LIFE OF PI

[Ben Chiu]

Just watched LIFE OF PI (LOP). I'd been trying to catch up on Oscar noms and finally got around to this one tonight. I'd watched CLOUD ATLAS last week (not that excited about it, but will post my thoughts some other time), so I was perhaps expecting something close to the same or even less (very pretty, but leaving you scratching your head).

Boy was I wrong! It's not a movie for everyone (you have to want to think about movies to like this), but I'll call this the best movie I've seen in a long time. It's got it all--beautiful looking, in execution, content, and it has a message. Wow!

I can't say I'm a big Ang Lee fan, but I'd liked CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON (visually perhaps more than anything else) and absolutely hated THE HULK. Didn't see (or care to see) BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, so while I'd heard (and seen) that LOP was stunning looking, that's all I was expecting to get out of it.

LOP has such a simple story, but I was blown away how it has so many levels and meanings that viewers from all levels and background can appreciate what's there. What's funny is this isn't a movie that I'd probably watch again, but I really liked it and appreciate all around craft that went into it.

If you've seen it, I'd like to know what you think the movie was about. My wife didn't get it, well, she got one meaning, but not the one that I think underlines what the story really was about. What's more is the whole concept is beautiful and executed masterfully, so I"m wondering if people really got the payoff.

Did you see it? What do you think it was about?