Life of Pi. Is the tiger real? Yann Martel "Life of Pi" - a book about survival and great fortitude

In 2012, director Ang Lee presented to the critics and the audience his next brainchild - the film "Life of Pi". The film is based on the novel of the same name by Yann Martell. Many Hollywood film critics called the film "Life of Pi" one of the the best works Oscar-winning director.

The idea of ​​creating a painting

In 2001, the popular Canadian writer Yann Martel published his new creation - adventure novel"Life of Pi". The book immediately gained popularity. The author received recognition not only from grateful readers, but also from eminent critics. In 2002, the novel received

For a long time there were rumors in Hollywood circles about a film adaptation of the book, but, nevertheless, the film industry moguls did not want to risk it. After all, Martel's masterpiece told not only about the adventures of an Indian boy, but also touched upon the philosophical aspects of life. On the screen, these arguments could tire the viewer. Still, the management of Fox 2000 decided to take a chance and render the picture. In 2011, the filming process started, and all the fans began to be interested in the question of how Life of Pi was filmed.

Plot

The novel by the Canadian writer made a splash, and all thanks to the exciting plot. The book tells about the adventures of a guy named after one of the pools in France - Pisin Molitor Patel (Pi). The first part of the book tells about Pi's childhood and family. The second tells about the wreck of the ship on which the whole Patel family is sailing to Canada along with their zoo.

The young man miraculously manages to escape, he finds himself in the same boat with a hyena, a zebra, a tiger and an orangutan. During the trip, all animals, except for the Bengal tiger, die, and Pi is forced to travel in such a company across the expanses Pacific Ocean. About it incredible journey, and faith tells "Life of Pi", a film that is rightfully considered a masterpiece of Hollywood cinema. The number of statuettes and box office receipts are strong proof of this fact.

The story of Life of Pi is fiction, and Yann Martel was inspired to write it by Moasir Sklar's book Max and the Cats, published in 1981.

The director's chair became vacant several times. Fox originally hired M. Night Shyamalan for this position. In 2005 he dropped out of the project. The next candidate was Alfonso Cuarón, but he was working on his own Child of Man project. Genre Pierre Genet could lead the project, but it was at this stage that problems arose with the financing of the picture, and he refused. In 2009, the Fox film company invited the Oscar-winning Ang Lee to the director's chair and did not lose.

Dean Gorgaris undertook to adapt the script, but with the change of director, the screenwriter also changed. So, the book "rewrote" and Guillaume Laurent. With the arrival of Ang Lee, the script was adapted under the supervision of David Magee.

The film's budget was $70 million. Filming started in 2011. They took place in China, India, Taiwan and Montreal.

Insofar as most of the film is shooting in the water, a huge pool was built, the height of the waves in which was 1.5 meters, and the waves were 2.5 meters high. Computer designers and graphics have done a great job. Life of Pi is a film in which 75% of the time is spent on computer graphics.

Actors and roles

Casting on leading role took place in Delhi. Immediately after the approval of the budget, Ang Lee went in search of the main character. Out of 3,000 applicants, he fixed his professional eye on an ordinary teenager from Delhi, who had never acted in films. Suraj Sharma is a student who auditioned with his brother. Initially, how Life of Pi was filmed remained a mystery, because the director and his assistants kept the information secret. But immediately after the release of the film, it became known that the main character had to lose a lot of weight, and yet he was not distinguished by fatness anyway. Another interesting point Sharma couldn't swim. V gym the newly minted actor spent three hours a day learning to hold his breath to swim underwater.

The film shows the stages of growing up of Pi, this character was embodied on the screen by several actors at once - Gautam Belur, Ayush Tandon, Irrfan Khan.

The second actor who plays the main role in the film is a tiger. "Life of Pi" is a picture that tells not only about the strength of the spirit, but also about the interaction of one of the most dangerous animals and humans. The idea to shoot a real tiger was in the air, but the director still did not want the animal to eat the main character. The animators studied the nature and habits of these animals, took the prototype of Aslan's real tiger and drew it in detail. As a result, in 3D format (tiger) came to life, and fans of the book, and indeed all viewers, appreciated this work. "Life of Pi", reviews of which are only positive, has become a competitor to many films at the global box office.

