Life of Pi

Today was the premiere of the movie "Life of Pi" in Germany. Of course, we couldn't miss it. In other countries it's been already premiered earlier. For our family this movie has a special meaning and we've been keen to watch it. Somewhere beginning of 2011 when the movie was shot in India, Pondicherry, we still called India our home. We saw the film buses and encountered blocked roads in Pondy during that time. We saw the crew - even Gerard Depardieu - at Calve College in Mission Street. (I guess they had called him to see the French Rivera of the East). Everybody talked about the movie and Ang Lee. Our neighbor boy even went for the casting. However  he didn't get the role in the end.


All of us had read the book some years ago and were already familiar with the story. We've enjoyed reading the book and were  in awe. I can fully recommend the book. But we were fascinated by the pictures of the movie too. They were enchanting and enthralling. There was tension and fascination throughout the movie. I would say that Ang Lee has done a beautiful adaption of Yann Martel's book . It's simply a marvel - a masterpiece.



I'm not getting much into the story here. Just this much. The story is about a young man who survives a disaster at sea and is hurtled into an epic journey of adventure and discovery  While cast away, he forms an amazing and unexpected connection with another survivor .... a fearsome Bengal tiger, (Official Site)
For symbolism and analysis of the whole story,  I leave it up to you.

"Without Richard Parker, I wouldn't be alive today...". There seems to be no right or wrong and I would say that the author let's you decide at the end what you want to believe. You can make up your own mind.

Here some pictures of the scenes in Pondicherry:
Source & credit for the following pictures and information: Guardian.co.uk

The French Quarter: The backdrop to many of the sequences in Life of Pi, the French Quarter was a base of the Compagnie des Indes Orientales (French East India Company) from 1675. Pondicherry then frequently changed hands between France and Britain between 1761-1815, after which it remained in French possession until 1954. On quiet, wide streets like rue de la Caserne, rue Suffren and rue Dumas – the latter with its Notre Dame des Agnes church – are French villas and trailing bougainvillea. Outside the Travaux Publics government building, a notable backdrop to one of Pi’s childhood memories, a sign reads ‘Beauty is our city. Preserving it is our duty’ in both English and French. Across the street is Aayi Mandapam, an imposing Arc d’Triomphe-style, Napolean III-era memorial. 

Grand Bazaar and Tamil Quarter: Reach rue Jawaharlal Nehru and you swap colonial ambiance for bustling, busy India, and the frenetic walled Grand Bazaar. The setting for Pi’s flirtations with his girlfriend Anandi (pictured centre), this football pitch-sized market crams in dozens of types of bananas, sacks of beans, okra and ginger, and flowers.

The smell of jasmine garlands and curry leaves fills the air, though both struggle to compete with the fish market next door. It’s staffed entirely by women, who lay out the day’s catch on concrete pitches. Pi is played in the film by Suraj Sharma, pictured here.

The pillars celebrated a train track from an adjoining pier where French boats docked; the pier was destroyed by a cyclone in 1953 – just a year before Pondicherry was transferred to India. The remains are just visible, though it’s the newer construction just south that features in Life of Pi