as a kid I was so upset because after being through hell with someone how could you not look back, but I always want to see friends in animals, regardless if they’re wild or not
Same. As kid when I first watched the movie, I didn't want to acknowledge that the tiger would simply go. Even though I could kinda understand, I couldn't really grasp the concept of a wild animal. It makes much more sense to me now but it leaves a sort of void that might stem from the human desire to project humanity onto everything even where it is not to be found like a wild tiger.
@@pinkbluepanter2374 I agree, I was eight when the movie came out, kept waiting desperately for Richard Parker to come back. Cried too. Still feel uneasy thinking about it.
Yeah, even though they went through that hell, he didnt even like look back to see what was all that crying and shouting was about, but he was a wild animal, he was probably more excited to be back in a jungle after decades of being locked in a cage and then moths of being trapped on a boat in the middle of nowhere. And it was a tiger, which do not possess emotions and thoughts as complex as humans.
Ironically, I saw the cover for the book and wanted to read it based on the cover alone, but was so used to cover art not being indicative of a book th's I literally said "its probably not about a boy being a small boat with a tiger" - when I saw the trailer for the movie I was like "wait - it is actually about that?" Lol. Watched the film then read the book and I enjoyed both
I accidentally read the book when I was fucking TEN for this reason- the cover made it look like a fun adventure story. The cannibalism bit scarred me for life.
@@oomflem haha same! i read it around 11 or 12. what freaked me out the most though was actually the meerkat island. i also remember that at the time, Bunnicula terrified me to tears and nightmares, contrarily to Life of Pi, for some reason.
I believe the island represents the gnawing desire to give up that many people would feel in a situation like this. That Pi himself considered. That he could just... settle here. And he might not live long, but we all die someday. In the end, his choice to leave is his refusal to give up and an affirmation of his faith in the deities of his religions. One last act of putting his fate in their hands, to see if they may deliver him back home. This interpretation is based on the shape of the island in the film so it may not hold true for the novel, but the island is shaped like the Buddha - specifically the pose the Buddha assumed when he knew he was dying and he lay down to wait for his life to end. The island in this case, represents how Pi could have done the same if he had stayed.
The island was shape like god vishnu and that scene was representation of vishnu flooting in the space among stars just like how he described vishu earlier in the story.
I feel like the island was a real uncharted island that had all the qualities necessary to sustain life until old age. The dangers at night are a metaphor about how time and death are inevitable, and the tooth is a symbol for the fate of choosing to stay there for the rest of your life.
Similar to what I was thinking. The island represents giving into our fear of moving forward. The fear will give us the necessities to survive and can even appear to be a reasonable alternative… but it is also insidious and will eat us. So we can give into our fear and stay on this island that’s way more comfortable than the painful journey on the waters and survive until we die or we can rise above our fears and leave the temptation to submit to them behind, so that we can live until we die.
Ive always viewed the story with Richard Parker was real. Even if fantastical. All that matters is Pi experienced it and knows it to be true. And only Pi really knows since no one else lived. So its the audience, not Pi, who has to take the leap of faith to believe his story. But like the Japanese businessmen, most of the audience are dismissive of faith and can only believe the cruel story.
Agreed. I walked out of the movie strongly thinking that the tiger was real. I was so disappointed after watching the movie to find that so many people took it as fact that the tiger story didn't happen and it was just a coping mechanism. The movie ends on this beautiful message about being able to believe in things even if they seem fantastical and not just see the world as cruel hard logic. That there are wondrous parts of the world. And then the majority of the audience just said "Nah, there's no meaning. He's just making up stories to deal with his trauma. That sucks." It feels like they just were not engaging with the movie at all.
THANK YOU. This is what I argued in my highschool book report about this but the teacher didn't agree smh. As far as I'm concerned, Pi does believe all of this happened. Those put into horribly traumatizing situations tend to believe the fantastical.
@@emolgana sounds like your English teacher doesn't really have media literacy. It's very clear in the book that the ending is ambiguous and either might be true, based on what the above comments have mentioned and also there are several pieces of the tiger story that don't fit into the more realistic story. Sorry your English teacher sucks.
My philosophy teacher made a very convincing argument for the theory of the island…he argues that it is a representation of Pi’s own starvation. Initially, the island is seen as in the shape of a man, presumably in this case, Pi. When one’s body begins to break down the muscle this person is considered starving. The island’s carnivorous nature would represent this. The idea behind the absurdity (meerkats, bioluminescence, only seen by Pi, figment of imagination) of the island represents the lack of brain function associated with extreme starvation, and the tooth could represent something such as scurvy, which would likely be experienced by someone starving at sea. His mention of weakness as he’s leaving the island would be a reference to the weakness associated with starvation as well. I, of course, am doing this theory no justice in butchering the explanation, but when he explained it, it seemed fairly convincing.
That's the interpretation I was getting from the movie. And that staying on the island was basically the choice of killing himself, or at least, letting himself die and stop trying to get to shore
The phenomenon you were getting at is called autophagia (literally means "self-eating"), which is when your body has an insufficient stock of nutrients to burn for fuel, and starts consuming itself.
I think that the island represents Pi's mother and Pi's decision to finally eat her. He was starving before he reached the island, the island provided him food. The island is called Carnivore Island. It looks like a sleeping woman. Pi ties a bracelet on one of the roots of trees on the island with somber music playing in the background, it is like he is tying the bracelet on his mother's hand.
I thought the island was the shape of Vishnu - the god of preservation and sometimes the saviour of humanity. I think western audiences down play or aren't aware of the Hindu influences and subtexts in this movie. I don't think you can underestimate Yann Martel's self proclaimied Salman Rushdie influences, either in terms of magical realism, Indian spiritualism and general story telling.
Never watched the movie. Read the book once and still such a memorable story. Still have not heard of a youth-targeted fiction book that handles religion in such an open and contemplative manner.
While the movie doesn’t stick very closely to the book, it misses out on the religion development and adds a love interest- it is a really beautiful movie, the book of course always has the biggest place in my heart for it but the movie is nice to watch if you try to separate it from the book! Loved the actor for Pi, i feel he really embodied this role!
Wild animals are not necessarily your friends--nobody is a disney princess--but it would be disengenuous to pretend there's nothing more to animals than the need to survive. They are thinking, feeling, calculating, and though Life of Pi claims otherwise on the surface I think it acknowledges this in how the tiger behaves. Not as a friend the way humans see it, because it clearly wasn't a case that belonged in activity, but as a comrade. Other than raising it from birth yourself, trust is the closest thing to 'friends' a wild animal can get--and that could only be gained once trustworthiness was shown. Once Pi had shown the tiger not only was he too strong to consider food, but wouldn't act as a predator either; that a symbiosis could be formed. In the end, maybe the tiger didn't look back. Maybe, it's because the tiger knew it didn't need to.
I watched this movie at the cinema with my mother at 7yo, when Richard Parker left I started to cry incontrollably and haven’t stopped for at least 2hours. I didn’t even know why, all I knew is that this movie changed my view of life and emotions forever
I remember when our AP Lang teacher had us read the book in class and we were going over talking about Richard Parker being a manifestation of Pi's guilt and trauma after seeing his mother being killed and eaten, the he killed and ate the cook. Then one of my classmates said that Richard Parker may not have actually been real to begin with. As in, there was never a tiger at their zoo named Richard Parker. At first everyone, including me, confronted him saying of course he was real. He just wasn't actually on the boat. Then he pointed out his evidence, the evidence being the photograph of Richard Parker that the author in the story looks at in adult Pi's home. He noted that it was a picture of a bunch of school children getting their picture taken at the zoo. Pi then exclaims about Richard Parker being in the photo, and when the author looks, he sees Richard Parker looking away from the photo. However, there are two noteworthy parts that stood out to all of us as soon as it was pointed out. First being that Richard Parker, although named, wasn't shown as a tiger. In the book there was no indication of Richard Parker being a tiger until they reached the ocean. The second point is why would a tiger be around a bunch of school children. Pi's father already showed how he doesn't trust the animals being in close proximity to people, much less children, unless there's a cage between them, so why would there be a tiger amongst them. What we came to the conclusion of is that the "Richard Parker" in the photo was actually Pi as a child, which would make sense considering Richard Parker the tiger is a manifestation of Pi's trauma. After that, the book became one of my favorite books of all time.
The Tsimtsum also didn't sink when or where it sank, nor did anything remotely close to it. It's an excellently crafted story that seems just plausible enough, but in fact none of it ever happened.
I don’t think that works. Pi tells his story to an author. The chapters in italics are the words and thoughts of this author. In chapter 33, Pi shows him photograps and points at one saying “That’s Richard Parker”. If Pi had been pointing at himself or any human, then the author would surely have mentioned this. Instead, he says: “Richard Parker is looking away. He doesn’t even realize that his picture is being taken.” This is a first hint that despite his name, Richard Parker is an animal, although many readers might miss this. Animals don’t pose for the camera. At this point in the novel we haven’t been told yet that Richard Parker is a tiger, and Yann Martel has so far been misleading us to believe he is a human. You interpret this chapter as Martel secretly telling us that the tiger is a human/Pi, but you’re thinking in precisely the wrong direction. (Before the RP photo, Pi shows a photo of people with a giraffe in the background. This sets up the premise of people being photographed in the zoo with an animal in the background, like with Richard Parker.)
@@Brinta3 You see that would be the case if the author didn't explicitly state that when Pi started talking about Richard Parker in the story, he said he was surprised that it was a tiger and not a person. Not to mention he doesn't know what Pi looks like as a kid, so of course he wouldn't bring up that the person he was pointing to was kid Pi.
I had a pet cockatoo named Cassy and Life Of Pi was her favorite movie, she would cry until we put it on for and if we tried to put on a different movie she would scream through it. So I've watched Life of Pi a ridiculous amount of times. sadly 2 years ago Cassy fell off her cage leaving her paralyzed and we had to put her down she was 32 years old. Life of Pi will always hold a special place in my heart as It reminds me of her. Rest in peace Cassy ❤️
Me too lol. Click on the vid asking if it’s real, how would they get a tiger on board with this (pun intended) and coming out of it with a beautiful life lesson…
I love the conclusion that the "truth doesn't matter," it reminds me of American Psycho, where the greatest debate surrounding it was whether Bateman actually did all those killings. In my opinion, it wouldn't matter whether he did or not, that's not what the message of the movie or book is aiming for.
I remember seeing this movie 8 months after my sister's death in a car accident involving my whole family, including me. I now recognize that choosing to watch that movie, without knowing what to expect, was the best and worst decision I've ever made in my life. The worst, because the trauma of having lost my sister so painfully weighed heavily on my heart... seeing Pi's pain, anguish, suffering and uncertainty reminded me of my own. But it was also the best decision because I remember the comfort that the movie offered to my heart, the hope that I felt. It made me realize that life does not prepare us for lost even though we are all destined to feel it and therefore you can choose to suffer or choose to love. I choose to love and that is why now the memory of my sister is not tied to that accident but to the love I still feel for her. I will never forget how that movie made me feel, I cried so much at that time and I cry again today remembering it. It was so important in my life because it not only helped me through my grief but also helped me understand my faith.
April, I feel you are describing the state of reconciliation, where we come to accept things as they are rather than as we would like them to be. I'm sure that you would so much prefer that your sister was here, alive and with you in this life right now, but you have accepted that she is gone and cannot come back ... but she lives on in your heart and your memories of her. This is why so many religions include remembrance of, and prayer, for those who have traveled on ~ and a deep appreciation of the gift that their presence was to us when they were here. Thus, we do things like burn a candle before the portrait of a loved one, honoring their memory, their presence in our lives, and their influence on the people we've become.
Read and enjoyed the book, but never watched this movie because of the issues with the vfx team behind this filing for bankrupcy and closing down after the studio paid almost nothing for their work. I remember how in the academy awards for "best vfx" picket lines were forming outside the event hall to raise awareness about the almost sweatshop conditions animators and artists had to endure during the making of this film.
there's a great 30 min documentary here on RUclips about that. It's called Life After Pi. I recommend watching it to anyone, as it is a serious issue in this industry.