The writer is also a key figure in the film. The role was played by Rafe Spall. Initially, scenes with Tobey Maguire were filmed, but after Ang Lee decided that the actor was too "starry", and re-shot all the scenes with him.

The mother of the protagonist was played by Tabassum Hashmi, well-known in her homeland. Adil Hussain brought the image of Patel's father to the screens. The episodic, but very colorful role of the ship's cook was played by

Man, of course, is the king of nature, but only his subjects are not aware of this. Once alone with Infinity, a person can behave like a wild animal, or can become a true likeness of God. How does this happen and what drives us at the decisive moment? What is the general relationship between man, God and nature? These questions were put before the writer, creating the novel "Life of Pi". After watching his novel, this question began to be asked by millions of viewers. There is only one answer: the film should be considered in two planes at once: visual and philosophical.

Pi as a symbol of the harmony of the universe

Why is the main character's name so strange? In fact, his full name is even more unusual - in honor of the Parisian pool. Because of the ridicule of others, Pisin takes a new name for himself - Pi, shortening it to a letter of the Greek alphabet. This letter is familiar to all students of mathematics; it underlies many formulas. Thanks to it, we can calculate the length of any circle - a smooth, curved, closed line, knowing the length of a straight line segment - the radius. This letter is a true symbol of harmony. The hero of the film, who is trying to reconcile the ideologies of three religions - Hinduism, Christianity and Islam - is also trying to build himself into the formula of peace.

Leaving his homeland, in search of a new life, Pi, by the will of fate, finds himself in the middle of the ocean, alone under the endless sky, and in the boat besides him there are four animals. A shipwreck, like the collapse of plans and hopes, brings everyone to the brink of death. A storm in the middle of the ocean, like any life storm, puts everyone on the brink of survival. Man builds his relationship with animals, as God - with people. Animals behave as expected. They do not recognize the supremacy of Man, just as people deny God. They are trying to kill him - just like those people who refuse God. They kill each other, like people who are possessed by a thirst for blood and profit. But Pi wins, and harmony triumphs.

man and tiger

Stars from heaven are reflected in the ocean abyss. In the midst of this primeval darkness, in the sparkle of billions of stars, a man and a tiger are drifting in a lonely boat. They worked hard to reach an understanding. Man had to tame the tiger, as God has to teach man. They never became friends, but elements of order appeared in their relationship.

A full range of emotions sounds here: unwillingness to obey, fear, suppression of will, care, recognition of the need for cooperation. Before us is no longer a pair of "man - tiger" or "God - man", but one, single being. They can save their lives only in cooperation - both in the middle of the ocean and on a "carnivorous" island that devours its inhabitants.

The desired shore gives them freedom from each other. The tiger, without looking back, goes into the jungle. Similarly, a person, having received salvation from God, rarely thanks him even with a glance.

People or animals?

Returning from wanderings to solid ground, leaving philosophical searches and finding himself in real world, Pi is faced with the need to explain everything that happened to him from a materialistic, atheistic, literal point of view. Instead of the raging elements - the walls of the hospital, instead of the boat, this symbol of movement - a hospital bed. The hero is interrogated by officials representing the interests of the owner of the ship that has crashed. The story about the search for truth, self-knowledge and God-knowledge is too unrealistic for an official report.

Then Pi, as if descending from Heaven to earth, gives a completely earthly explanation of what happened. In the boat with him, there really were not animals from a traveling zoo, but people. It was not a vicious hyena that killed a wounded zebra and a female orangutan who stood up for Pi, but a ship's cook, a cannibal and a murderer, killed a wounded sailor and Pi's mother. And it was not the tiger that destroyed the hyena, but Pi himself, feeling the strength of the tiger and animal hatred in himself, killed the cook.

There was no one in the boat except Pi. There was only one, in two essences - human and bestial. And if we consider that God created man in his own image and likeness, then the boy Pi was the image of the Divine principle in man, and the tiger was the animal, bestial nature. So he was looking for peace with himself, with his two essences. And only by reconciling them could he be saved.

