On DVD » Life of Pi » Movie Forum
Life of Pi

Life of Pi

88%

More Threads

View All (21)
3 THIS WAS GARBAGE 28 Bad Reviews 0 Watch The Movie Here For Free 2 Life of Pi 23 Were the animals in Life of Pi real? 3 What is a Red Dawn review doing in Life of Pi? 14 Did anyone else notice that Pi had no facial hair through out his ordeal? 8 Then Who is Pi? ****SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS********* 21 Are the visual effects better than Avatar? 1 Love this movie 13 Life of Pi and the Utility of Religion 1 Magic vs Reality 5 clearly not a 'love at first sight'..! simply brilliant movie! 11 Oscar Nomination Categories?? 5 My thoughts on Life of Pi. SPOILERS 1 Frame Story Necessary? 13 Made for the Academy? 6 A.O. Scott review. 0 Dana Stevens... 0 Brian Tallerico Review 0 James Rocchi

Life of Pi and the Utility of Religion

It will be fascinating to hear the discussions about spirituality following the film Life of Pi, directed by Ang Lee and based on Yann Martelâ??s novel of the same name. Iâ??d like to avoid commenting on the film-making (leaving that to the critics), but instead as a pastor, unpack a few spiritual themes which saturate the story.

Pi, or Piscine Patel, is the primary character. He is the sole-survivor of a shipwreck and spends over 200 days in a life boat adrift in the Pacific Ocean. His primary travel companion is a Bengal tiger. The lifeboat becomes their â??habitatâ?? and an alpha-male must emerge if they are to cohabitate and survive.

Pi understands habitats and animals because he is the son of a rationalist zoo keeper, who tells Pi that â??religion is darkness.â?? The first part of Piâ??s story details his life in the zoo and his faithful attempt to follow three religions at one time. It makes up a third of the novel, but only a small portion of the film. In the book, Martel uses zoology as a backdrop for theology. Religion is like a zoo: there are habitats, competition over resources, and people on the outside looking in on the spectacle. Pi is no mere observer of religion though; he is a participant and considers himself to be Hindu, Christian, and Muslim all at once â?? something that greatly irritates many around him.

Immediately, we see the metaphorical connections. How do three religions co-exist in the habitat of Piâ??s own soul? Is Pi spiritually adrift? In the book and the movie Pi is pressed to choose a religion. His father, using reason, tells Pi that â??choosing to follow all religions is the same as choosing no religion.â?? Piâ??s soul is a zoological habitat, like the life boat in which his three religions, the zoo animals, and even his own inner animal must be sorted to survive. If these issues are not settled in boat, he will not survive. If they are not settled in his soul, then survival has no purpose.

Piâ??s survival with the tiger is, rationally speaking, unbelievable. He admits as much after rescue. Competing stories emerge about what really happened, but Pi insists his story is true. Since no alterative stories change the reality of the sinking ship or the suffering he endured while lost at sea, Pi believes that asking â??what is trueâ?? is pointless.
Life of Pi asks the same thing of spirituality as a mathematician might ask of the symbol PI -- what is PI really? At its core, we only know PI to be an unresolved quantity. But more important than what PI is, we understand what PI does so we are able to put this unresolved quantity to work for us. The spirituality in Life of Pi comes to us as an unresolved quantity. We are asked to focus on the utility of a religious narrative rather getting tangled in the â??irresolvable essenceâ?? which Reason might demand of us.

In many ways, culture is adrift on the sea of Rationalism. Reason attempts to segregate our habitats by way of reductionist thinking. Itâ??s true, Pi needed reason to survive, but to give survival meaning he needed something much different. He needed a guiding narrative. I think most of us know what that feels like.

In this sense, I believe that Life of Pi will be remembered as a spiritual masterpiece.
David A.
11-21-2012 09:36 AM

Thread Replies

Please log in to participate in this forum.

Doyin Adeyemo

Doyin Adeyemo

Life of Pi is most definately a spiritual masterpiece, and David Allred you are incredible for breaking down points that I missed. thanks and God bless.

Jan 19 - 09:08 PM

Ken Cowan

Ken Cowan

Bravo to everyone here... for once an interesting accumulation of differing points of view, all enlightening to some extent. As enjoyable as the film, really!

Jan 10 - 05:19 PM

Jan-Erik Ella

Jan-Erik Ella

A story can be true without being factual. That's what most fundamentalists fail to understand, and that's why literalism cripples a religion rather than promoting it. The function of myth is not to convey historical fact - it's about a different kind of truth, one that's not tied to historicity.

Jan 8 - 02:14 PM

Dan Dawson

Dan Dawson

To be fair, Pi doesn't insist that his story is real - in fact, when pushed, he gives a different, much more realistic account of what happened.
He chooses to live with the "Tiger story" because it suits his purposes - he prefers it because it is a better story. There is nothing wrong with that, but just choosing to believe it does not make it any more true than what actually happened.
Pi's already demonstrated his use of religion is exactly that - a "use" of religion. He simply adopts any/all of the ones available to him, which his father argues negates any real idea of genuine faith in any of them.
I would not see Life of Pi as a "spiritual" work - one that concerns belief, certainly, but primarily in why we choose to believe... even if we already know we may be lying to ourselves.

Jan 8 - 12:15 AM

Jim Valko

Jim Valko

Great post, David. Life of Pi is a metaphor on life. We all choose the stories we want to believe in. This includes the story of who or what is God. But it also includes all the stories we experience in life. On a deep, metaphysical level, there are those that believe all of existence is but a story that we create with our minds and then view and call those stories reality. It's all a matter of what you choose to believe.

Jan 1 - 01:05 PM

Satyam V.

Satyam Vada

Pi's picking up the best from different religions actually has its roots in India's Sufi and Bhakti movements from medieval times. These spiritual movements taught ordinary people how one should follow religion in spirit and not in letter (by the book) and religion is not the end but a means.

Dec 28 - 03:11 AM

Gregory White

Gregory White

I agree Life of Pi is a spiritual masterpiece. However I don't think culture is adrift on the sea of Rationalism. People choose to believe in their religions for comfort because sometimes rational thinking doesn't comfort. Reality can be too much to accept. I don't consider it reductionist to be rational. However, I like your insight re: We need a guiding narrative to make survival meaningful.

Dec 27 - 07:18 PM

Ana Chronism

Ana Chronism

Nancy, the Japanese insurance people also put down the story with the tiger in the movie in the end. There is a shot of their report and at the end it says 'boy survived on a boat alone with a tiger'.

Dec 27 - 01:57 AM

Nancy Beach

Nancy Beach

I have a different take on the book (and the movie which is very true to it. The version with the tiger is unbelievable, whereas the rational explanation makes sense. Had the second version happened, it would be very traumatic to Pi and could drive him to creating a fantasy that his mind can handle. But, just like in real life where people cling to a belief in God without any proof, Pi and the interviewer (and, in the book, the Japanese insurance company adjusters)prefer the story with the tiger. It is more comforting.

Nov 24 - 08:34 PM

Riaz Meh

Riaz Meh

v nice

Nov 23 - 09:33 PM

Tim Johnson

Tim Johnson

i agree with your insightful analysis! well done on several levels. the book/movie is an exercise in spiritual awareness and the importance of mystery in nature and self. congrats to you! :)

Nov 22 - 10:23 PM

David A.

David Allred

Love how computers can solve high level quantum math, but still can't successfully copy and paste an apostrophe.

Nov 21 - 10:07 AM

Help | About | Jobs | Critics Submission | API | Licensing | Mobile
Copyright © Flixster, Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright Policy | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Ad Choices