@@citizenvulpes4562 good idea you could appreciate the work and art that was made while still protesting against the studio that screwed over those workers
I remember the dude at the end saying “bananas don’t float.” I went home, filled up my kitchen sink and tossed a banana in. Lo and behold the banana was floating. Now I can’t say that _all_ bananas float, but that was good enough for me as a 15 year old kid to realize that faith is an experiment like anything else. If you live by the principles of whatever religion you are, you will find that it will build your faith.
We read this book in my high school literature class and it's easily one of my favorite books of all time. We spent a lot of time talking about the algae island, and the only consensus we came to was that it had Garden of Eden imagery. Some of us viewed it as the desire to just give up, some of us viewed it as a hallucination brought on by heatstroke (which the movie cut), some of us thought of it as a true part of the story. I'm partial to the interpretation that it was the call for him to give up, but there's a million ways to interpret that particular part of the story. What I mostly talked about in the class, though, was that both Pi and Yann Martel have in the past condemned agnostics, but the book actually has a very agnostic message to it. In the book, Pi compares agnostics to unimaginative, unmoving people, calls them "dry and yeastless bread." He interprets agnosticism as the belief that there will never be enough evidence for a higher power. Yann repeats this viewpoint in a panel about the book. The agnostic is presented as the antithesis of the book's message. But that always confused me, because I viewed agnosticism as saying "I don't know, so I might as well humor what others tell me about their faith. It could be true, I can't say." The one thing that I think me and Yann Martel would agree on is that the agnostic stance is one that says "I don't know." However, while Yann sees that as the end of the discussion, me and many other agnostics use it as a jumping-off point to indulge in the teachings of other religions. Which is very much the message of Life of Pi. The question of "was the tiger real?" doesn't really matter in the end. In deciding to suspend your disbelief and engage with the book's teachings, you can come out changed. Which is exactly the core of many agnostics' viewpoints. Are other religions true? Who's to say. But they can still have beauty and wisdom in their teachings that we can be open to by not tying ourselves too closely to one story. I'm not sure how relevant this is to the video, lol. But this is one of my absolute favorite books and I could talk about it for hours. Hopefully I can get some different opinions :)
This is very well said! I completely agree I was a bit confused why he considered agnostics in that light--that somehow "I don't know" would be the end of discussion, as you put it. Like you said, it's often the opposite: it makes people want to explore and learn and consider all viewpoints because they're not tethered to one story/reality. You've articulated it perfectly :)
the way you wrote your comment was good and it actually explains agnostic well!! i might use it to try to explain to my friends when they get curious about my own belief,which i find difficult to explain at times. admitting you dont know and accepting that none of us will probably ever really know for certain is a good concept in life
I feel like the Island is similar to Please Island from Pinocchio. It seems like a wonderland at first, but then you realize it's going to eat you alive. It's a solution to your problem that is too good to be true.
I always thought of the meerkat island as a metaphor for the temptation to give in to complacency that a lot of religions offer. It's the temptation to let gods or fate control your life, and let go of personal control or responsibility. The island is a built in critique of religion, in a story dedicated to the love of spirituality. At least in my enterpretation
You seem to have a fallacy Every thing that you consider bad about religion is you call it religion while every thing that you like about religions you call it spirituality. Religion is merely a set of consistent and organized spiritual beliefs.
@@MohamedRamadan-qi4hl you seen to have the fallacy of doing a bad faith reading. Spirituality is an element of religion. A religion is far more than the spirituality it espouses. A religion is also its art, its literature and the community it creates. Life of Pi is specifically a book/movie about the beauty of spirituality in any religion. However, because it is a nuanced story, it also critiques other elements of religion.
@@Moeller750 the art, literature, community, of a religion are the products of its believers acting upon {or not acting upon. Hypocrisy is a very human thing after all} their spiritual beliefs
@@Moeller750 yes it is one element it is one element. But it is THE ELEMENT its beating heart and core. With out it a religion is just a group of seclure rules and practices
I've always considered this film one of the best of the 2010s, although I haven't seen it in a while. This video was very refreshing, both in terms of remembering what this film was about, and about how special it was. I like your angle about it, and I'll definitely watch it again soon. Kudos to everyone
I only ever watched Life of Pi once, but it was the best movie-going experience of my life. It was a cold winter evening shortly after Christmas and I went to see the film alone, cause none of my friends were interested in it. It was fantastic in and of itself, and when it was done, I felt completely at peace. And when I stepped out after the film onto the quiet, empty parking lot, I saw that it was covered with a pristine, undesturbed layer of fresh snow that wasn't there when I arrived and that glittered magically in the lamp light. You could say I had a bit of a spiritual experience that evening that couldn't have happened with a different film, at a different time or if I had had company. Just all around beautiful. Life of Pi will always have a special place in my heart for that alone.
When Pi was trying to keep Richard Parker out of the boat, I feel that it was actually Pi considering suicide to some capacity. When he built the raft and let Richard Parker back onto the boat, that was Pi deciding to try and keep living despite it all
I always thought of the Island as being an Eden of sorts. He's in a beautiful place where everything he needs to survive is provided for him, then when he finds a fruit he learns something from it that makes him leave. One of the themes I get from Life of Pi is the act of moving on. Just as he had to learn to live with and then let go of the tiger he knew in order to grow he had to let go of Eden
As an Orthodox christian that was raised a Buddhist, grew up tp become an atheist to eventually turn to Christ, this film and the message behind it speaks more to me on a spiritual level then any other film that came since. It nails a key message that marked my life personally. That life is not about always chasing the most likely truth, but chasing the truth that leads to the most good. Thanks for your wonderful essay. You've earned a new sub.
When I first read the book I could so easily visualize it in my head. It's the most cinematic book I'd ever read, so I'm glad it exists in movie form. Thanks for breaking down what Martel was trying to say with this story - it was really interesting hearing his elaboration from interviews. I find it interesting that people got so hung up on trying to decode the "mystery" and missed the point in the process.
it doesn’t matter if the tiger i real or not, what matters is YOUR decision about that question. Do you prefer a magical, very interesting story filled with fantastical events (religion or storytelling) or the horrific, heart-wrenching story that’s sad but also incredible (atheism, or real life)?
This hits the nail on the head for me. I think I would consider the real story to be the one without the tiger but I can totally understand that people need the other to cope with it. I thing religion gives alot to people but it is just not for me.
This feels like a great sister essay to folding ideas' essay on content creators' videos on the ambiguous ending in Annihilation. I love this really genuine critique that you do
I was literally just thinking the same thing! People do the same thing with Life of Pi that they do with Annihilation: pick it apart on a surface level to find the literal “truth” in a fictional story, rather than engaging with said story on its own terms. So glad we have videos to counteract that with both stories now!
I remember seeing this movie on tv when i was 14. At that point i had become very religious by my own choice but the way i practiced my love for god was different from the normal, therefor i related to pi. I also really loved animals ever since i was little. Watching this movie made me feel more spiritually activated than sitting in a confining church. Now that I’m older i see now how this story has influenced my own views of storytelling. Regardless of the logic and realism of a story, many including myself are moved by the real emotions of fiction presented in states that are just as abstract and connected as feelings usually are. Religion is no different, weaving symbolic narratives to reflect deeper thoughts and emotions we can aspire to understand.
I have to disagree. The movie is not about the idea of "it doesn't matter". It's at its core a story about faith and belief. The ambiguous ending is demonstrative of the nature of faith. Do you choose the grounded, more gruesome story to know what is most likely the truth? Or do you choose to believe the story that isn't true, but is fantastical in nature and provides piece of mind. I don't think it is a matter of whether it's fake or true, but the onus is in what you believe. I read the book too and I think this idea is more poignantly in the book than the movie, as we analyzed this in English class almost 10 years ago.
I don't remember if this comes up in the movie, but there's a passage in the book where Pi comes to understand the concept of atheism, and though he is not himself an atheist he respects the idea as its own form of faith. Without wasting a breath, he immediately declares that he still does not understand agnosticism, as that hesitation and lack of certainty really bothers him. For whatever reason, that passage really resonated with me, and I still remember it. I never considered how this relates to the ending, but I think this backs you up. You could say the cannibalistic story is the "atheist" interpretation and the tiger story is the "religious" interpretation. Pi himself would reject an agnostic interpretation, where you try to have it both ways.
…..that’s what she said. Edit: Apparently I need to clarify that I’m not making a ‘that’s what she said’ joke. I do literally mean that the comment is repeating what she (the speaker in the video) said.
I mean, I think “it doesn’t matter” is absolutely part of what it has to say about faith and belief, in a way. As someone else in this threat mentioned, there’s that passage in the book where he mentions his respect for atheism (though but agnosticism). The point, I think, is that the literal “truth” isn’t the point. It doesn’t matter. No one can ever truly know. What matters is the emotional truth to each individual person. So I think your interpretation and this video’s interpretation are two sides of the same coin. The literal truth doesn’t matter, precisely because one’s individual belief is all they can know for sure.
I can't even THINK about this movie without getting choked up and teary-eyed. It's hard to explain the lasting effect of this heartbreakingly poignant movie. Oddly enough, I didn't feel quite this emotional when I read the book, even though it was just as deeply immersive. I think the acting of the young protagonist was just so sincere and emotional that you'd have to be callous and hard-hearted not to be moved. Both the book and the film really leave you thinking about the beauty and fragile tenderness of life itself.
18:00 The fact that this scene is made to expose that Richard Parker was, indeed, Pi all along, is acceptable. But, to think that this scene means that Richard Parker was real and he was reminding Pi to say goodbye, it tears me apart. 💔
Maybe it’s looking at religion from a modern, 2020 era lens but I always saw the island as a metaphor for the kind of insidious sects that pop up around religion. It’s comforting to think your search for truth is over in the folds of the masses of people or easy preachings that conveniently leave out any kind of hard work or caring for anyone else. But you’ll be eaten away by this complacency and you’ll never really be a part of god’s plan, only continuing to make life harder for the next people. So while it would have been easy for Pi to abandon his hardships and struggles (finding his place in God’s plan through the metaphor of his journey through the ocean) in favor of the comforting arms of evangelical Christianity, he had to keep trying to find God’s will (reaching the true shore).
I feel the greater meaning lies within the vast parameters we don’t see, but perhaps have a slight sense. In this case Pi speaks of feeling a deeper and transcendent connection that was shared with Richard Parker. It could be argued that even though they were stranded at sea together, each experience was vastly different based on many factors such as species and communication. But coming back to where I feel the greater meaning lies This video wonderfully expresses the build up to how each experience is significant once is can be perceived or felt or even thought of. And the things we don’t see / know adds weight in all the possibilities of our finite senses. Perhaps showcasing a forever growing and detailed canvas. What we do find out, is at the end of the film Richard Parker did look back At first it wasn’t perceived that way, just an animalistic pause if you will. But within that a the movie does a wonderful job of displaying the transcendent nature of life in the way the tiger in fact did feel, did imagine and in doing so sharing his brief flash back with us. In a sense as the viewer we are in the position of god. We can only watch and at the same time discover the details that no one else can know “dramatic irony” at its beat All in all creations such as these brings us closer to seeing a version of truth, a feelings that cannot be denied, a ripple effect that will always be known to an extent we can only imagine. And yet here we are, apart of the ripple
I love this analysis; I think in a way it calls back to the thing's Pi's father tried to instill in him. He tried his hardest to fight it, but after everything he's been through, little slivers of it seep into his thoughts, and in missing that one second, some of it was solidified to him. The idea of a ripple effect in the context of religion, especially hinduism, makes me think of the possibility of the tiger reincarnating and by now being an important part of Pi's life again; I'm SO tempted to say the reporter especially with the reddish hair, but I don't remember anything about him to be able to say so
@@FumanyuX brings to question doesn’t it, what even is god? Could it truly be explained as everything and yet nothing at all? Whether you land on any conclusion it’ll never be fully satisfactory. One thing is for sure, there will always stand a polarity to the complexity of what sees, and what is.
