3D Life of Pi

In Republic of China, a person is entitled to write a will at age of 16 (Civil Law Article 1186). That's the age of Pi when he encountered a shipwreck on his way to Canada from India with his family.

Life of Pi is a fantasy novel by Yann Martel published in 2001. The protagonist, Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel, an Indian boy from Pondicherry, survives 227 days after a shipwreck while stranded on a boat in the Pacific Ocean with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. In 2012 Ang Lee adapted the novel, directed and produced the film with a screenplay by David Magee. Ang Lee's Life of Pi, nominated for 9 Golden Globe Awards, including Best Motion Picture and Best Director.

I saw the 3D Life of Pi by Ang Lee by myself at 2:30PM at Vieshow Cinemas this afternoon. The movie theater was about two thirds full. Many thanks went to President May Hwang for giving me her corporate ticket coupon after Grand Finale 2012 yesterday evening.

The film stared with a 3D beautiful jungle. The film ended with a Bengal tiger walking into a jungle without looking back! In the middle of the film, Pi asked his girl dancer friend, "why there is a lotus flower in the jungle?"

Before I saw the movie, I watched Ang Lee's two interviews in Taiwan and in China for two hours in the morning. I knew what was on Ang Lee's mind to direct the film and what he expected the audience to experience the spiritual adventure in life of π (a mathematical constant that is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter).

Good or bad, it was the first time I saw a movie with a comprehensive background information and with an objective perspective. When Pi was drifting at sea, I felt no danger because I knew it was a gigantic swimming pool built for the movie at the old military airport in Taichung. I paid more attention to the facial expression and body movement of Pi. I was also tempted to see the aging of Pi from 16 to 20 (it took Ang Lee four years to finish the film), from a boy to a man, according to Ang Lee.

There were many bizarre things in the movie, such as the floating island. The fresh water in the day on the island turned into acidic at night to digest the animals caught. There was a human tooth entrapped in a flower. Being a biologist, I found it hard to believe.

But I did enjoy the 3D movie with a pair of awesome spectacles very much. In stead of seeing the 3D subtitles, I replied more upon my ears to understand the conversation and narration in English, than on my eyes to read the subtitles in Chinese.

After seeing the predominant male characters in the film, I can't help but wondering what if Pi was a girl. Was she able to go through the ordeal face to face with a Bengal tiger drifting on a boat in the Pacific Ocean for 227 days?

Now I have many plans for 2013, including a spiritual tour in India, a reading of original "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel, a visit of Taipei Zoo to see a beautiful Bengal tiger, a trial writing of an adventure story in a remote desolate star in the universe!

PS: The Value of Pi
Did you know that the ratio of the circumference and the diameter of a circle known as Pi (a value of 3.141592657932…) was first calculated by Hindus?
The Sanskrit text, by the famous Hindu mathematician, Baudhayana in his Baudhayana Sulbha Sutra of the 6th century BC mentions this ratio as approximately equal to 3. The Hindu mathematician, Aryabhatta, in 499 AD worked out the value of Pi to the fourth decimal place as [3x (177/1250) = 3.1416]. In 825 AD one Arab mathematician Mohammad Ibna Musa said: This value has been given by the Hindus [Indians] (62832/20,000 = 3.1416).