Life of Pi: The Movie

The summary on the book jacket never intrigued me enough to make me want to read this one, but the promos of the movie that I saw on TV were definitely more interesting.

People are talking about the graphics and animation in the movie but that is really the kind of thing I notice when I watch a movie again after someone has talked to me about that stuff. What I really appreciated about this movie is how strongly it portrays one boy's will to live, to simply beat the odds and survive. It makes me appreciate how easy we have it in life and how we have never had to deal with that kind of constant struggle for days (weeks?) on end just to stay alive.

Not very long ago, my husband and I went out for a walk around the neighborhood on a relatively warm evening. Now most of the houses around here don't have fenced-in yards, and people with dogs often just let them roam free in the yard. More often than not, though, these dogs are well trained and will not step out of their owner's yard. But that particular day, a St Bernard came running towards us from across the street. We were somewhat scared, but we just stood still, because my husband reminded me that it is unwise to run from a dog. The dog went from barking to whimpering and sniffed at our feet for a bit before it went back to where it came from.

I mention this because that incident is the closest I have come (and the closest I will ever come, I hope) to feeling that kind of fear of an animal with sharp teeth. But this movie takes that kind of fear to a whole other level. The boy is afraid of the tiger, but knows that he will definitely die if he does not try to defend himself. If he tries, he has at least a chance at saving his skin. That is the kind of attitude we all need in the face of adversity, large or small.