My dad introduced me to this movie when I was a kid and although it kind of bored me at points, I still recognized that it was really a movie/book that had a deeper meaning than “But was it all a dream?? Why are there animals? 😱”
I think that the island represents Pi's mother and Pi's decision to finally eat her. He was starving before he reached the island, the island provided him food. The island is called Carnivore Island. It looks like a sleeping woman. Pi ties a bracelet on one of the roots of trees on the island with somber music playing in the background, it is like he is tying the bracelet on his mother's hand.
This video reminded me how pivotal this movie was in my life. When this film came out, I was taking a Global Mythology class. I had recently switched to public high school, after 8 hard years of Catholic school. I had a long and complicated spiritual journey--I was not Catholic, and therefore often bullied for not fitting in at school and missing all the sacraments. I did spend a few years thinking I was destined for hell, as was directly taught to me. Switching to public school, I was still hungry to understand religion, and primarily to prove Christianity "wrong". While my Global Myth class was indeed about ancient myth stories of all religions, we also spent a large portion of the semester studying the 5 most popular global religions. Through this semester it became completely undeniable how similar all religions are, and what place they serve in teaching so many aspects of what being human means to us all. This movie, combined with my absolutely amazing Global Mythology teacher, taught me the complexity of myth and humanity. They both brought me firmly to where I stand now--believing both in all religions and no religions. They are all fascinating perspectives, and they all offer something useful to stability as a person. They are all also fraught with human issues relating to corruption and shame. At the end of the day, it is a way to feel okay. It is something amazing that calls us to be amazed with everything around us. I think for some, it is the last drop of childlike wonderment that we make stick around. It's interesting now to talk about or even think about religion and what they mean, because I used to be SO obsessed with the subject and finding the "truth". Now it's hardly something that crosses my mind. It is an unanswerable question, and in my opinion everyone is just as right as they are wrong. The only remaining effect is that I don't really feel like discussion religion beyond admiring just how objectively fascinating it is. That, and whenever someone says something like "Thank god for this food before us" I just replace the word "god" with "universe", and admire how humans have come to admire serendipity like that. I can't deny that I WANT to believe in magic, in a greater purpose. And ya know, he's right. Why not?
Thanks so much for sharing, I really liked reading your perspective! "The last drop of childlike wonderment that we make stick around", that's a lovely way of putting it :)
I came across this books when I was in India. I was helping around an institution and once while cleaning a room, I found this book. I asked my supervisor if I could keep it and she said sure. Before that I had never heard of this book but the concept of a boy and a tiger on a boat was so crazy that I had to read it. Of course it was completely different from what I had expected but this book gave me company when I was all alone, away from family for the first time and was dealing with the loss of my father only a year back. This book gave me the strength I needed and 10 years later, I still have it with me.
During the movie, I remember being kind of bored but completely entranced by the visual effects, especially the mangrove scene. But many years after, I still remember it, in a lot of small ways.
I also think another part that's vastly misunderstood about (the book especially) the narration is who is telling. Life of Pi is a tall tale-story which still has deep cultural relevance in non-anglo countries (India, China, Japan, Indonesia, Scandinavia to an extent). The strong hierarchical structure of respect for elders gives elders sf a privilege of telling tall tales of themselves and friends, go into tangents and make stories magical to function as allegories for younger children. Life of Pi is the question of belief, but as an Uncle it's a story about how despite all odds you can survive as long as you keep calm and carry on. The narration is wildly familiar to many of my friends from different cultures.
I’m so glad I stumbled across this video! I read the book shortly before the movie came out, and often say it’s one of the few books that completely changed my worldview after I read it. The movie, though not without flaws, took a book that seemed impossible to adapt and made a surprisingly good adaptation of it. However, people seem to misinterpret both so often. Loving your insights into the message of this underrated story!
I watched this movie last night, I feel like that is a story about the director of the film, it also reflects the pressure we were facing in our childhood and the conflicts of values between parents and children. I sobbed when seeing the skinny tiger left Pi and head to the place where he supposed to back to .
2012 was my favorite year when it came to films. It was the year I actually started becoming interested in the cinematic world and I’m so glad I got to see this one during that time. It was beautiful and the lessons learned are what I still hold close to me till this day. The visuals blew my mind honestly, unlike any other film during that time!!! It’s still at the top of my list when it comes to visually pleasing films and yes I know there are better but I don’t care. I’m just now starting to read the book and am excited to see the film again after not having watched it in 2 years
I believe the island is his dead mother’s body, which until this point he had had kept with him on the boat out of love or out of necessity (sustenance). Leaving the island represents him finally letting her go and putting her to rest via burial at sea, but not before collecting as many meerkats (maggots) as he could to feed Richard Parker (himself) for as long as he could.
No book will ever be good when you are forced to read it, and definitely not when forced to read it at school. It is very much about being in the right state of mind and receptive to the story. One needs to choose to read a book, not be forced.
Richard Parker was his inner beast, the same beast that killed the hyena when it killed his mother (orangutan). The same beast that tried to kill him. The same beast that was his companion during the rough storms, remember that the beast did not get out of the boat in that island. For that island was an illusion of hope meant to really keep him from reaching the shore. If you look back at the story wholly, you will see the entire journey starts from Pi not being in harmony with his beast, to finally conquering it and then separating from it as it leaves him so unceremoniously. The beast, Richard Parker, was the single reason what kept him alive. Li of Pi is the ultimate book which emphasizes upon the importance of being in tune with ones inner beast. It hurts us, haunts us, scares us but in the end it is our valiant effort to keep it away is what helps us get through the rough storms of life
I read the book in high school and it stuck with me. It wasn't particularly transformational when I was reading it for class or doing the assignments, but later, in college, I started deconstructing the American evangelical faith I'd been raised in and my thoughts kept returning to Life of Pi. The idea of meaning and truth, and how sometimes the fantastical can be more true (or at least a different kind of truth) than reality. How the things we believe guide us, help us endure. I'm glad to see more people talking about the film and the book. It's utterly profound and just a fantastic way to explore spirituality (mostly) removed from specific theologies.
I remember when this movie came out I didn't care for it. A lot of my friends were raving about it at the time and me being the contrarian didn't even bother with it because it was "mainstream." I didn't see any of the trailers, I assumed it was about a kid that was a math prodigy. A couple months later, it was out on video so I decided to watch it. It was just beautiful both story-wise and the visuals. I live its take on faith, especially from the perspective of an Indian kid who wanted to believe in three religions. I still remember watching it again with my family. I plopped down my laptop on the dining room table while we watched it for lunch. I thought for sure they would give me grief for it, but my family ended up finishing the entire movie even after we were done eating. My dad, to this day still believes that it was actually Pi, his mom, and the cook were on the boat.
Glad you ended up watching it in the end, but the way you acted in the beginning, not wanting to experience something because it is "mainstream", is honestly a lot of what is wrong with the world. It is a very selfcentered attitude. Basically anyone could truthfully be telling you about the positives of the movie, but you would dismiss them out of hand. < and this is the issue in the world I am trying to get at.
That’s how I felt about a stranger Things show - since it’s so mainstream. I gave it a chance 2 yrs later and I love love love that series! Still I haven’t watched Game of Thrones. 😑 But yea it happens… I watch reviews ahead of time mostly….even some bad reviews still has me watching stuff tho like this latest Marilyn film on Netflix with Ana. It’s not bad at all like people say LoL
You have given this movie so much thought and praise in such a professional way, I'm surprised your channel hasn't reached 1M subscribers yet. Either way, I'm glad I came across your video and will gladly help you get there! :) Your voice is nice to listen to, the music and scenes you choose for background noise and visuals are very soothing and don't interrupt your speech. You give praise to multiple aspects rather than just saying "the movie is good" including the Indian representation and how the story doesn't end with Pi and Richard Parker being best buddies. I can't wait to see more of your content.
My inner child interpreted the island literally. Why does it have to be a metaphor for anything? Why couldn’t it have just happened? 75% of our planet is ocean and 90% of it is unexplored. Who’s to say a floating carnivorous island doesn’t truly exist out there? 😜
Pi Patel reminds me of my relatives who tell absolutely enchanting,mesmerising and legendary tales which are probably false. When Pi asked the writer what story he liked, the writer said the one with the tiger in it. The imaginary story had lot of meaning in it, lot of spiritual strength and courage. Where as the true story was sad and scary. Because the Tiger story has a greater value. Pi is just a person who created a imaginary story around his harsh and unfortunate reality shedding greater meaning of his spiritual journey.
The best theory told to me by my friend is that the Tiger signifies "anger and fear"... Pi is angry and afraid in the ocean and that keeps him alive in the ocean... But when he reaches the shore, his anger and fear go away. That's why he is calm when we see the older Pi.
The first time I watched the movie I was absolutely wrecked when Richard Parker didn't look back. I haven't seen the movie in so long that I began to think in retrospect that it was an overreaction. Watching this video, though, I got emotional all over again when you talked about that moment - especially in the context of its meaning. I should really rewatch this movie. It's pretty fantastic.
Honestly it's been such a long time since I watched the movie let alone read the book that I'm not sure I have a full answer for what the carnivorous island represents so much as its narrative purpose in the story. The book is so surreal that it becomes a gradual act in suspension of disbelief. Reading the book in one long sitting it was almost like pulling on a thread till it become completely taut, reaching the point where in any other form it would snap. I actually remember reading Pi's encounter with the meerkats and actively choosing to let the thread snap and keep going as if coming so far and being so involved with the story, it was too sad to put the book down instead of continuing to play along. I think you put it really well that the core of the story is that emotional experience, journey and transformation has its own significance compared to the literal realities of the world. So I see the island as something like a test of faith to the reader/viewer where you're confronted with the idea of abandoning logic to preserve the emotional journey of the story.
A beautiful piece of art. It's also shot so it can be watched in 3D. I can only imagine how that would look ! I fell in love with the tiger, ever since the first scene, where the kid tries to feed it. i loved when the boy laid the tiger's head on his lap and caressed him . When the tiger walks back to his world (unavoidable) I felt sad . No matter how this movie is analyzed, I love it as just a beautiful experience between the boy and the animal. I thought at the end, when the tiger leaves, that all animals that we love always end up leaving .
I remember watching the film and thought it was fantastic. (I haven’t seen it in a while though) I always felt that the tiger was possibly made up and possibly a representation of the protagonists inner animal. With the story possibly being a journey of his return to nature and god.
I dislike it immensely when people treat a story like Life of Pi as a puzzle to solve rather than an experience. Liked the film. Love the book! Good video 👌
I read this book going into highschool and it became my favorite -- when I read it there was no part of me that considered his story at the end was real. I genuinely believed that everything in the book actually happened, and he only told the story of the humans on the boat to get them to leave him alone. When we discussed what was real in class I was surprised. I suppose deciding which you find to be real is indicative of believing or not believing in god or miracles. Im not very religious, and am moreso spiritual agnostic, but I prefer to believe the animal version of the story is what actually happened
Life of pi is one of the few movies that i enjoyed just as much if not more than the book. For me the visual dreamlike almost cosmic visual story telling was so stunning.
