Life of Pi. I don't recommend it.

[Honeycombe8]

I went to see the Life of Pi this past weekend. If you're reeeeeeeally into cgi, this may be your movie. Everything is cgi. Some beautiful cgi shots, though. Even the animals are cgi.

BUT...I am an animal lover. I've been this way as long as I can remember. Probably dates back to Bambi, Dumbo, and other Disney movie I saw as a kid. I have had rescue animals for years, who endured God knows what in their former lives. I've had a couple of disturbing incidents happen to me involving the dying of animals, which still upset me decades later. That's all background to say that....I'm a tender hearted softie, when it comes to animals. I simply can't take anything involving the harming of animals.

Which brings me to this movie and why I walked out.

The movie starts off benign enough, and then the action ensues. "Action" in this movie mainly means the killing of animals. The animals may be symbolic for other things, but to me, it's still the harming of animals. The disturbing part is that it's not acknowledged as being anything but a furtherance of the script. As if it's no big deal for an animal to be killed.

So be warned, if you are another softie. Besides not being a great script, and a bit full of itself as supposedly a grand epic (which it's not), together with so-so acting....I just couldn't get past the animal thing. I was rude and left my friends because I couldn't take it. I told them why, and I had gotten upset at one scene and walked out until that scene was over, and came back. So I think they knew, when more animal scenes appeared, that I would be leaving again.

I give this movie a "1" on a scale of 1 being worst to 10 being best. Not just because of the animal thing. It wasn't good in other respects, as well.

[frogmarch]

1. Thanks. I'll make a point of not

seeing it for the same reason. I'm a softie too, especially when it comes to animals.

[Sedona]

2. Thanks for the warning

I missed it this past weekend because of a mix up on timing. I guess everything happens for a reason.

[Chan790]

3. I was not a fan of the book.

It tells you upfront that it's a proof of existence of God. I saw where they were going with that about half way through and they actually under-performed even that expectation. The ending was trite, the premise was trite, the "proof" was trite.

Yann Martel can write, but Life of Pi was a stinker and I don't get the hype. It's a mediocre narrative masking a tedious piece of pop theology.

[Xyzse]

4. I understand your concerns...

It is based on a book, which I have not read.

I am not really a fan of Ang Lee. To which a friend of mine who is a huge Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon fan would call me a blasphemer, but I have told him such. He does tend to go for the dramatic with mixed results.

Saying that, I will probably try to watch this movie at some point.

Call it curiosity... It can't be any worse than Twilight or Dragon Wars(another movie that friend dragged me to, which he liked and I absolutely lambasted) could it?

Ahh well, I'll figure that out at some point. Thanks for the warning though.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

5. I was listenng to the audio book in the car and had to stop

I didn't get very far into it. I get that bad things can happen to animals and that people are often the perps, which upsets me enough as it is. After some of the descriptions early on of specifics, I decided I didn't need to hear anymore.

The reader had a lovely Indian accent, though.

[Arugula Latte]

6. I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to see it because of the animals.

I can't take that stuff, either.

[Honeycombe8]

8. I've experienced some really odd things involving animals dying.

So that's part of it. So thanks for understanding. I posted my rating in a ratings site, and I got mercilessly attacked by a couple of young dudes. Why they care so much what someone else likes or not is beyond me...a control thing? Youth?

Anyhoo...I wanted to warn, for those who are like me. It's true that I'm more sensitive about that than most others. But it's not a haughty thing; it's genuine. I get upset and can't take it.

The weird things that happened to me involve finding my pet rabbit with a slashed throat, finding a dog that had been killed in my car, and dogs killing a cat in my driveway (none of them were my pets). Oh, and something else I can't bear to talk about.

So I feel empathy, I guess you'd call it. I just can't take it. (I even broke out crying once when I was explainig how I came to own my rescue dogs...people had thrown them away like trash.) So...no, I don't find that sort of thing very entertaining.

[yewberry]

7. I read the book and didn't enjoy it.

No interest in the movie.

Yes, I'm also deeply uncomfortable with animal deaths.

[MassedPole]

9. Never heard of the book Life of Pi. But I do know..

That the life of PI isnt always easy. The PI knows its only true role and purpose. The purpose to fill the belly of the eater of PI. To provide nutrients and yummy fruit to the eater of PI. The Life of PI will never be easy and will meet and untimely end at the stab of a fork.

[img][/img]

[Honeycombe8]

19. I cannot believe that you would freely admit to doing such things,

as killing your own pi, and then boldly post a picture of it. I think you may be sociopathic.

I, OTOH, admit that, yes, once I killed a pi, but it was an accident. I have a pic of it only because it was taken by a news reporter (it was a big story in my little town):



As you can see, it is very disturbing. All those pieces used to make one whole pi, before "the accident." I have learned to live with it.

