:27 AM

finished the book, lets discuss!

[Edited on December 22, 2012 at 2:19 AM. Reason : at another time, its way past my bedtime]

12/22/2012 2:17:22 AM

Ang Lee won the oscar!

2/25/2013 10:30:23 AM

HOLY FUCK WHY ARE WE WATCHING THIS

5/26/2013 8:34:59 PM

This is another version of Slumdog Millionaire.
Who can illustrate Indian story well wins the Oscar.

5/26/2013 8:50:19 PM

Quote :

"yann martel said the life of pi is supposed to get you to believe in god, which obviously isn't likely to happen just by reading a work of fiction"

WOULDN'T BE THE FIRST TIME LOLOLOLOL

5/26/2013 10:54:56 PM

i enjoyed this movie a lot more than i thought i would. haven't read the book

5/26/2013 11:00:15 PM

You should. At least this is an Oscar winner.

5/26/2013 11:06:34 PM

just watched this tonight for the first time. I had zero interest in it but it was pretty much all that was left on demand that I hadn't watched.

I loved it - I thought the imagery, story, etc. were beautiful and inspiring.

Reading through this thread I see that some people were less thrilled, but what I also see is that everyone thinks that he cannibal version was true and the animal version was created to deal with the facts, among other reasons. However, my take on it was that the animal version was the true version but maybe I'm being delusionally optimistic.

9/30/2013 2:34:26 AM

They pretty much spell out for you that the cannibal version is true. That's the whole (deeply flawed) point of the movie.

Sure, you can assume that mysticism isn't real and all evidence fits this reality, but if you can make up a magical, happier reality that doesn't really undermine the ACTUAL reality, why not live in your fantasy world instead?

The point of the movie is that if something is uncomfortable, you can and should use any of the various religions to delude yourself into comfort, if this delusion helps you live a better life.

9/30/2013 4:10:34 PM

BANANAS DO FLOAT

10/1/2013 2:09:14 AM

I loved the book, and I've taught it to a few classes of students. I appreciate the ambiguity of the book for a few reasons. For one, I like the book's structure, how it's broken into three parts.

Part one: Preparation and acceptance of religion(s)
Part two: Testing of faith
Part three: Realization of the fundamental conflict of religion with fact and being OK with that conflict, being at peace with it.

The book's ending -- IMHO -- mirrors our opinions on faith and the faithful. It flies in the face of reason/evidence; it is nonsensical; it is fantastical, but it comforts and pulls us through tumultuous experiences. That comfort and preservation is its value in Pi's eyes. You can choose whichever story you believe; both are important. You can choose whatever religion you believe; they all express fundamental truths about the wonder of the world. In Pi's eyes, he couldn't survive the one without the other.

I also love that one of Pi's struggles is his savagery versus civility. By the end of the stories, the vegetarian is ripping into raw fish after his clothes have rotted away, but his religion tethers him.


[Edited on October 1, 2013 at 10:05 AM. Reason : typos]

10/1/2013 10:03:04 AM

Quote :

" It flies in the face of reason/evidence; it is nonsensical; it is fantastical"

A person with no faith teaching lessons on faith? What school do you teach at?

10/1/2013 2:53:18 PM

I know a guy who teaches Greek mythology, but he doesn't really believe in Zeus.

10/1/2013 3:06:05 PM