Escape in 3D with the Life of Pi

I remember a mixed response to the book back in 2002; on the one hand I was unable to put it down, but then unable to define what was reality in the bizarre story of an indian boy on a boat with a bengali tiger, after the hyena had eaten the zebra and the orangutan! I concluded that it did not matter where reality began or ended and that it had been an enjoyable reading experience. So I remained uncertain about the movie, albeit knowing that I must see it. I think the choice to see it in 3D was the most important one. This technology is impressive and provides the perfect extension for this extended adult fairytale. The animals are so real and larger than life as they jump out of the screen, and it is ok to see the extended sequences of flying fish and flourescent jellyfish - the tiger, Richard Parker is seriously scary and he really seems to have lost a lot of weight by the time they make it to Mexico.

So I found myself asking the same set of questions about the film as I did about the book - and concluding that there may be a psychodynamic set of interpretations, but the difference this time, is that I did not mind - and I concluded that I really enjoyed the total escapism of the movie experience, for what it was, in the present! Later I heard a bookclub discussion with Yann Martel the author, who described writing a book with two interpretations of the 227 (a prime number) days at sea between the summer solstice and Valentine's Day. It seems that Yann wanted his readers to decided on a rationalist or mystical interpretation, and then reach the Mexican coast, representing acceptance and understanding... I really enjoyed that also!