[irisblue]

10. thanks for the info. I don't handle that well n/t

[Phentex]

11. I want to see it...

I liked the book but based on my book club readers, the feeling was mixed. Some people couldn't finish it. Others could not put it down. We have talked about seeing the movie together and i bet the reviews will be the same, lol.

[LWolf]

12. The animals are metaphors.

For people.

[CanSocDem]

13. Ya...sorry.

We don't do that well with "metaphors" around here.

.

[Honeycombe8]

20. Yes, I know. Doesn't matter. What you see is a live zebra ...

with broken legs getting eaten alive.

The fact that the la-de-dah author intends for the zebra to represent society pre-birth of Christ, while the hyena represents the animal in us all...blah blah blah. What you see is an animal getting killed. Fair enough, if that's what you want to see. They should warn the audience though, at least with an R rating. This is no way a movie that a kid younger than 17 should view, IMO.

I admit I'm sensitive and a sissy about this. Always have been.

As for symbolism, I've never cared for it. Even when I studied lit in college. It's so iffy, for one thing. The author says something symbolizes something else, but a critic says something symbolizes something else, and in the end, it's what the reader thinks that counts. And if the reader doesn't care to look for symbolism, then symbolism in a piece doesn't exist. It's an artsy fartsy thing, as far as I'm concerned. OTOH, if a reader sees symbolism that the author didn't intend, does that symbolism exist? Yes, it does. If that's what the reader sees.

[LWolf]

25. While

I agree with you about the zebra up to a point, but I do have a limit.

As an animal lover, I love them all. Including the predators, who, in their natural habitat, DO kill and eat zebras and other prey. In the movie it's metaphor; outside the movie it's part of the circle of life. That isn't the same as human abuse of animals for their own profit or entertainment, of course.

Happily, no real animals were terrorized or killed in the making of this movie, regardless of what the viewer "sees."

As a lover of story, I'm also aware of the power of metaphor and symbol in story development, and I appreciate it. In the same way that I appreciate all kinds of art, I appreciated well-crafted story.

[rusty fender]

14. Thanks for the heads up!

I won't be going to see it, then. I won't watch "Eight Below" because I know that one of the huskies dies--I have 2 huskies

On Thnksg night the family was watching an episode of "King of Thrones". I had to walk out of the room because it looked like they were going to kill a wolf hybrid.

[DaniDubois]

15. I won't watch it now. Thanks for the heads up. I hate movies where they kill animals.

[Flaxbee]

16. I hadn't planned on seeing it for the reasons you mention.

A friend of mine rescued a tiger from a caged hunt -- the tiger is now with a conservation group in North Carolina. But she was worried about seeing it; I sent your review to her.

I can't watch any innocents die. And I believe all animals are innocent - even if an animal attacks, unless it's rabid, I'm pretty sure it has a damn good reason to do so (namely, you're in its increasingly diminishing territory and/or f*cking with it).

[Honeycombe8]

21. That's what I think, too. Animals are not cruel and don't intend to cause pain or torture...

or things that humans can do and do do. Animals just follow their own nature. They are truly innocent, even if they kill someone. There is always a reason. Driven to hunger, even, faced with decreasing territory to hunt in, or whatever.

I feel the same way about harm to kids. I love those true crime shows (I Survived, 48 Hours, Wicked Attractions, etc.). I change the channel when the show involves the killing of children. I can't get my head to wrap around such things.

[kossp]

17. I went and saw it Monday night

and I walked out after 20 minutes. Not worth seeing.

[cilla4progress]

18. Speaking of blasphemy -

I'm the apparent blasphemer on this thread! Read the book 10 or so years ago (when it 1st came out); saw the film last night.

Loved both! Love Ang Lee's direction (every film I've seen of his.) Thought the acting was fabulous.

I am a deep animal lover myself and have many of my own. This film was in part ABOUT compassion for animals and yes, they are (or may be?) metaphors in this film. The whole story may / may not be /is a metaphor.

I struggled with some of the animal scenes, but Lee used a very light, "PG" touch, which I appreciated. When I saw the scene coming I was afraid (I don't handle violence of any sort well - in film or real life). But he didn't torture viewers as some directors do. The violence was more alluded to than on display. It had an important role in the story - was not gratuitous in any way. And for godssake, it's reality.

My 2 cents, but we are all certainly welcome to our own, honored views!

[Honeycombe8]

22. Well, I admitted that I'm a sissy about this.

I am very sensitive, and really can't take scenes of harm to innocent creatures (animals and children). I will literally be unable to sleep. I can't help it.

More disturbing than the killing was the lack of concern by the humans toward the animals. Not a mention of it. Like going to the bathroom.

I don't expect everyone else to feel the same way. As for metaphor, that makes no difference. You are still seeing a hyena eat a zebra alive, trapped by humans as it was in a boat. Whether those two animals symbolized something else, doesn't matter to me. What if the zebra had been a 2 year old human? Can you see what I mean, then? Would it matter that the 2 year old was intended by the author to represent society on a larger scale? Hogwash.

