Books to movies

Life of Pi movie
Gen and I saw the Life of Pi movie on Saturday. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. In fact after the movie I commented that I think I may have enjoyed parts of it more than the book.

It is certainly a challenging movie. I found it quite difficult at times as it is quite emotional. I couldn't help but feel for the couple of younger children in the cinema. It is not visually violent, but the implication and sounds are confronting. Visually it is beautiful. I did wonder how the adaptation of the time on the boat could be interesting, but this was interesting and varied.

There was plenty about Pi's life before the boat journey and the narration was used to bring the action to and from Pi's life in Canada. The film captured some of the humorous perspectives Pi had very nicely.

I did flick through the book before the film to remind myself of who the characters on the boat were. It made the film all the more heartbreaking when I say the animals making their way onto the lifeboat. I would be interested in the opinions of people who saw the film without reading the book. I remember thinking during the film that it would be a difficult film to access without knowing the story...or at least you would be asking yourself "what on earth is going on".

The scenes on mercat island are cute and eerie and are just as "out there" as the book. There is a real sense that this was when Pi's body and mind were at their most fragile. I felt more of a sense of religion in the film than in the book, but that may be because on a second reading my real focus was on who there characters represented; what they did to each other; and how that must have impacted on Pi.

The final scenes with Pi in the hospital re-telling his story to the Japanese was incredibly powerful.

I was surprised when I hear that there was a film being made based on the book. Such a challenge and so well done. I can't say that I left the film feeling uplifted, but was glad for the experience.

Megan