240
The Importance Of Imagery In Life Of Pi
After deciding to sell their zoo in India and move to Canada, Santosh and Gita Patel board a Japanese ship with their sons and a few remaining animals. Disaster strikes when a huge storm sinks the ship, leaving Pi, as the only human survivor. However, Pi is not alone; he is with a terrifying Bengal tiger has also found safe haven aboard the lifeboat. As days turn into weeks and weeks drag into months, Pi and the tiger must learn to trust each other if both are to survive. The film was directed by Ang lee and was released on the 21st of December 2012. The storm shows how unpredictable and wild the natural world is. The storm forces Pi to accept and understand the meaning of life. His belongings, his tiger’s boldness, fearlessness and his life-raft are all taken from him, forcing him to discover the infirmity of the human condition. In this scene the audience is taken on a journey of forced reflectance and discovery of the metaphorical significance and relevance of the scene to their lives. The loss of the raft signifies the frailness of our comfort zones compared to nature and fate.
The tiger losing it fearlessness show that even our bravery can’t save or protect us. This scene teaches us that you discover true peace when we accept our own mortality and suffering, because we make peace and discover that we are not in control of what happens around us. The storm symbolizes suffering for Pi. It is also where he finds his spirituality and believes he sees God for the first time. The sunlight represents the guiding light that gives him hope and his facial expression from the head shot shows that he feels wonder at this discovery. The computer generated lighting makes the scene more spectacular, in a sense of wonder and magic to Pi and the viewer. This lightning show how grand yet and horrific the storm is. The lightning is scary and also beautiful at the same time and this represents in a way that personal suffering maybe a hard but we should see beauty even when times are tough. In the mist of his suffering Pi notices that Richard Parker is terrified by the storm, Pi joy instantly turns to despair. In a long shot displaying Christian imagery, Pi is standing with his arms outstretched like Jesus and cries ‘why are you scaring him? I’ve lost my family. I’ve lost everything. I surrender. What more do you want?’Crashing wave sounds and orchestral music accompanied his surrender which the music faded and sad tones with coral voices conveyed Pi’s suffering during this ideal moment. The storm is like a catalyst to Pi submission to his faith.
Although Richard Parker as Pi, he is the braver and more wild side of Pi in this scene he is portrayed using high angle shot to be unable to stay afloat and the fear in his face is illustrated with an extreme close-up. The storm carries away the raft which was a barrier and place of safety and security for Pi. Finally the storm ends which oddly means revival and revelation. Atypically this is when Pi accepts his humanity and impermanence. The long shot shows the boat on the calm seas, here we are reminded of Pi susceptibility and helplessness in this wide and wild world. At this stage Pi no longer fears death, his rage is gone and in his monologue ‘Thank you for giving me my life. I am now ready. ‘, this shows that Pi’s newfound acceptance of life and humanity. The calmness of the ocean symbolises the peace that Pi has found with his new discovery about life. The great Gatsby is about the American dream and decline of the American dream. Although it has many great themes the director failed to portray all the great imagery in the novel. There were great parts in the movie now and then, but some parts were different from what we read in the book. Both movies are a great resemblance of the novels but life of Pi stands out and out shines the great Gatsby because many symbols, metaphors and ironic imagery in the novel are the in the movie and they are highlighted and true colour they are emphasised.