I remember first watching this film when I was very young maybe 10 or 11, and the island scene and the scene where pi asks richard parker what he see's in the water. I remember being the only one in my family to connect the island with the statue of Vishnu from earlier in the film, they just thought it was an ordinary island. Those two aspects always intrigued me so much, the whole film will probably always intrigue me
I appreciate this video so much now. I read this book in my senior year of high school for AP literature, and I never had a grasp on what the messages in the book were. My class and teacher didn't really help I guess. But I feel like I understand it much better than I ever did. Gonna reread it now 🤙
This story was a thing of a beauty in every aspect possible. I really loved both reading and watching it. Thank you so much for covering it and talking about what was truly central to its message
I think the whole story is about the power of storytelling, and how it can help people survive in the hardest of times and change their lives: - Pi's name was chosen because his father was enamored by this STORY of a swimming pool so pure and pristine that he never saw. - Then Pi has used storytelling to convince everyone at school that he's in fact called Pi, and because of that STORY they've stopped laughing at him. - Then Pi found magic in the STORYTELLING of each religion he encountered. It wasn't about which religion was a true real fact, but more like every religion was a story that helped him be a better person. Think: being a fan of LOTR, ATLA and Naruto at the same time. - When his father took those STORIES from him, because they were not real, Pi felt sadness and emptiness. - Then, he read in castaway manual, "telling STORIES can help you survive". In that scene, first paragraphs could be real and true, but those following (after "stories help survive") were just him making things up. Then, there are metaphors on top of metaphors that can also be considered "storytelling": - Animals were the psyche/instincts of each survivor - it's easier to cope with the killing of your own mother, if the killer is a carnivore driven by instinct. - Also, it's not you that killed another survivor, ate fish, that was "The Tiger". You hate it, you're scared of it, but you can't survive without it. You try to tame it, but it's a meat eating beast, representing your dark side, rage, will of survival. Pi getting hungry and weak made "his tiger" weak, that's why animal was seen starving. That's why when he's found - it goes away. Tiger wasn't his friend, it didn't love him, he needed it for survive only, that's why "bloodthirsty ruthless instinct of survival" doesn't look behind. - Also, Pi wanting to get rid of Tiger from survivor boat after the ship sank - could be read as "Pi wanting to get rid of His Will Of Survival". I don't want you, beast, I give up, I jump in the water. But then Will Of Survival jumps at the hyena and kills the cook, showing him that he needs "tiger" to stay alive. - The scene when he loses his supplies because of "The Whale" - it's a metaphor for carelessness, BIG one, that took food from him. - Green island made of food in the shape of lying human with maggots living on it... I mean, meerkats - you see where I'm going with it... ;) In an act of desperation he saw the corpse on his boat as a resource to eat, gave maggots to eat to his Will of Survival, but in the night... dunno, you can interpret this in many ways, from guilt that he ate corpse, to more literal, throwing up with acid cause corpses are not very tasty... So, this whole "story that will make me believe in "God"" is not about believing that transcendent being is real, it's also a metaphor - will you believe in the godlike might of telling stories? ;)
I've read my fair share of theories about this book, but this one is soo sooo interesting. I believe in the "animal story", but your theory might have given me a new perspective.
I'm on the cannalism team for the meaning of the island. Maybe not his mother specifically, but the overall concept. In the short term it saves his life, but will ultimately end up destroying him (his soul). I've always enjoyed this story, to me it's about how whether a story is true or not, it's how it impacts and changes you that's the important thing. Also just a note, but Irrfan Khan did an AMAZING job in this movie. RIP
The ending really blew me away. i would much rather believe the story with the tiger. Another thing that struck me about the island was that it was shaped in a way similar to Lord Vishnu's signature pose of him lying down.
the tiger represents faith - simple as that. it keeps you sane, gives you a purpose, reminds you of your humanity, gives you a place to vent and heal, keeps your hope alive, and thereby keeps you alive.
This book left me with one of the most profound feelings after spending an entire day reading it all in one go, this is definitely the best way to appreciate this book I felt as insane as pi 😂
When i was a very young kid and watched the movie. I always interpreted it as him not wanting people to go looking for Richard Parker instead of never saying he existed as it was a lie. Idk, as a kid i just figured the both of them had been through so much, he just wanted the tiger to also get to live a peaceful life of freedom. But of course looking back, its a little bit more nuanced than that.
My professor had an interesting take on this book. He believed the part 2 of the book was a reflection of life. it starts off with Pi clinging to the oar in the midst of a storm screaming and crying, an analogy for child birth. Then throughout his time with "taming" Richard Parker it was actually him battling his own demons and taking life head on. and the end when he finds the absurd island with the meerkats it was actually his death, as many go delirious in their old age, or could even a metaphor for Heavan/Hell. Its amazing to me that this book can have so many interpretations and yet none of them are wrong, thats the whole point of the book.
One of the things I liked about the movie was the look of the thing. It was easy to get caught up in the beauty of . I very much enjoyed this analysis. Certainly food for thought.
One of, if not the only, movies to faithful adapt what was written seamlessly into video form. Perfectly captures exactly what I saw in my mind's eye as I read the book.
I think the thing that made me truly fall in love with Pi is that at the beginning the author , who is shown to be skeptical and a bit cynical, says that he was told that Pi has a story "that will make him believe in God. " At the end, when he points out the parallels of the stories of Richard Parker and the "truth" of his mother, the cook, and the sailor, Pi says that Richard Parker was real because he had to be real for himself to survive and keep his humanity. "In both stories, the ship sinks, my family dies, and I suffer. So which story do you prefer?" "The one with the tiger. That's the better story." "And so it goes with God" Even if the author doesn't believe in God, Pi managed to get him to acknowledge how important faith is. That stories that are emotionally moving albeit fantastic can be more impressive than a depressingly true reality. Sometimes you just have to believe in something amazing to keep going
It is so incredible how you connected the stranger by Satyajit Ray and Life of Pi, I think The stranger is one of the best films ever made and more people should be watching it. Thank you! So is Life of Pi🎉
I think the island represents delusion, insanity, letting go of all reason. Before, every character and many of the events are grounded in either interpretation or reality. If there was a tiger or not, it doesn't change the result of the story, but it was based on a real thing. So were many different events of the journey. But the island was completely outlandish, impossible and a complete break from any form of reality. At least a lot more harshly than anything else. And it was a sort of comfort. Safety. Food, other life forms, a lot of ground to live on and no need to face the ocean, the tiger, or the little boat that he was trapped on. At day it was teeming with simple, innocent life. But when it got dark, it started to erode everything. The life in the ocean, a symbol of the vastness and near divinity of the circumstance, getting decomposed and preyed on. And finally, everything was lost in there. The human tooth symbolized how people are lost in there too, also eventually preyed on and decomposed. This utter delusion might safe one from the harshness of the ocean, the struggle and insignificance, but it is a shallow and dangerous reprieve, that slowly dissolves you in your darker moments. A toxic version of faith, where you no longer find reason and a compulsion to go on in your believe, but instead escape it utterly until it eats it's own foundation and finally, yourself.
Some times ago, I saw someone said that the whole boat sinking was Pi's father and uncle plan to get money from insurance company. The person also believes that some points of the story are real whereas some must be imaginary. I really like this point of view and I just wanted to share. For the animals, his takeaway is the zebra is his father, the orangutan his mother, the hyena his brother, the rat his girlfriend (yeah that person thinks they never bid farewell but Pi had her hidden on the lifeboat from the beginning) and the tiger is Pi himself. The reason the hyena killed the zebra was because the father had told the family that it was his plan to sink the boat. The brother out of rage, despair and fear of death, killed him. The mother (orangutan) got angry at him, and in his fury, the brother killed her as well. Pi was devastated and started to scream at the hyena (his brother). The later realized was he had done starting to feel guilt. But Pi was too angry and too emotional to care, and that's when the tiger killed the hyena, Pi killed his brother. He immediately felt guilt and looked away. The three corpses were there, untouched. Despite not having food, tiger didn't eat them, they are his family; Pi can't bring himself to eat them. Thus, the tiger started to chase the rat (his girlfriend); she is the only outsider. When Pi threw the rat to the tiger, he flew away, running away from the guilt to have eaten her. As time went, the tiger ended up eating the zebra and the hyena, but not the orangutan. Pi still can't bring himself to eat his own mother, despite starvation. There came the island, when he found roots he could eat and a seemingly peace. Until the night, when he found the tooth he realized, he had given in, he ate his mother's corpse. I think the person said that upon this, Pi decided to bet one last time and try to survive and find land. Tiger not turning his head one last time as farewell, not only is characteristic of an animal; but why would you want to bid farewall with Richard Parker, cannibalism symbol, just let it go. When I watched the movie the first time 10 years ago, I didn't understand an once. I never really thought much about it. Recently hearing people talking about it that I am realizing how deep it was
I love how you broke down this movie into one depicting the subjectivity and choice of faith! I only remember this movie as that one visually stunning animal film as a kid but it really got me thinking as someone who has chosen to be an agnostic-athiest. Got me a better understanding of the inner makings to that choice and the positive aspects taken from it. Might give this whole film another watch after 10 years!
As a film lover, I had taken too long to see this film. This video/synopsis was so well thought and put together. It encapsulated all of the themes and speculations remaining in my head which were then so well spoken to in a way that it seems as though there's no room for further analysis-- I am just trying to say that what you have in this video is exactly what all of us were hoping to walk away with. Well done!!!
Yo this gave me huge sudden wave of forgotten memory. I can somewhat remember this being one of my first movies I ever watched. So definitely going to rewatch.
One of the best movies ❤. My take is, it does matter what you believe. Had Pi not believed in a God or transcendence, he would’ve died. Reason would’ve told him to let go. Faith kept him alive. Imagine yourself in Pi’s situation - would you have made it out alive if you didn’t believe there’s more to life than what we perceive with our naked eyes?
This description was spot on. I have read this book too many times and Martels symbolism is eye opening. You will always find something new or some parallel connections in the book.
I love this the concept you're talking about. I think you could refer to the truth in this case as "story truth" and "happening truth". Since Pi is still telling the truth of the story, but not necessarily the truth of reality or fact.
When you were talking about needing a reason to not let go of the oar. I think surviving simply because you have to or because of this deep instinct to just want to live and succeeding in surviving has to be one of the most liberating things ever.
People don’t talk about this movie enough. That moment when Richard Parker left and didn’t look back has always haunted me.
Same.
as a kid I was so upset because after being through hell with someone how could you not look back, but I always want to see friends in animals, regardless if they’re wild or not
Same. As kid when I first watched the movie, I didn't want to acknowledge that the tiger would simply go. Even though I could kinda understand, I couldn't really grasp the concept of a wild animal. It makes much more sense to me now but it leaves a sort of void that might stem from the human desire to project humanity onto everything even where it is not to be found like a wild tiger.
@@pinkbluepanter2374 I agree, I was eight when the movie came out, kept waiting desperately for Richard Parker to come back. Cried too. Still feel uneasy thinking about it.
Yeah, even though they went through that hell, he didnt even like look back to see what was all that crying and shouting was about, but he was a wild animal, he was probably more excited to be back in a jungle after decades of being locked in a cage and then moths of being trapped on a boat in the middle of nowhere.
And it was a tiger, which do not possess emotions and thoughts as complex as humans.
Ironically, I saw the cover for the book and wanted to read it based on the cover alone, but was so used to cover art not being indicative of a book th's I literally said "its probably not about a boy being a small boat with a tiger" - when I saw the trailer for the movie I was like "wait - it is actually about that?" Lol. Watched the film then read the book and I enjoyed both
LOL
I accidentally read the book when I was fucking TEN for this reason- the cover made it look like a fun adventure story. The cannibalism bit scarred me for life.
@@oomflem that's awful. Yeah it's a very intense story. Not for young kids for sure.
I'm glad you shared that story lol.
@@oomflem haha same! i read it around 11 or 12. what freaked me out the most though was actually the meerkat island. i also remember that at the time, Bunnicula terrified me to tears and nightmares, contrarily to Life of Pi, for some reason.
I believe the island represents the gnawing desire to give up that many people would feel in a situation like this. That Pi himself considered. That he could just... settle here. And he might not live long, but we all die someday. In the end, his choice to leave is his refusal to give up and an affirmation of his faith in the deities of his religions. One last act of putting his fate in their hands, to see if they may deliver him back home.
This interpretation is based on the shape of the island in the film so it may not hold true for the novel, but the island is shaped like the Buddha - specifically the pose the Buddha assumed when he knew he was dying and he lay down to wait for his life to end. The island in this case, represents how Pi could have done the same if he had stayed.
I like that idea. Not as gorey or sad as the others.
The island was shape like god vishnu and that scene was representation of vishnu flooting in the space among stars just like how he described vishu earlier in the story.
@@maddasher8471 you just copy pasted the interpretation already mentioned in the video
I feel like the island was a real uncharted island that had all the qualities necessary to sustain life until old age. The dangers at night are a metaphor about how time and death are inevitable, and the tooth is a symbol for the fate of choosing to stay there for the rest of your life.
Similar to what I was thinking. The island represents giving into our fear of moving forward. The fear will give us the necessities to survive and can even appear to be a reasonable alternative… but it is also insidious and will eat us. So we can give into our fear and stay on this island that’s way more comfortable than the painful journey on the waters and survive until we die or we can rise above our fears and leave the temptation to submit to them behind, so that we can live until we die.