I think the movie should've been rated R. I would've investigated why. Violence rates an R, IMO. No way a kid should see this movie.

As for reality, a couple of my friends said that. You are all deceiving yourselves into thinking somehow that a human feeding a tiger a live goat is "reality." No, it's not....except when people are cruel. But that wasn't the point of that scene. No mention was made of the goat. As if the guy was just going to the bathroom (handing over a live creature to be torn apart), and nothing more.

As if putting a bunch of animals on a ship is natural and reality.

"Reality" is when a zebra is in an open field with a fair shot of running from a hyena. Reality is not having a zebra with broken legs in a boat with a hyena. The latter is human intervention in nature.

Of course, you may think canned hunts are fair, too. This movie depicts a similar thing.

[cilla4progress]

23. 1st off, the scenes are nowhere near as graphic as you describe

They don't actually show anything - neither the goat, nor the zebra, beyond small amount of blood.

You are entitled to your opinion. I am also extremely sensitive. I thought it would be bad when I was in the theater watching it, but found I didn't actually end up needing to cover my eyes at all!

Also, I felt that the violence alluded to and shown in the film was integral to the main themes and not gratuitous at all, unlike many films.

I find that Ang Lee uses a very light touch and respects viewers' sensitivity, unlike many other directors.

[Honeycombe8]

32. I didn't intend to mean that "gore" is what bothered me. That wasn't my point.

It was the actions and the cruelty, even though there wasn't a lot of gore in what I saw before I walked out.

It was the fact that animals (cgi or not, symbolic or not) were heartlessly and intentionally harmed in the movie, and the behavior of the humans was callous, uncaring, and they actually seemed to barely notice. Innocent animals being killed because of what I did..."Oh, well, sh_t happens. La de dah."

That's what I meant.

[Tom Ripley]

24. I'm suprised there was any "action" in an Ang Lee movie...

Warhol's "Empire" is more compelling than anything I have seen by Lee.

[Honeycombe8]

28. LOL. nt

[kathlola]

26. I wholeheartedly agree

I wish wish wish i had read your comments before i went to see this movie tonight.
I had no idea whatsoever that it would have this sort of content, i was beyond distraught and walked out not even half way through. Yes i maybe oversensitive but some sort of warning needs to be put along side of films with this sort of content. Along side the pg (which is a ridiculous rating for this film) it just says mild bad language and some distressing scenes, which from seeing the trailer i assumed was the bad storm, fact that he was stranded, starving etc. I didn't think for a second it would have included content like this.

Thank you for starting this thread and i will have to look harder in future to make sure films i go to see don't have any distressing animal scenes in them.

[Agschmid]

27. Thanks I also will skip it. n/t

[Britnilee]

29. So sad

I'm only 17 years old, but I am a vegetarian and animal activist and I bought this movie as soon as it came out on DVD because I thought it look amazing. Although it was one of the most beautiful movies I have ever seen, it was too much for me to handle. The parts involving the animal gore made me sob uncontrollably, and I feel bad for my family who was in the room watching with me looking at me like I was crazy. The ending left me with a heavy heart, and although its only been a week since I saw it, I still feel a bit filled with sorrow at the ending of the movie. Although I know most if the animals were animated, it still hurts my heart to see it. And at the end (SPOILER ALERT), as the tiger walks away into the forest and you can see that he has aged and is starving with his bones sticking out everywhere, and will most likely be finding a comfortable spot to die in the forest he is entering, I cried harder than I did at any other part if the movie. I'm just too much of a softie

[Rhiannon12866]

30. I haven't seen it yet, but that's why I've been afraid to

My housemate saw it last weekend and I asked if the tiger died and was told he didn't, but I still had reservations and, after reading your post, it looks like I was right. I was invited to see it when it first came out, now I'm relieved I didn't go.

I'm like you, can't stand to see any suffering of animals, rips my heart out like nothing else. I finally saw the "Marley" movie when it was on TV, though I knew I shouldn't and regretted it. I've adopted senior dogs, so I have lost several, and it never gets any easier.

Thanks so much for the warning and welcome to DU!

[Honeycombe8]

34. I have 2 rescue dogs myself. I'm hoping to get more involved...

in rescue organizations, and like you, I'm thinking my next dogs will be seniors. And like you, I put off seeing Marley for a long time, but finally watched it on tv. I boo hooed like a baby. It was rough. But at least Marley was loved and had a good life.

[NRaleighLiberal]

31. we've avoided the movie because the book is just so remarkable - especially the audiobook version.

[Honeycombe8]

33. Me, too. You have a good heart, and don't let anyone tell you that's wrong.

I get flack from friends about it, but I know a lot of people who work with rescue organizations (I have 2 rescue dogs myself), who have seen the cruelty that's out there...and we all know that it is a GOOD thing to be compassionate about creatures. It's good to have a heart.