Ang Lee returns home to Taiwan to make the exciting and altogether magical adventure “Life of Pi.” Suraj Sharma is Pi, the titular character, a boy who is lost at sea with a very hungry Bengal tiger, following the death of his family in a shipwreck. The boy and the animal have to survive a perilous voyage across the Pacific.
The film centers on Piscine Molitor Patel (Pi) named in honor of a swimming pool in France. He is raised in Pondicherry India with his family who run a zoo. An inquisitive and unusually philosophical boy, he learns about animal behavior at the zoo, explores different cultures and traditions and falls for a beautiful girl. “Certain things happen politically and economically which force Pi’s parents to move to Canada and the family take their zoo with them on a ship. The ship sinks one stormy night and Pi’s whole family drowns,” said Suraj Sharma.
Ang Lee infuses Pi’s solitary voyage with emotion, humor and excitement in an all-new 3D experience. “I fell in love with the book when it came out but I did not think about it as a movie,” says the Oscar winning director of “Sense and Sensibility,” “Crouching Tiger,” “Hidden Dragon” and “Brokeback Mountain.” He admits that he was initially reluctant to take on the project. “Later though I thought I wanted the audience to see this fantastic book made into a movie. I felt I needed to share Pi’s amazing voyage. So here I am. I have come all the way to Taiwan on a seemingly impossible mission which is now being realized. It’s a great adventure so far.”
To enhance the cinematic experience, the decision was made to shoot in 3d, “the scope of the story is grand, because of that I thought I needed another dimension. 3D really puts you there with Pi, demanding your attention. You feel like you’re with him. It’s a more intense experience. It’s more dense It’s closer, more intimidating,” shares Lee.
“Life of Pi” unfolds in (Phils.) cinemas nationwide on November 28 from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.