Meaning of the movie's ending

At the end it sounds main question: Which of the two stories do we accept? How do we understand what happened to Pi? What is more in us - human or animal? Will we believe in a philosophical, "high", or generally accepted, understandable to all "logical" explanation?

Nobody was surprised by the version with murders and cannibalism. No one was surprised by the fact that people at a critical moment behaved like animals. It would seem that this should be incredible for us, and not the possibility of sailing together in the same boat with a tiger. Therefore, the author of the novel Martel and director Ang Lee urge to take Pi's story "at face value": they believe in people.

And for those who still hesitate, there is another explanation. Pi tried to reconcile the three religions, love God, but crossed the moral line. To find salvation, he had to fight the killer tiger that lurked within him. And this means that both versions are true, and the battle with the "inner tiger" can await any person after another catastrophe in the middle of the stormy ocean of life.

A man named Pi communicates with the writer Yann Martel, to whom he tells his incredible story. His father named it after the swimming pool in Paris Piscine Molitor. At school, he decides to call himself Pi, after the Greek letter π. When he was 15 years old, his father, being the director of the zoo, announced that the family would have to leave India, taking half of the animals with them, and sell them in Canada to start a new life.

On the fourth day after anchoring in Manila, the ship is caught in a storm, and Pi is the only one who manages to escape. After the storm is over, Pi realizes that some of the animals from the ship are in the lifeboat: a hyena, a zebra, an orange orangutan, and a Bengal tiger, Richard Parker. In the end, Pi is left in the boat alone with the tiger. The fight for survival begins.

On the way they meet fish, jellyfish, whales and a mysterious island with meerkats, beautiful, predatory and treacherous, like a Venus flytrap. Upon arrival in Mexico, the tiger leaves Pi without saying goodbye to him. He recalls his father's words that an animal is not a man's friend. But Pi still believes that there was a connection between him and the tiger. People find him, later in the hospital, representatives of the Japanese ship-owning company talk to him, but they still do not believe in his story, and he tells them a different, more plausible, but darker version of what happened. There were no animals in the boat, and the struggle for survival unfolded between Pi, his mother, an injured sailor and a vile cook from the ship.

At the end of the film, Pi offers the writer a story to choose from. The writer chooses the tiger story and Pi gives it to Yann.

In the movie Life of Pi, one of the main characters is called Richard Parker and he is a tiger. It plays an important role in the storytelling and many viewers enjoyed the story of this animal. In this article you can learn about it complete information based on the plot of the picture.

The beginning of the plot and the first appearance in the film

The story of the picture begins with the fact that a guy named Pi tells his story famous writer Yann Martel is already in Canada, who wants to capture her. It all starts at a time when the young man was still going to school. over it full name Many people laughed at Pisin, but the guy didn’t care about that. At the age of fifteen, the parents told the protagonist that they would have to leave India. Since the father was the director of the zoo, they took some of the animals with them in order to sell them already in Canada. Among them was Richard Parker, who got his name from the hunter who caught the tiger. Initially, they wanted to call him Thirsty, but it happened differently.

History development

When Richard Parker and the other animals were on board, the Pisin family left India on a Japanese ship. After four days of sailing in Manila, they were overtaken by a storm, which main character never seen before. He went on deck to enjoy the action of the elements. At this time, the wave had already carried several sailors overboard, and Pi was thrown into the nearest boat. The fifteen-year-old boy was promised to find his parents, but fate decreed otherwise. There was a cook in a small boat with him, but a zebra threw him out. The animals broke free, and therefore there was still a hyena in the boat, an orangutan named Orange and the last guest was the tiger Richard Parker.

The protagonist had already discovered all this after the storm, when the ship had drifted away from them. cargo ship. A struggle for food began in the middle of open water. A hyena kills a zebra with a broken leg. After that, she targets Pi, but the monkey saves the character and becomes a victim herself. The tiger at that time was hiding under a stretch and at the right moment jumped out on a hyena, which had no chance of survival.

