Anyways...I should probably say that this post does contain some spoilers, so if you don't want to know what happens in the movie then you probably shouldn't continue reading.
I did not know what to expect from this movie. I knew it was about a boy stranded out in the ocean alone with a tiger, but that's about it. To my surprise, it was a very religious movie. The main character, Pi, sees beauty in all religions and feels as if they all work together. He considered himself a Hindu, Catholic and Muslim. I thought it was pretty crazy at first, but the amount of faith this little boy had was pretty incredible. I know a lot of people who feel strongly that all religions are completely different and only their religion can lead to heaven. Then again, I know other people who think that no matter what religion you are, you can get to heaven if you practice it with all your heart...essentially, God is the same throughout all religions. Honestly, I don't know how I feel about the whole topic. All I know is that I do believe that if Pi died (which he didn't), he would have gone to heaven. Just because he practiced and believed in three different religions doesn't make him a sinner in my eyes. He believed in God with all his heart...and I think that is all that matters.
As I said previously, Pi ends up as a castaway. The boat he was traveling on to Canada with his family and their animals (a lot of animals, by the way...they owned a zoo) sunk. He was forced into a life boat, where he spent about 270 days by himself along with some of his animals. He started off with a zebra, monkey, a mean cat-like animal (sorry, I don't know what it was), and a Bengal tiger. The first three animals died off, but the tiger remained. He says in the movie that because of the tiger, he survived. It kept Pi on his toes, aware of what was going on at all times. This was partly because he was afraid the tiger would attack him if he wasn't careful and also because he felt like he needed to take care of the tiger. Eventually, they both floated to an island shore where natives rescued them.
The natives asked Pi how he ended up alone. He told them his story, but they said it was too unbelievable. They told him that it was not realistic- a tiger could not have survived with him. So...he told them another story. He made the animals into people this time- his family. He told a graphic story about how his family members died in the boat with him (symbolizing the monkey, zebra, and cat animals who died). Then, he said that it was only him who remained (symbolizing the tiger). Of course, there were more details, but that's not really the point I'm trying to make.
See, Pi told two completely different stories to the Japanese natives. The one with the animals and the one with the people. And the crazy thing is that no one really knows what story is true. Many people believe that it is very likely that there were no animals on the boat with Pi- that it really was his family with them, but they all just passed away. Then there are others who believe that it was the animals on the boat with him the entire time. It's all a matter of perspective.
Do you believe in miracles? Do you believe in something greater than yourself, something that you cannot see? Or do you prefer facts, things that can be logically proven by science? Are you a realist?
Honestly...I believe that the tiger was on the boat with Pi throughout the entire journey. I think that story is much more exciting and beautiful than a story with humans, where everything is realistic. I guess no one will ever know which story is real, it's up for interpretation.
It all comes down to faith in the end. Faith that miracles do happen, that God is real. Pi had an enormous amount of faith- he believed in the story with the animals- and that is really inspiring to me.
Check out Abe's awesome blog post here :)
