Life of Pi... and a Tiger called Richard Dreyfus. Branson. Gere. Oh screw it.

Here's a review of the new film (relatively) currently topping the charts, Life of Pi. I'll keep it brief, thanks to my usual lethargy and lack of analytical thoughts on it- no thanks to my conveniently summarising the entire film in one para, which wouldn't make for much of a review- which is why I'll keep it till the end, so you'll have to read a brief synopsis and hear me ramble on about mildly interesting inconsequentials.

What's an inconsequential, you ask? Here's an example: Pi is the first time I've opted for couples seating, which is essentially  a double seat, non-foldable, without an armrest in the middle. I went with a lady friend (she'd probably laugh at being described as a lady- that's another inconsequential for you). The seat was fairly comfortable, but mainly it enabled me to make silly jokes like "well, I'm sorry I stole your first couples seat experience" (since she had no prior warning, as some ladies seem to need- and take such seating very seriously), et cetera. Well then. Now that you have a firm grasp of the word...
Pi is Piscine Molitor Patel, a young boy who grew up in a zoo- to be precise, a family which owned a zoo. His name led to much misery during his youth, though I imagine he'd have a fabulous time if he ever visited his namesake.

About half the film is devoted to his youth, explaining how he was as a child- including his bouncing between religions. He ends up a professed Hindu, Christian, and Buddhist- the film could have been hilarious enough if it had focused on this alone, with added beliefs worked in- a Scientologist Pi would have been interesting to see.

His peaceful life is duly shattered when his family decides to remove to Canada (from Pondicherry, in case you were wondering), and their ship gets caught in a storm and sinks along the way. Wait, when was it shattered again? I've lost myself.

Anyhow, young Pi finds himself stranded in a lifeboat with a tiger. Long story cut short: they both survive, washed up on the coast of Mexico. On to my observations: I couldn't help thinking how cute the tiger (Richard Branson? I can't remember what Pi called him) looked. Aww, who's a little puddy tat. Secondly, the great mystery: a short while after the shipwreck, flies were shown buzzing around Pi: where in blazes did they come from? Thirdly, he never, ever, grows any facial hair. Unless he shaved off-screen with the skill of Sweeney Todd.

Well. In the end, Pi offers an alternative story to two investigators, a normal one without a tiger (etc.). He asks the writer who visited him (and us), which story would you rather believe in, given that you can prove neither? You'd just have to take your pick. The same would apply to religion- you can't prove it, so it's up to you to believe in it or not.

The writer was touched- he probably converted to a random religion on the spot. I wasn't though- having more important things to think about: the mathematics involved in the distribution of fly larvae on the open sea, the genetics behind hairless, normally hirsute Indian boys... et cetera, et cetera. You get the picture.