Ive always viewed the story with Richard Parker was real. Even if fantastical. All that matters is Pi experienced it and knows it to be true. And only Pi really knows since no one else lived. So its the audience, not Pi, who has to take the leap of faith to believe his story. But like the Japanese businessmen, most of the audience are dismissive of faith and can only believe the cruel story.
Agreed. I walked out of the movie strongly thinking that the tiger was real. I was so disappointed after watching the movie to find that so many people took it as fact that the tiger story didn't happen and it was just a coping mechanism. The movie ends on this beautiful message about being able to believe in things even if they seem fantastical and not just see the world as cruel hard logic. That there are wondrous parts of the world. And then the majority of the audience just said "Nah, there's no meaning. He's just making up stories to deal with his trauma. That sucks." It feels like they just were not engaging with the movie at all.
Me too. I and my partner who love Big Cats think the Tiger was real. "Without love it cannot be seen."
THANK YOU. This is what I argued in my highschool book report about this but the teacher didn't agree smh. As far as I'm concerned, Pi does believe all of this happened. Those put into horribly traumatizing situations tend to believe the fantastical.
@@emolgana sounds like your English teacher doesn't really have media literacy. It's very clear in the book that the ending is ambiguous and either might be true, based on what the above comments have mentioned and also there are several pieces of the tiger story that don't fit into the more realistic story. Sorry your English teacher sucks.
Japanese businessmen end up believing the story with the tiger by the way
My philosophy teacher made a very convincing argument for the theory of the island…he argues that it is a representation of Pi’s own starvation. Initially, the island is seen as in the shape of a man, presumably in this case, Pi. When one’s body begins to break down the muscle this person is considered starving. The island’s carnivorous nature would represent this. The idea behind the absurdity (meerkats, bioluminescence, only seen by Pi, figment of imagination) of the island represents the lack of brain function associated with extreme starvation, and the tooth could represent something such as scurvy, which would likely be experienced by someone starving at sea. His mention of weakness as he’s leaving the island would be a reference to the weakness associated with starvation as well. I, of course, am doing this theory no justice in butchering the explanation, but when he explained it, it seemed fairly convincing.
That's the interpretation I was getting from the movie. And that staying on the island was basically the choice of killing himself, or at least, letting himself die and stop trying to get to shore
I guess yes it indeed is convincing and makes sense
The phenomenon you were getting at is called autophagia (literally means "self-eating"), which is when your body has an insufficient stock of nutrients to burn for fuel, and starts consuming itself.
I think that the island represents Pi's mother and Pi's decision to finally eat her. He was starving before he reached the island, the island provided him food. The island is called Carnivore Island. It looks like a sleeping woman. Pi ties
a bracelet on one of the roots of trees on the island with somber music playing in the background, it is like he is tying the bracelet on his
mother's hand.
I thought the island was the shape of Vishnu - the god of preservation and sometimes the saviour of humanity. I think western audiences down play or aren't aware of the Hindu influences and subtexts in this movie. I don't think you can underestimate Yann Martel's self proclaimied Salman Rushdie influences, either in terms of magical realism, Indian spiritualism and general story telling.
Never watched the movie. Read the book once and still such a memorable story. Still have not heard of a youth-targeted fiction book that handles religion in such an open and contemplative manner.
I highly recommend the movie! I’m not sure how close it sticks to the book but the visuals and music are INCREDIBLE
The movie is incredible. I love it. I'll read the book too once I got the chance :)
While the movie doesn’t stick very closely to the book, it misses out on the religion development and adds a love interest- it is a really beautiful movie, the book of course always has the biggest place in my heart for it but the movie is nice to watch if you try to separate it from the book! Loved the actor for Pi, i feel he really embodied this role!
The movie is beautiful
Wild animals are not necessarily your friends--nobody is a disney princess--but it would be disengenuous to pretend there's nothing more to animals than the need to survive. They are thinking, feeling, calculating, and though Life of Pi claims otherwise on the surface I think it acknowledges this in how the tiger behaves.
Not as a friend the way humans see it, because it clearly wasn't a case that belonged in activity, but as a comrade. Other than raising it from birth yourself, trust is the closest thing to 'friends' a wild animal can get--and that could only be gained once trustworthiness was shown. Once Pi had shown the tiger not only was he too strong to consider food, but wouldn't act as a predator either; that a symbiosis could be formed.
In the end, maybe the tiger didn't look back.
Maybe, it's because the tiger knew it didn't need to.
based
based
based
Imagine if that was a Pokemon story.
You do the writing good. That last line was rich
I watched this movie at the cinema with my mother at 7yo, when Richard Parker left I started to cry incontrollably and haven’t stopped for at least 2hours. I didn’t even know why, all I knew is that this movie changed my view of life and emotions forever
literally same I was going straight for the comments ✋🏼😭😭😭
I was also a 7yo when i saw this movie I still remember Richard parker not looking back scene 😭
@@raajuuteddd2202 he didn't look back but he envisioned Pi smiling at him before he(Richard) going inside the jungle
I remember when our AP Lang teacher had us read the book in class and we were going over talking about Richard Parker being a manifestation of Pi's guilt and trauma after seeing his mother being killed and eaten, the he killed and ate the cook. Then one of my classmates said that Richard Parker may not have actually been real to begin with. As in, there was never a tiger at their zoo named Richard Parker. At first everyone, including me, confronted him saying of course he was real. He just wasn't actually on the boat.
Then he pointed out his evidence, the evidence being the photograph of Richard Parker that the author in the story looks at in adult Pi's home. He noted that it was a picture of a bunch of school children getting their picture taken at the zoo. Pi then exclaims about Richard Parker being in the photo, and when the author looks, he sees Richard Parker looking away from the photo. However, there are two noteworthy parts that stood out to all of us as soon as it was pointed out. First being that Richard Parker, although named, wasn't shown as a tiger. In the book there was no indication of Richard Parker being a tiger until they reached the ocean. The second point is why would a tiger be around a bunch of school children. Pi's father already showed how he doesn't trust the animals being in close proximity to people, much less children, unless there's a cage between them, so why would there be a tiger amongst them.
What we came to the conclusion of is that the "Richard Parker" in the photo was actually Pi as a child, which would make sense considering Richard Parker the tiger is a manifestation of Pi's trauma. After that, the book became one of my favorite books of all time.
this is amazing
Mind. Blown.
The Tsimtsum also didn't sink when or where it sank, nor did anything remotely close to it. It's an excellently crafted story that seems just plausible enough, but in fact none of it ever happened.
I don’t think that works. Pi tells his story to an author. The chapters in italics are the words and thoughts of this author. In chapter 33, Pi shows him photograps and points at one saying “That’s Richard Parker”.
If Pi had been pointing at himself or any human, then the author would surely have mentioned this. Instead, he says: “Richard Parker is looking away. He doesn’t even realize that his picture is being taken.” This is a first hint that despite his name, Richard Parker is an animal, although many readers might miss this. Animals don’t pose for the camera. At this point in the novel we haven’t been told yet that Richard Parker is a tiger, and Yann Martel has so far been misleading us to believe he is a human. You interpret this chapter as Martel secretly telling us that the tiger is a human/Pi, but you’re thinking in precisely the wrong direction.
(Before the RP photo, Pi shows a photo of people with a giraffe in the background. This sets up the premise of people being photographed in the zoo with an animal in the background, like with Richard Parker.)
@@Brinta3 You see that would be the case if the author didn't explicitly state that when Pi started talking about Richard Parker in the story, he said he was surprised that it was a tiger and not a person. Not to mention he doesn't know what Pi looks like as a kid, so of course he wouldn't bring up that the person he was pointing to was kid Pi.
I had a pet cockatoo named Cassy and Life Of Pi was her favorite movie, she would cry until we put it on for and if we tried to put on a different movie she would scream through it. So I've watched Life of Pi a ridiculous amount of times. sadly 2 years ago Cassy fell off her cage leaving her paralyzed and we had to put her down she was 32 years old. Life of Pi will always hold a special place in my heart as It reminds me of her. Rest in peace Cassy ❤️
Aww my condolences man😕
32 years! Thats amazing.
Im sorry about your loss, RIP.
Parrots can easily live up to 80 years. If you want a pet that last you for life, get a bird, not a dog.@@joshdykstra142
❤
I feel so dumb. I read the title and went "of course its not real, it's obviously CGI"
😂 I was worried people would think that's what I was referring to haha
Me too lol. Click on the vid asking if it’s real, how would they get a tiger on board with this (pun intended) and coming out of it with a beautiful life lesson…
Same.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 made my day with this comment.
Not fully, some scenes used a real tiger. In fact they almost drowned him during filming
I love the conclusion that the "truth doesn't matter," it reminds me of American Psycho, where the greatest debate surrounding it was whether Bateman actually did all those killings. In my opinion, it wouldn't matter whether he did or not, that's not what the message of the movie or book is aiming for.
I love American psycho lol. One of my fav movies along with this one.
The conclusion shouldn't be truth doesn't matter its saying that both stories were true.
I remember seeing this movie 8 months after my sister's death in a car accident involving my whole family, including me. I now recognize that choosing to watch that movie, without knowing what to expect, was the best and worst decision I've ever made in my life. The worst, because the trauma of having lost my sister so painfully weighed heavily on my heart... seeing Pi's pain, anguish, suffering and uncertainty reminded me of my own. But it was also the best decision because I remember the comfort that the movie offered to my heart, the hope that I felt. It made me realize that life does not prepare us for lost even though we are all destined to feel it and therefore you can choose to suffer or choose to love. I choose to love and that is why now the memory of my sister is not tied to that accident but to the love I still feel for her. I will never forget how that movie made me feel, I cried so much at that time and I cry again today remembering it. It was so important in my life because it not only helped me through my grief but also helped me understand my faith.
April, I feel you are describing the state of reconciliation, where we come to accept things as they are rather than as we would like them to be. I'm sure that you would so much prefer that your sister was here, alive and with you in this life right now, but you have accepted that she is gone and cannot come back ... but she lives on in your heart and your memories of her. This is why so many religions include remembrance of, and prayer, for those who have traveled on ~ and a deep appreciation of the gift that their presence was to us when they were here. Thus, we do things like burn a candle before the portrait of a loved one, honoring their memory, their presence in our lives, and their influence on the people we've become.
Read and enjoyed the book, but never watched this movie because of the issues with the vfx team behind this filing for bankrupcy and closing down after the studio paid almost nothing for their work. I remember how in the academy awards for "best vfx" picket lines were forming outside the event hall to raise awareness about the almost sweatshop conditions animators and artists had to endure during the making of this film.
there's a great 30 min documentary here on RUclips about that. It's called Life After Pi. I recommend watching it to anyone, as it is a serious issue in this industry.
pirate it if you don't want to give the studio money. It's worth a watch.
@@citizenvulpes4562 good idea you could appreciate the work and art that was made while still protesting against the studio that screwed over those workers
@@DecimusYna I mean. Depends on what you pirate.
@@DecimusYna until you are the one getting pirated
I remember the dude at the end saying “bananas don’t float.”
I went home, filled up my kitchen sink and tossed a banana in. Lo and behold the banana was floating. Now I can’t say that _all_ bananas float, but that was good enough for me as a 15 year old kid to realize that faith is an experiment like anything else. If you live by the principles of whatever religion you are, you will find that it will build your faith.
We read this book in my high school literature class and it's easily one of my favorite books of all time. We spent a lot of time talking about the algae island, and the only consensus we came to was that it had Garden of Eden imagery. Some of us viewed it as the desire to just give up, some of us viewed it as a hallucination brought on by heatstroke (which the movie cut), some of us thought of it as a true part of the story. I'm partial to the interpretation that it was the call for him to give up, but there's a million ways to interpret that particular part of the story.
