Life of Pi (***1/2)

Like Cast Away, much of this story is about a man stranded and alone, but instead of being American he is Indian, instead of an island he is on a small boat, and instead of a volleyball his only companion is a non-human predator called Richard Parker. Director Ang Lee and screenwriter David Magee’s (Finding Neverland) adaptation of the Yann Martel bestseller is faithful to the novel’s spirit, though it omits many details about how to survive alone on a lifeboat.

Perhaps unnecessarily, Lee preserves the novel’s structure — a grown man, in Canada, telling the story of his distant childhood in India, and then his perilous voyage, to a curious stranger — and adds frequently gorgeous visuals: shimmering skies, glowing seas, and pastel cityscapes suggestive of a fable. Pi’s is a story  “to make you believe in God,” the stranger has been told. Pi (played winsomely by newcomer Suraj Shjarma), the son of an atheist, himself subscribes to Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam, and an element of spirituality runs through the movie, which can alternately be seen as a kind of magical realism. In some sense, both book and film draw a parallel between religious faith and storytelling, suggesting that the power of a good story is more important than certainty or literal truth. One need not agree to enjoy this existential story of adventure.

IMDb link

viewed 2/11/13 7:00 pm at Ritz East

Stranded: I've Come from a Plane That Crashed on the Mountains (***1/4)

If you saw the underrated drama Alive, you know this story: a Uruguayan rugby team crashes in the Andes en route to Chile, is forced into cannibalism to survive. For this well-edited documentary, the survivors of the 1972 plane crash reunite on the mountain and tell their story.

Watching this was a lot like watching the feature film. There is something perfect about the story. The plane crashes in the mountains, but in such a way that most of the 45 passengers are not killed immediately. Yet they wind up in a place least conducive to either short-term rescue or long-term survival. Besides having to subsist on the remains of the dead, there are other perils.

Although modest photographic re-creations prevent this from being solely a parade of talking heads, the experience is not as visceral as watching Alive. As with that movie, the many characters blend together. In a way, that’s the point. Having to act as one was what enabled them to live to tell the tale. The bond the survivors have maintained—each participated in the movie—is nearly as remarkable, a testament to the uniqueness of their death-defying tale.

IMDB link

viewed at Ritz Bourse and reviewed 12/18/08

Rescue Dawn (***)

Christian Bale plays Dieter Dengler, a German-born American fighter pilot shot down in his first mission early in the Vietnam War. Captured by the Viet Cong, Dengler immediately began plotting his escape along with other prisoners. Bale and other cast members, including Steve Zahn, lost a lot of weight to lend credibility to the conditions portrayed. The treatment by the Vietnamese is cruel, but is only shown enough to make that point. Nor is the film about politics. Director Werner Herzog, who profiled Dengler in a 1998 documentary, keeps the focus on his subject’s mixture of optimism and practical skills that allowed him to persevere. It’s a good story well told, and Bale brings a lot of personality to the role.

IMDB link

reviewed 12/13/07; viewed 12/08/07 on an airplane screen with bad sound; my rating may have been higher had I seen it in a theater