Mixed Messages Mar Visually Stunning ‘Life of Pi’
The Bible says there is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. In Oscar-winning director Ang Lee’s epic Life of Pi, all roads lead to heaven.
Based on the best-selling novel by Yann Martel, the film is a magical adventure story centering on an Indian boy named Pi Patel, the precocious son of a zoo keeper. Inhabitants of Pondicherry, India, the family decides to move to Canada, hitching a ride on a huge freighter.
After a shipwreck, Pi finds himself adrift in the Pacific Ocean on a 26-foot lifeboat in the company of a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan and a 450-pound Bengal tiger named Richard Parker—all fighting for survival.
Visually captivating from start to finish of its 127-minute running time, Life of Pi is more than just another pretty film, though the 3D is perfectly done. It’s a movie that ponders life and death intentionally, pushing the limited boundaries of American moviegoers.
Rise of the Guardians, another movie opening the same day as Life of Pi, at least draws a fine line on the spiritual absolute of good versus evil. Life of Pi features a spiritual mish-mash at its core. Pi is a Catholic, a Hindu and a Muslim, but his mother is a Hindu and his father an atheist.
The movie about a young boy who goes on an incredible adventure is definitely worth seeing. For Christian families, it’s a great opportunity to discuss Christianity’s untenable truths and that each person does not get to know God in his or her own personal way.
Rated PG for emotional thematic content throughout, and some scary action sequences and peril, Life of Pi doesn’t feature gratuitous violence, sex, nudity or foul language. The movie, though, could be frightening for small children as several animals are killed, so caution is advised. Parents should exercise strong caution because of the film’s mixed, syncretistic messages.