What I mostly talked about in the class, though, was that both Pi and Yann Martel have in the past condemned agnostics, but the book actually has a very agnostic message to it. In the book, Pi compares agnostics to unimaginative, unmoving people, calls them "dry and yeastless bread." He interprets agnosticism as the belief that there will never be enough evidence for a higher power. Yann repeats this viewpoint in a panel about the book. The agnostic is presented as the antithesis of the book's message. But that always confused me, because I viewed agnosticism as saying "I don't know, so I might as well humor what others tell me about their faith. It could be true, I can't say." The one thing that I think me and Yann Martel would agree on is that the agnostic stance is one that says "I don't know." However, while Yann sees that as the end of the discussion, me and many other agnostics use it as a jumping-off point to indulge in the teachings of other religions. Which is very much the message of Life of Pi. The question of "was the tiger real?" doesn't really matter in the end. In deciding to suspend your disbelief and engage with the book's teachings, you can come out changed. Which is exactly the core of many agnostics' viewpoints. Are other religions true? Who's to say. But they can still have beauty and wisdom in their teachings that we can be open to by not tying ourselves too closely to one story.
I'm not sure how relevant this is to the video, lol. But this is one of my absolute favorite books and I could talk about it for hours. Hopefully I can get some different opinions :)
This is very well said! I completely agree I was a bit confused why he considered agnostics in that light--that somehow "I don't know" would be the end of discussion, as you put it. Like you said, it's often the opposite: it makes people want to explore and learn and consider all viewpoints because they're not tethered to one story/reality. You've articulated it perfectly :)
@@QualityCulture Thank you! That means a lot :)
the way you wrote your comment was good and it actually explains agnostic well!! i might use it to try to explain to my friends when they get curious about my own belief,which i find difficult to explain at times. admitting you dont know and accepting that none of us will probably ever really know for certain is a good concept in life
I absolutely love this viewpoint. You wrote it perfectly
So how do you explain him condemning agnostics? What’s the purpose of writing that? Especially since the book is agnostic in its message.
I feel like the Island is similar to Please Island from Pinocchio. It seems like a wonderland at first, but then you realize it's going to eat you alive. It's a solution to your problem that is too good to be true.
I think it was Pleasure Island
I always thought of the meerkat island as a metaphor for the temptation to give in to complacency that a lot of religions offer. It's the temptation to let gods or fate control your life, and let go of personal control or responsibility. The island is a built in critique of religion, in a story dedicated to the love of spirituality. At least in my enterpretation
You seem to have a fallacy
Every thing that you consider bad about religion is you call it religion while every thing that you like about religions you call it spirituality. Religion is merely a set of consistent and organized spiritual beliefs.
@@MohamedRamadan-qi4hl you seen to have the fallacy of doing a bad faith reading. Spirituality is an element of religion. A religion is far more than the spirituality it espouses. A religion is also its art, its literature and the community it creates. Life of Pi is specifically a book/movie about the beauty of spirituality in any religion. However, because it is a nuanced story, it also critiques other elements of religion.
@@Moeller750 the art, literature, community, of a religion are the products of its believers acting upon {or not acting upon. Hypocrisy is a very human thing after all} their spiritual beliefs
@@MohamedRamadan-qi4hl and so, spirituality is but one element of religion. I see we are in agreement
@@Moeller750 yes it is one element it is one element. But it is THE ELEMENT its beating heart and core. With out it a religion is just a group of seclure rules and practices
I've always considered this film one of the best of the 2010s, although I haven't seen it in a while. This video was very refreshing, both in terms of remembering what this film was about, and about how special it was. I like your angle about it, and I'll definitely watch it again soon. Kudos to everyone
I only ever watched Life of Pi once, but it was the best movie-going experience of my life. It was a cold winter evening shortly after Christmas and I went to see the film alone, cause none of my friends were interested in it. It was fantastic in and of itself, and when it was done, I felt completely at peace. And when I stepped out after the film onto the quiet, empty parking lot, I saw that it was covered with a pristine, undesturbed layer of fresh snow that wasn't there when I arrived and that glittered magically in the lamp light. You could say I had a bit of a spiritual experience that evening that couldn't have happened with a different film, at a different time or if I had had company. Just all around beautiful. Life of Pi will always have a special place in my heart for that alone.
Sounds amazing. Im happy you experienced this.
Great job! This is a great movie that often is not remembered or discussed.
@Aniya Moore I remember loving it when I was younger but I'm now almost 19, and I want to rewatch it to appreciate it in a new lense
Dude everyone was obsessed with it when it came out
When Pi was trying to keep Richard Parker out of the boat, I feel that it was actually Pi considering suicide to some capacity. When he built the raft and let Richard Parker back onto the boat, that was Pi deciding to try and keep living despite it all
That is actually a great take!
Ohhhh snappp
This is the single greatest evidence I’ve heard towards the second story being the truth
That's perfect
I always thought of the Island as being an Eden of sorts. He's in a beautiful place where everything he needs to survive is provided for him, then when he finds a fruit he learns something from it that makes him leave.
One of the themes I get from Life of Pi is the act of moving on. Just as he had to learn to live with and then let go of the tiger he knew in order to grow he had to let go of Eden
As an Orthodox christian that was raised a Buddhist, grew up tp become an atheist to eventually turn to Christ, this film and the message behind it speaks more to me on a spiritual level then any other film that came since. It nails a key message that marked my life personally. That life is not about always chasing the most likely truth, but chasing the truth that leads to the most good.
Thanks for your wonderful essay. You've earned a new sub.
Made me realize how lucky I am to be a hindu. Oldest religion and philosophy in the world.
Wow, you chose rusted iron for gold
When I first read the book I could so easily visualize it in my head. It's the most cinematic book I'd ever read, so I'm glad it exists in movie form.
Thanks for breaking down what Martel was trying to say with this story - it was really interesting hearing his elaboration from interviews. I find it interesting that people got so hung up on trying to decode the "mystery" and missed the point in the process.
I know the guy who animated the Tiger took him 2 1/2 years. It was really interesting to ask him questions when I saw him.
AND??? YOU CANT SAY THAT WITHOUT THE DETAILS BRO. WHAT DID HE SAY? HOW DID U MET at least what u remember or something xd
it doesn’t matter if the tiger i real or not, what matters is YOUR decision about that question. Do you prefer a magical, very interesting story filled with fantastical events (religion or storytelling) or the horrific, heart-wrenching story that’s sad but also incredible (atheism, or real life)?
This hits the nail on the head for me. I think I would consider the real story to be the one without the tiger but I can totally understand that people need the other to cope with it. I thing religion gives alot to people but it is just not for me.
That’s pretty accurate. I prefer the real story, even if it is more bleak
I like animals but i also like the video and the theories about it so ima say…. Both 🙃
As an agnostic, I feel it is obligated of me to say that I don’t know if it was either, so both is good.
Why do people associate religion with storytelling and atheism with reality?😂
This feels like a great sister essay to folding ideas' essay on content creators' videos on the ambiguous ending in Annihilation. I love this really genuine critique that you do
I was literally just thinking the same thing! People do the same thing with Life of Pi that they do with Annihilation: pick it apart on a surface level to find the literal “truth” in a fictional story, rather than engaging with said story on its own terms. So glad we have videos to counteract that with both stories now!
I remember seeing this movie on tv when i was 14. At that point i had become very religious by my own choice but the way i practiced my love for god was different from the normal, therefor i related to pi. I also really loved animals ever since i was little. Watching this movie made me feel more spiritually activated than sitting in a confining church. Now that I’m older i see now how this story has influenced my own views of storytelling. Regardless of the logic and realism of a story, many including myself are moved by the real emotions of fiction presented in states that are just as abstract and connected as feelings usually are. Religion is no different, weaving symbolic narratives to reflect deeper thoughts and emotions we can aspire to understand.
I’m just now realizing i watched this video on march 14th. Wild
Have you seen “campbell message of the myth,” episode 2 of power of myth? Youd love it
@@Am-ih5nfI haven’t but thanks for the recommendation
@@VixenLovelove its on youtube if you search it. Amazing interview highly relevant to your comment
I have to disagree. The movie is not about the idea of "it doesn't matter". It's at its core a story about faith and belief. The ambiguous ending is demonstrative of the nature of faith. Do you choose the grounded, more gruesome story to know what is most likely the truth? Or do you choose to believe the story that isn't true, but is fantastical in nature and provides piece of mind. I don't think it is a matter of whether it's fake or true, but the onus is in what you believe. I read the book too and I think this idea is more poignantly in the book than the movie, as we analyzed this in English class almost 10 years ago.
I don't remember if this comes up in the movie, but there's a passage in the book where Pi comes to understand the concept of atheism, and though he is not himself an atheist he respects the idea as its own form of faith. Without wasting a breath, he immediately declares that he still does not understand agnosticism, as that hesitation and lack of certainty really bothers him. For whatever reason, that passage really resonated with me, and I still remember it.
I never considered how this relates to the ending, but I think this backs you up. You could say the cannibalistic story is the "atheist" interpretation and the tiger story is the "religious" interpretation. Pi himself would reject an agnostic interpretation, where you try to have it both ways.
*onus btw and excellently said
…..that’s what she said.
Edit: Apparently I need to clarify that I’m not making a ‘that’s what she said’ joke. I do literally mean that the comment is repeating what she (the speaker in the video) said.
I mean, I think “it doesn’t matter” is absolutely part of what it has to say about faith and belief, in a way. As someone else in this threat mentioned, there’s that passage in the book where he mentions his respect for atheism (though but agnosticism). The point, I think, is that the literal “truth” isn’t the point. It doesn’t matter. No one can ever truly know. What matters is the emotional truth to each individual person. So I think your interpretation and this video’s interpretation are two sides of the same coin. The literal truth doesn’t matter, precisely because one’s individual belief is all they can know for sure.
I never read the book and its been a while since i have seen the movie. Im going to read the book soon
I can't even THINK about this movie without getting choked up and teary-eyed. It's hard to explain the lasting effect of this heartbreakingly poignant movie. Oddly enough, I didn't feel quite this emotional when I read the book, even though it was just as deeply immersive. I think the acting of the young protagonist was just so sincere and emotional that you'd have to be callous and hard-hearted not to be moved. Both the book and the film really leave you thinking about the beauty and fragile tenderness of life itself.
I watched this movie with my dad when it first came out and it was the first and only time I've ever seen him cry, it really shook me up.
18:00 The fact that this scene is made to expose that Richard Parker was, indeed, Pi all along, is acceptable. But, to think that this scene means that Richard Parker was real and he was reminding Pi to say goodbye, it tears me apart. 💔
Maybe it’s looking at religion from a modern, 2020 era lens but I always saw the island as a metaphor for the kind of insidious sects that pop up around religion. It’s comforting to think your search for truth is over in the folds of the masses of people or easy preachings that conveniently leave out any kind of hard work or caring for anyone else. But you’ll be eaten away by this complacency and you’ll never really be a part of god’s plan, only continuing to make life harder for the next people. So while it would have been easy for Pi to abandon his hardships and struggles (finding his place in God’s plan through the metaphor of his journey through the ocean) in favor of the comforting arms of evangelical Christianity, he had to keep trying to find God’s will (reaching the true shore).
I feel the greater meaning lies within the vast parameters we don’t see, but perhaps have a slight sense.
In this case Pi speaks of feeling a deeper and transcendent connection that was shared with Richard Parker.
It could be argued that even though they were stranded at sea together, each experience was vastly different based on many factors such as species and communication.
But coming back to where I feel the greater meaning lies This video wonderfully expresses the build up to how each experience is significant once is can be perceived or felt or even thought of.
And the things we don’t see / know adds weight in all the possibilities of our finite senses. Perhaps showcasing a forever growing and detailed canvas.
What we do find out, is at the end of the film Richard Parker did look back
At first it wasn’t perceived that way, just an animalistic pause if you will.
But within that a the movie does a wonderful job of displaying the transcendent nature of life in the way the tiger in fact did feel, did imagine and in doing so sharing his brief flash back with us.
In a sense as the viewer we are in the position of god. We can only watch and at the same time discover the details that no one else can know “dramatic irony” at its beat
All in all creations such as these brings us closer to seeing a version of truth, a feelings that cannot be denied, a ripple effect that will always be known to an extent we can only imagine.
