In 2012, director Ang Lee presented his next brainchild to the court of critics and viewers - the film "Life of Pi". The painting was based on the novel of the same name by Yann Martella. Many Hollywood film critics called the film "Life of Pi" one of the best works of the Oscar-winning director.
Idea of ​​creating a picture
In 2001, the popular Canadian writer Yann Martel published his new creation - the 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 the Booker Prize.
For a long time, rumors circulated in Hollywood circles about the film adaptation of the book, but, nevertheless, the magnates of the film industry did not want to risk it. After all, Martel’s masterpiece told not only about the adventures of an Indian boy, but also touched on the philosophical aspects of life. On the screen, these considerations could tire the viewer. Nevertheless, Fox 2000 management decided to take a chance and visualize the picture. In 2011, the filming process started, and all the fans began to wonder about how they filmed Life Pi.
Plot
The novel of the Canadian writer made a real sensation, 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 is about Pi's childhood and family. The second one tells about the wreck of a ship on which the entire 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, zebra, tiger and orangutan. During the trip, all animals, except the Bengal tiger, die, and Pi is forced to travel in such a company across the expanses of the Pacific Ocean. About this incredible journey, fortitude and faith tells Life of Pi, a film that is rightfully considered a masterpiece of Hollywood cinema. The number of statuettes and the box office are strong evidence of this fact.
Interesting facts about filming
The story “Life of Pi” is fiction, and Yanna Martela was inspired by Moasir Sklyar’s book “Max and the Cat Family”, which was published in 1981, to write it.
The director’s chair became vacant several times. Fox initially invited M. Knight Shyamalan to this position. In 2005, he dropped out of the project. The next candidate was Alfonso Cuaron, but he worked on his project "Child of Man." Genre Pierre Genet could lead the project, but it was at this stage that there were problems with financing the picture, and he refused. In 2009, the Fox film company invited Oscar-winning Ang Lee to the director's chair and did not fail.
Dean Gorgaris undertook to adapt the script, but with the change of director, the screenwriter also changed. So, the book was "rewritten" by Gill Laurent. With the advent of Ang Lee, the script was adapted under the supervision of David Maggie.
The budget of the picture was 70 million dollars. Filming started in 2011. They took place in China, India, Taiwan and Montreal.
Since most of the film is shooting in water, a huge pool was built, the wave height of which was 1.5 meters, and waves 2.5 meters high were required. Huge work done by computer designers and graphics. “Life of Pi” is a film in which computer graphics occupy 75% of the time.
Actors and roles
Casting for the main role took place in Delhi. Immediately after the approval of the budget, Ang Lee went in search of the protagonist. Of the 3,000 applicants, he turned his professional eye to an ordinary teenager from Delhi, who had never acted in films. Suraj Sharma is a student who came to the test with his brother. Initially, how they shot Life of Pi 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 so well-fed. Another interesting point - Sharma could not swim. In the gym, the newly made actor spent three hours a day, learned to hold his breath for swimming underwater.
The film shows the stages of Pi growing up, this character was embodied on the screen by several actors at once - Gautam Belur, Ayush Tandon, Irfan 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 fortitude, but also about the interaction of one of the most dangerous animals and humans. The idea of ​​shooting a real tiger was in the air, but the director still did not want the animal to eat the protagonist. The animators studied the nature and habits of these animals, took the prototype of the real Aslan tiger and traced it in detail. As a result, in 3D format, Richard Parker (the tiger) came to life, and fans of the book, and indeed all the audience, appreciated this work. “Life of Pi”, reviews of which are only positive, has become a competitor to many films in the world box office.
The writer is also a key figure in the film. The role was played by Rafe Spall. Initially, scenes were shot with Toby Maguyer, but after Eng Lee decided that the actor was too "starry", and re-shot all the scenes with him.
The mother of the protagonist played the famous Tabassum Hashmi in her homeland. Adil Hussein transferred to the screens the image of Father Patel. The episodic, but very colorful role of the ship's coca was played by Gerard Depardieu.
Reviews from critics and viewers
After the audience and critics learned how they shot Life of Pi and compared it with the material that was released, the film became a triumph of 2012.
The picture was released a month later than planned due to the rental of the Hobbit at that time. In January, the start of the triumphal and non-trivial painting “Life of Pi” started. The film turned out to be more than an unexpected breakthrough and achieved flattering responses from titled film critics, famous Hollywood people and ordinary viewers. The budget of the film amounted to $ 120 million, box office - $ 600 million, and such results were achieved without bloody fights, fantastic transformers and epic characters.
The film "Life Pi" reviews and ratings received high. So, the American critic Roger Ebert gave the picture a maximum score, and the Rotten Tomatoes website assigned the picture a 88% rating, and this approval was achieved, despite the fact that even then many critics knew how they shot Life P. - because most of the shooting took place in a tank of water.
Awards and prizes
Eleven Oscar nominations - today, these results can be called a real success. As a result, four of them replenished the moneybox of the picture - “Best Visual Effects”, “Best Operator”, “Best Soundtrack”, “Best Director”. The film also collected several Golden Globes, one Annie, and won two BAFTA nominations.