Life of Pi (2012)

Oh lord.
I accompanied my friends to the movies. Made sure to go to the loo before it started. Sat down in the familiar space where I used to watch movies while in high school and skeptically shoved the 3D glasses up my face. I tried to keep an open mind. I really tried. If somebody puts a gun to my hand and asks me to say something nice about Life of Pi I would confess that some of the images are quite beautiful and that, well, tigers are cute. Beyond that, well, I don't know. The message of the movie seems to be this: even if you have a pretty rough time in your life, just make sure you rely on STORYTELLING. This glorification of narrativity strikes me as deeply self-important and irritating: a movie that boasts of its own special power to seduct, thrill and, you know, deceive us a little to make us more comfortable. If you have a nice story, then you'll be fine. And heck, this comes from Ang Lee, a director whom I generally admire! (Of course one can still admire Lee's stylistic versatility but this is simply not a good movie.) I try to put my finger on what I found so unbearable about Life of Pi. Perhaps it was my first (!) experience of 3D movies - not impressed. Perhaps it was the glossy cinematography that to me appeared completely soulless despite all the 'spirituality' it so eagerly tried to evoke. Perhaps it was the schmaltzy acting. Perhaps it was the strange ideas about religion (more elevation of storytelling) along with the embarrassingly clumsy contrast between scientific rationalism and religious belief. Perhaps its the computerized, sterile feel of the animals that were supposed to be both scary and sublime. This film made its best to put me in a magical state of mind. It didn't succeed. I left the film in a grumpy mood and watched how a local media manager attempted to drive her car out of a heap of snow.