And yet here we are, apart of the ripple
I love this analysis; I think in a way it calls back to the thing's Pi's father tried to instill in him. He tried his hardest to fight it, but after everything he's been through, little slivers of it seep into his thoughts, and in missing that one second, some of it was solidified to him. The idea of a ripple effect in the context of religion, especially hinduism, makes me think of the possibility of the tiger reincarnating and by now being an important part of Pi's life again; I'm SO tempted to say the reporter especially with the reddish hair, but I don't remember anything about him to be able to say so
If a God can only watch, then it's no god at all
@@FumanyuX brings to question doesn’t it, what even is god?
Could it truly be explained as everything and yet nothing at all?
Whether you land on any conclusion it’ll never be fully satisfactory. One thing is for sure, there will always stand a polarity to the complexity of what sees, and what is.
My dad introduced me to this movie when I was a kid and although it kind of bored me at points, I still recognized that it was really a movie/book that had a deeper meaning than “But was it all a dream?? Why are there animals? 😱”
I think that the island represents Pi's mother and Pi's decision to finally eat her. He was starving before he reached the island, the island provided him food. The island is called Carnivore Island. It looks like a sleeping woman. Pi ties
a bracelet on one of the roots of trees on the island with somber music playing in the background, it is like he is tying the bracelet on his
mother's hand.
Bro Pi didn't eat his mother lmao, he ate the chef
I almost totally forgot this movie existed, very good to revisit it and the deeper themes a decade later.
This video reminded me how pivotal this movie was in my life.
When this film came out, I was taking a Global Mythology class. I had recently switched to public high school, after 8 hard years of Catholic school. I had a long and complicated spiritual journey--I was not Catholic, and therefore often bullied for not fitting in at school and missing all the sacraments. I did spend a few years thinking I was destined for hell, as was directly taught to me. Switching to public school, I was still hungry to understand religion, and primarily to prove Christianity "wrong". While my Global Myth class was indeed about ancient myth stories of all religions, we also spent a large portion of the semester studying the 5 most popular global religions. Through this semester it became completely undeniable how similar all religions are, and what place they serve in teaching so many aspects of what being human means to us all.
This movie, combined with my absolutely amazing Global Mythology teacher, taught me the complexity of myth and humanity. They both brought me firmly to where I stand now--believing both in all religions and no religions. They are all fascinating perspectives, and they all offer something useful to stability as a person. They are all also fraught with human issues relating to corruption and shame. At the end of the day, it is a way to feel okay. It is something amazing that calls us to be amazed with everything around us. I think for some, it is the last drop of childlike wonderment that we make stick around.
It's interesting now to talk about or even think about religion and what they mean, because I used to be SO obsessed with the subject and finding the "truth". Now it's hardly something that crosses my mind. It is an unanswerable question, and in my opinion everyone is just as right as they are wrong. The only remaining effect is that I don't really feel like discussion religion beyond admiring just how objectively fascinating it is. That, and whenever someone says something like "Thank god for this food before us" I just replace the word "god" with "universe", and admire how humans have come to admire serendipity like that. I can't deny that I WANT to believe in magic, in a greater purpose. And ya know, he's right. Why not?
Thanks so much for sharing, I really liked reading your perspective! "The last drop of childlike wonderment that we make stick around", that's a lovely way of putting it :)
I came across this books when I was in India. I was helping around an institution and once while cleaning a room, I found this book. I asked my supervisor if I could keep it and she said sure. Before that I had never heard of this book but the concept of a boy and a tiger on a boat was so crazy that I had to read it. Of course it was completely different from what I had expected but this book gave me company when I was all alone, away from family for the first time and was dealing with the loss of my father only a year back. This book gave me the strength I needed and 10 years later, I still have it with me.
that's a good story
I got it from a street vendor while out on a walk in Mumbai, haven't read it yet.
During the movie, I remember being kind of bored but completely entranced by the visual effects, especially the mangrove scene. But many years after, I still remember it, in a lot of small ways.
I also think another part that's vastly misunderstood about (the book especially) the narration is who is telling. Life of Pi is a tall tale-story which still has deep cultural relevance in non-anglo countries (India, China, Japan, Indonesia, Scandinavia to an extent). The strong hierarchical structure of respect for elders gives elders sf a privilege of telling tall tales of themselves and friends, go into tangents and make stories magical to function as allegories for younger children. Life of Pi is the question of belief, but as an Uncle it's a story about how despite all odds you can survive as long as you keep calm and carry on. The narration is wildly familiar to many of my friends from different cultures.
I’m so glad I stumbled across this video! I read the book shortly before the movie came out, and often say it’s one of the few books that completely changed my worldview after I read it. The movie, though not without flaws, took a book that seemed impossible to adapt and made a surprisingly good adaptation of it. However, people seem to misinterpret both so often. Loving your insights into the message of this underrated story!
I watched this movie last night, I feel like that is a story about the director of the film, it also reflects the pressure we were facing in our childhood and the conflicts of values between parents and children. I sobbed when seeing the skinny tiger left Pi and head to the place where he supposed to back to .
2012 was my favorite year when it came to films. It was the year I actually started becoming interested in the cinematic world and I’m so glad I got to see this one during that time. It was beautiful and the lessons learned are what I still hold close to me till this day. The visuals blew my mind honestly, unlike any other film during that time!!! It’s still at the top of my list when it comes to visually pleasing films and yes I know there are better but I don’t care. I’m just now starting to read the book and am excited to see the film again after not having watched it in 2 years
This film for sure is in my top ten. Great to see you cover it and it's fair uniqueness 🙌
I believe the island is his dead mother’s body, which until this point he had had kept with him on the boat out of love or out of necessity (sustenance). Leaving the island represents him finally letting her go and putting her to rest via burial at sea, but not before collecting as many meerkats (maggots) as he could to feed Richard Parker (himself) for as long as he could.
we had to read the book for school and i hated it, but the story is actually very touching and heartwarming, i've came to appreciate it over the years
No book will ever be good when you are forced to read it, and definitely not when forced to read it at school. It is very much about being in the right state of mind and receptive to the story. One needs to choose to read a book, not be forced.
@@TheSilverwing999 very true!
Richard Parker was his inner beast, the same beast that killed the hyena when it killed his mother (orangutan). The same beast that tried to kill him. The same beast that was his companion during the rough storms, remember that the beast did not get out of the boat in that island. For that island was an illusion of hope meant to really keep him from reaching the shore. If you look back at the story wholly, you will see the entire journey starts from Pi not being in harmony with his beast, to finally conquering it and then separating from it as it leaves him so unceremoniously.
The beast, Richard Parker, was the single reason what kept him alive.
Li of Pi is the ultimate book which emphasizes upon the importance of being in tune with ones inner beast.
It hurts us, haunts us, scares us but in the end it is our valiant effort to keep it away is what helps us get through the rough storms of life
I read the book in high school and it stuck with me. It wasn't particularly transformational when I was reading it for class or doing the assignments, but later, in college, I started deconstructing the American evangelical faith I'd been raised in and my thoughts kept returning to Life of Pi. The idea of meaning and truth, and how sometimes the fantastical can be more true (or at least a different kind of truth) than reality. How the things we believe guide us, help us endure.
I'm glad to see more people talking about the film and the book. It's utterly profound and just a fantastic way to explore spirituality (mostly) removed from specific theologies.
I’m a agnostic atheist and I find it so beautiful how people can believe in these things and hold it to their heart. It’s lovely.
I remember when this movie came out I didn't care for it. A lot of my friends were raving about it at the time and me being the contrarian didn't even bother with it because it was "mainstream." I didn't see any of the trailers, I assumed it was about a kid that was a math prodigy. A couple months later, it was out on video so I decided to watch it. It was just beautiful both story-wise and the visuals. I live its take on faith, especially from the perspective of an Indian kid who wanted to believe in three religions. I still remember watching it again with my family. I plopped down my laptop on the dining room table while we watched it for lunch. I thought for sure they would give me grief for it, but my family ended up finishing the entire movie even after we were done eating. My dad, to this day still believes that it was actually Pi, his mom, and the cook were on the boat.
Glad you ended up watching it in the end, but the way you acted in the beginning, not wanting to experience something because it is "mainstream", is honestly a lot of what is wrong with the world.
It is a very selfcentered attitude. Basically anyone could truthfully be telling you about the positives of the movie, but you would dismiss them out of hand. < and this is the issue in the world I am trying to get at.
@@TheSilverwing999 The friends I mentioned didn't really have a good track record of recommending things haha. That's also why I was a bit wary.
That’s how I felt about a stranger Things show - since it’s so mainstream. I gave it a chance 2 yrs later and I love love love that series! Still I haven’t watched Game of Thrones. 😑 But yea it happens… I watch reviews ahead of time mostly….even some bad reviews still has me watching stuff tho like this latest Marilyn film on Netflix with Ana. It’s not bad at all like people say LoL
You have given this movie so much thought and praise in such a professional way, I'm surprised your channel hasn't reached 1M subscribers yet. Either way, I'm glad I came across your video and will gladly help you get there! :)
Your voice is nice to listen to, the music and scenes you choose for background noise and visuals are very soothing and don't interrupt your speech. You give praise to multiple aspects rather than just saying "the movie is good" including the Indian representation and how the story doesn't end with Pi and Richard Parker being best buddies. I can't wait to see more of your content.
I just came across this channel and I totally agree with everything you said. I just subbed as well :)
My inner child interpreted the island literally. Why does it have to be a metaphor for anything? Why couldn’t it have just happened? 75% of our planet is ocean and 90% of it is unexplored. Who’s to say a floating carnivorous island doesn’t truly exist out there? 😜
Pi Patel reminds me of my relatives who tell absolutely enchanting,mesmerising and legendary tales which are probably false.
When Pi asked the writer what story he liked, the writer said the one with the tiger in it.
The imaginary story had lot of meaning in it, lot of spiritual strength and courage.
Where as the true story was sad and scary.
Because the Tiger story has a greater value.
Pi is just a person who created a imaginary story around his harsh and unfortunate reality shedding greater meaning of his spiritual journey.
The best theory told to me by my friend is that the Tiger signifies "anger and fear"... Pi is angry and afraid in the ocean and that keeps him alive in the ocean... But when he reaches the shore, his anger and fear go away.
That's why he is calm when we see the older Pi.
The first time I watched the movie I was absolutely wrecked when Richard Parker didn't look back. I haven't seen the movie in so long that I began to think in retrospect that it was an overreaction. Watching this video, though, I got emotional all over again when you talked about that moment - especially in the context of its meaning. I should really rewatch this movie. It's pretty fantastic.
Honestly it's been such a long time since I watched the movie let alone read the book that I'm not sure I have a full answer for what the carnivorous island represents so much as its narrative purpose in the story. The book is so surreal that it becomes a gradual act in suspension of disbelief. Reading the book in one long sitting it was almost like pulling on a thread till it become completely taut, reaching the point where in any other form it would snap. I actually remember reading Pi's encounter with the meerkats and actively choosing to let the thread snap and keep going as if coming so far and being so involved with the story, it was too sad to put the book down instead of continuing to play along.
I think you put it really well that the core of the story is that emotional experience, journey and transformation has its own significance compared to the literal realities of the world. So I see the island as something like a test of faith to the reader/viewer where you're confronted with the idea of abandoning logic to preserve the emotional journey of the story.
A beautiful piece of art. It's also shot so it can be watched in 3D. I can only imagine how that would look ! I fell in love with the tiger, ever since the first scene, where the kid tries to feed it. i loved when the boy laid the tiger's head on his lap and caressed him . When the tiger walks back to his world (unavoidable) I felt sad . No matter how this movie is analyzed, I love it as just a beautiful experience between the boy and the animal. I thought at the end, when the tiger leaves, that all animals that we love always end up leaving .
I remember watching the film and thought it was fantastic. (I haven’t seen it in a while though) I always felt that the tiger was possibly made up and possibly a representation of the protagonists inner animal. With the story possibly being a journey of his return to nature and god.
I like how you call Pi "the protagonist" even though the name of the movie is his NAME
@@zachrabaznaz7687 again, I haven’t watched the movie in a while so I forgot.
This is a beautiful movie.
No matter your religious belief or lack there of. This movie is so beautiful. A truly breath taking, tear jerking story.
I dislike it immensely when people treat a story like Life of Pi as a puzzle to solve rather than an experience.