Continuation of the struggle

Richard Parker becomes the only predator on the boat, which poses a threat to the life of the protagonist. That is why the guy builds a small raft and knits it with a rope to the boat. There he transfers all the supplies, and he himself makes attempts to somehow become the first number in the boat. Since Pi is a vegetarian, he could only eat biscuits, which were stored in a rescue ship. Together with the raft, they are scattered across the depths of the sea by a whale, which a careless guy disturbed at night. Starvation began, which ended in a fierce struggle for food at the time of the invasion of flying fish. Together with them, a large predatory representative was thrown on board. Richard Parker and Pi began to fight in every possible way for him, but the main character, thanks to perseverance, won. Their journey together did not end there.

Final Scenes

Because of the name of the tiger, he is often confused with the main character of the novels. American writer Richard Stark. Parker is his surname, and therefore there is confusion in the names. In the film "Life of Pi" the main character with the animal managed to visit a wide variety of islands and see a huge number of marine inhabitants. Once, on a small patch of land, Pisin found a human tooth in a flower.

Fate was favorable to the two travelers, and they were able to reach the coast of Mexico. During this time, Richard Parker lost a lot of weight, but managed to jump over the guy when they were on the beach. The tiger immediately saw the rainforest and headed there. Before entering, he stopped for a while, and then just ran into it. The main character was upset by the fact that their relationship ended at such a moment, but Richard never returned to say goodbye.

Good day! Watched yesterday the film "Life of Pi", which has awards: 4 Oscars, one Golden Globe, 2 Emmy nominations, etc.
How are you? what impressions did you leave?
Brief plot:

"A man named Pi communicates with the writer Yann Martel, to whom he tells his incredible story. His father named him Piscine Molitor after the pool in Paris. At school, he decides to call himself Pi after the letter of the Greek alphabet π. When he was 15 years old, his father, as director of the zoo, announced that the family would have to leave India, taking half of the animals with them, and sell them in Canada to start a new life.

On the fourth day after anchoring in Manila, the ship is caught in a storm, and Pi is the only one who manages to escape. After the storm is over, Pi realizes that some of the animals from the ship are in the lifeboat: a hyena, a zebra, Orange the orangutan, and Richard Parker's Bengal tiger. In the end, Pi is left in the boat alone with the tiger. The fight for survival begins."

I was wondering how this film was made? How did they get the tiger onto the boat? how was the actor not afraid to stand so close to a predator?
Revealing the secrets...

The fact is that the filmmakers did not want young actor Sarge Sharma ate real tiger, so it was decided to make it virtual. Director Ang Lee's first concern was whether the computer tiger would look believable in 3D. Deciding to shoot the entire film in stereoscopy, he had to make sure that Richard Parker would appear real and not computer generated. To do this, in 2009, animators from R&H, led by Bill Westenhofer, took Aslan's model, transferred it to three-dimensional format, slightly improved it, placed it in a boat that will take a good half of the film, and presented the result to the director. Ang liked the test animation so much that he no longer doubted the capabilities of modern technology.
To make the fanged character even more like a real tiger, the animators thoroughly studied the habits of these representatives of the cat family. The book "Life of Pi" by Jan Martel turned out to be very useful, in which the author described in some detail the behavior of a tiger in various situations: how he first accepted a tarpaulin as a shelter, then won the territory and guarded it, then fought with a boy who tried to train him, then resigned himself to the role of a subordinate, and then became a friend of the boy. But it's one thing to read about it, another to show it on the screen.
But without exception, all animators admitted that without a real tiger, computer-generated Richard Parker would not have looked so good. Ang Lee (director) did not have to search long: trainer Terry Le Portier, who supplied tigers for the filming of Gladiator, found four striped actors for him, who had to portray swimming in the ocean, fighting flying fish, etc.. Having received a hundred-hour film With the basic movements of the tigers, the experienced animators were finally able to get down to the actual creation of the computer-generated Richard Parker. It took them about a year to do the whole job.
Please click on the picture
They had to sweat for a long time over the tiger skin: in order to achieve its believable appearance, they had to improve special program, which helped to distinguish the muscles rolling during movement under the soft fur. The skin of Richard Parker is multi-layered: the first layer is attached to the muscles, the second is superimposed on top. We must not forget that the fur should look worse over time due to irregular and poor nutrition and stress that affect the health of the animal.