Liked the film. Love the book! Good video 👌
I read this book going into highschool and it became my favorite -- when I read it there was no part of me that considered his story at the end was real. I genuinely believed that everything in the book actually happened, and he only told the story of the humans on the boat to get them to leave him alone. When we discussed what was real in class I was surprised. I suppose deciding which you find to be real is indicative of believing or not believing in god or miracles. Im not very religious, and am moreso spiritual agnostic, but I prefer to believe the animal version of the story is what actually happened
The book and movie are so heart catching. What's story honestly. Appreciate the thought put into all this
Life of pi is one of the few movies that i enjoyed just as much if not more than the book. For me the visual dreamlike almost cosmic visual story telling was so stunning.
I remember first watching this film when I was very young maybe 10 or 11, and the island scene and the scene where pi asks richard parker what he see's in the water. I remember being the only one in my family to connect the island with the statue of Vishnu from earlier in the film, they just thought it was an ordinary island. Those two aspects always intrigued me so much, the whole film will probably always intrigue me
I appreciate this video so much now. I read this book in my senior year of high school for AP literature, and I never had a grasp on what the messages in the book were. My class and teacher didn't really help I guess. But I feel like I understand it much better than I ever did. Gonna reread it now 🤙
This story was a thing of a beauty in every aspect possible. I really loved both reading and watching it. Thank you so much for covering it and talking about what was truly central to its message
I think the whole story is about the power of storytelling, and how it can help people survive in the hardest of times and change their lives:
- Pi's name was chosen because his father was enamored by this STORY of a swimming pool so pure and pristine that he never saw.
- Then Pi has used storytelling to convince everyone at school that he's in fact called Pi, and because of that STORY they've stopped laughing at him.
- Then Pi found magic in the STORYTELLING of each religion he encountered. It wasn't about which religion was a true real fact, but more like every religion was a story that helped him be a better person. Think: being a fan of LOTR, ATLA and Naruto at the same time.
- When his father took those STORIES from him, because they were not real, Pi felt sadness and emptiness.
- Then, he read in castaway manual, "telling STORIES can help you survive". In that scene, first paragraphs could be real and true, but those following (after "stories help survive") were just him making things up.
Then, there are metaphors on top of metaphors that can also be considered "storytelling":
- Animals were the psyche/instincts of each survivor - it's easier to cope with the killing of your own mother, if the killer is a carnivore driven by instinct.
- Also, it's not you that killed another survivor, ate fish, that was "The Tiger". You hate it, you're scared of it, but you can't survive without it. You try to tame it, but it's a meat eating beast, representing your dark side, rage, will of survival. Pi getting hungry and weak made "his tiger" weak, that's why animal was seen starving. That's why when he's found - it goes away. Tiger wasn't his friend, it didn't love him, he needed it for survive only, that's why "bloodthirsty ruthless instinct of survival" doesn't look behind.
- Also, Pi wanting to get rid of Tiger from survivor boat after the ship sank - could be read as "Pi wanting to get rid of His Will Of Survival". I don't want you, beast, I give up, I jump in the water. But then Will Of Survival jumps at the hyena and kills the cook, showing him that he needs "tiger" to stay alive.
- The scene when he loses his supplies because of "The Whale" - it's a metaphor for carelessness, BIG one, that took food from him.
- Green island made of food in the shape of lying human with maggots living on it... I mean, meerkats - you see where I'm going with it... ;) In an act of desperation he saw the corpse on his boat as a resource to eat, gave maggots to eat to his Will of Survival, but in the night... dunno, you can interpret this in many ways, from guilt that he ate corpse, to more literal, throwing up with acid cause corpses are not very tasty...
So, this whole "story that will make me believe in "God"" is not about believing that transcendent being is real, it's also a metaphor - will you believe in the godlike might of telling stories? ;)
I've read my fair share of theories about this book, but this one is soo sooo interesting. I believe in the "animal story", but your theory might have given me a new perspective.
I'm on the cannalism team for the meaning of the island. Maybe not his mother specifically, but the overall concept.
In the short term it saves his life, but will ultimately end up destroying him (his soul).
I've always enjoyed this story, to me it's about how whether a story is true or not, it's how it impacts and changes you that's the important thing.
Also just a note, but Irrfan Khan did an AMAZING job in this movie. RIP
The ending really blew me away. i would much rather believe the story with the tiger. Another thing that struck me about the island was that it was shaped in a way similar to Lord Vishnu's signature pose of him lying down.
the tiger represents faith - simple as that. it keeps you sane, gives you a purpose, reminds you of your humanity, gives you a place to vent and heal, keeps your hope alive, and thereby keeps you alive.
im going to be completely honest, watching this film when you're sick is literally a fever dream
This book left me with one of the most profound feelings after spending an entire day reading it all in one go, this is definitely the best way to appreciate this book I felt as insane as pi 😂
I did the same thing, it's definitely the best way to experience it
When i was a very young kid and watched the movie. I always interpreted it as him not wanting people to go looking for Richard Parker instead of never saying he existed as it was a lie. Idk, as a kid i just figured the both of them had been through so much, he just wanted the tiger to also get to live a peaceful life of freedom. But of course looking back, its a little bit more nuanced than that.
My professor had an interesting take on this book. He believed the part 2 of the book was a reflection of life. it starts off with Pi clinging to the oar in the midst of a storm screaming and crying, an analogy for child birth. Then throughout his time with "taming" Richard Parker it was actually him battling his own demons and taking life head on. and the end when he finds the absurd island with the meerkats it was actually his death, as many go delirious in their old age, or could even a metaphor for Heavan/Hell. Its amazing to me that this book can have so many interpretations and yet none of them are wrong, thats the whole point of the book.
One of the things I liked about the movie was the look of the thing. It was easy to get caught up in the beauty of . I very much enjoyed this analysis. Certainly food for thought.
One of, if not the only, movies to faithful adapt what was written seamlessly into video form. Perfectly captures exactly what I saw in my mind's eye as I read the book.
10:11 Doesn’t the side profile of the isle look like a dead female ? This would really fit into the theory
I think the thing that made me truly fall in love with Pi is that at the beginning the author , who is shown to be skeptical and a bit cynical, says that he was told that Pi has a story "that will make him believe in God. " At the end, when he points out the parallels of the stories of Richard Parker and the "truth" of his mother, the cook, and the sailor, Pi says that Richard Parker was real because he had to be real for himself to survive and keep his humanity.
"In both stories, the ship sinks, my family dies, and I suffer. So which story do you prefer?"
"The one with the tiger. That's the better story."
"And so it goes with God"
Even if the author doesn't believe in God, Pi managed to get him to acknowledge how important faith is. That stories that are emotionally moving albeit fantastic can be more impressive than a depressingly true reality. Sometimes you just have to believe in something amazing to keep going
Am I the only one that just believe everything and accept that he lived with a tiger on the ocean.
im so glad my hs english teacher introduced this story to us and had us watch the movie. truly worth reading/watching
"Always go with the option that creates the better story."
It is so incredible how you connected the stranger by Satyajit Ray and Life of Pi, I think The stranger is one of the best films ever made and more people should be watching it. Thank you! So is Life of Pi🎉
I think the island represents delusion, insanity, letting go of all reason. Before, every character and many of the events are grounded in either interpretation or reality. If there was a tiger or not, it doesn't change the result of the story, but it was based on a real thing. So were many different events of the journey.
But the island was completely outlandish, impossible and a complete break from any form of reality. At least a lot more harshly than anything else. And it was a sort of comfort. Safety. Food, other life forms, a lot of ground to live on and no need to face the ocean, the tiger, or the little boat that he was trapped on. At day it was teeming with simple, innocent life.
But when it got dark, it started to erode everything. The life in the ocean, a symbol of the vastness and near divinity of the circumstance, getting decomposed and preyed on. And finally, everything was lost in there. The human tooth symbolized how people are lost in there too, also eventually preyed on and decomposed.
This utter delusion might safe one from the harshness of the ocean, the struggle and insignificance, but it is a shallow and dangerous reprieve, that slowly dissolves you in your darker moments. A toxic version of faith, where you no longer find reason and a compulsion to go on in your believe, but instead escape it utterly until it eats it's own foundation and finally, yourself.
Some times ago, I saw someone said that the whole boat sinking was Pi's father and uncle plan to get money from insurance company. The person also believes that some points of the story are real whereas some must be imaginary. I really like this point of view and I just wanted to share.
For the animals, his takeaway is the zebra is his father, the orangutan his mother, the hyena his brother, the rat his girlfriend (yeah that person thinks they never bid farewell but Pi had her hidden on the lifeboat from the beginning) and the tiger is Pi himself. The reason the hyena killed the zebra was because the father had told the family that it was his plan to sink the boat. The brother out of rage, despair and fear of death, killed him. The mother (orangutan) got angry at him, and in his fury, the brother killed her as well. Pi was devastated and started to scream at the hyena (his brother). The later realized was he had done starting to feel guilt. But Pi was too angry and too emotional to care, and that's when the tiger killed the hyena, Pi killed his brother. He immediately felt guilt and looked away.
The three corpses were there, untouched. Despite not having food, tiger didn't eat them, they are his family; Pi can't bring himself to eat them. Thus, the tiger started to chase the rat (his girlfriend); she is the only outsider. When Pi threw the rat to the tiger, he flew away, running away from the guilt to have eaten her. As time went, the tiger ended up eating the zebra and the hyena, but not the orangutan. Pi still can't bring himself to eat his own mother, despite starvation.
There came the island, when he found roots he could eat and a seemingly peace. Until the night, when he found the tooth he realized, he had given in, he ate his mother's corpse. I think the person said that upon this, Pi decided to bet one last time and try to survive and find land. Tiger not turning his head one last time as farewell, not only is characteristic of an animal; but why would you want to bid farewall with Richard Parker, cannibalism symbol, just let it go.
When I watched the movie the first time 10 years ago, I didn't understand an once. I never really thought much about it. Recently hearing people talking about it that I am realizing how deep it was
I absolutely loved this film, and adored the message from it. I'm glad to finally have found someone who also appreciated it. Thank you for this!
I love how you broke down this movie into one depicting the subjectivity and choice of faith! I only remember this movie as that one visually stunning animal film as a kid but it really got me thinking as someone who has chosen to be an agnostic-athiest. Got me a better understanding of the inner makings to that choice and the positive aspects taken from it.
Might give this whole film another watch after 10 years!
Man this video made me realise how much I miss Irrfan (the grown up PI) him with his big round eyes 😭lol He was such a treasure RIP 💞
"There are times when reason provides no comfort when comfort is what's needed most"
That's the stuff right there
I always walked away with the feeling that the tiger was real. Because of the ending. I think that honestly makes for a better story.
As a film lover, I had taken too long to see this film. This video/synopsis was so well thought and put together. It encapsulated all of the themes and speculations remaining in my head which were then so well spoken to in a way that it seems as though there's no room for further analysis-- I am just trying to say that what you have in this video is exactly what all of us were hoping to walk away with. Well done!!!
I loved this movie as a kid and still love it to this day, even after everyone one saying it sucks
Yo this gave me huge sudden wave of forgotten memory. I can somewhat remember this being one of my first movies I ever watched. So definitely going to rewatch.
It actually really matters if the tiger is real, because that Tiger & its family should get paid for its contribution just like anybody else 😾
One of the best movies ❤. My take is, it does matter what you believe. Had Pi not believed in a God or transcendence, he would’ve died. Reason would’ve told him to let go. Faith kept him alive. Imagine yourself in Pi’s situation - would you have made it out alive if you didn’t believe there’s more to life than what we perceive with our naked eyes?
I remember watching this when I was younger and it always felt like one of those fever dream movies
This description was spot on. I have read this book too many times and Martels symbolism is eye opening. You will always find something new or some parallel connections in the book.
I love this the concept you're talking about. I think you could refer to the truth in this case as "story truth" and "happening truth". Since Pi is still telling the truth of the story, but not necessarily the truth of reality or fact.
When you were talking about needing a reason to not let go of the oar. I think surviving simply because you have to or because of this deep instinct to just want to live and succeeding in surviving has to be one of the most liberating things ever.