I went to see the Life of Pi movie last night. I went by myself which is just as well because it cost me £11. This was partly because I didn't want to wait an extra half an hour to watch it in 2D. This would have saved me £3. I really wanted a coffee too, but that would have been another £3, so I decided to have the 3D instead of the hot milk.
Even the cheap seats at the cinema now cost around £8. With prices as high as these, I might have to keep going to the cinema by myself. There's a bit in Trading Places when the really mean Duke brothers give one of their staff a very small Christmas bonus, and he says 'Gee thanks, maybe I'll go to the cinema....by myself'. Well, now it's not just poor domestic servants that have to go by themselves, the prices are almost reaching personal loan proportions.
In last night's case, going alone wasn't entirely to do with the cost. Ruth thought the book was garbage, so she didn't want to see the garbage film that went with it.
It was either 10 or 11 years ago that I read the book, I'm not sure which, but one thing I do know is that I read it over Christmas Day and Boxing Day, so going to see the film on Boxing Day had a nice symmetry to it. I'm a big fan of symmetry. Earlier in the year I took great delight in going to see Total Recall aged 44, 22 years after going to see the original when I was myself 22. For good measure I took my 22 year old stepson with me to see the remake. Numerologists could have a field day with that one. The only problem being that the remake seemed to have been hit by the recession and instead of going to Mars they had to tunnel to Australia instead. I was blown away by the special effects of the Arnie original but the Farrell affair just made me want to go to sleep.
Anyway, the film of 'Life of Pi' was pretty good, in places it looked stunning, but overall I think I preferred the experience of reading the book. In the film, I could have done without the boat, and the phosphorescence, and the special effects and all the jazzy stuff they can do with computers now, the most compelling parts were listening to the older Pi talking. In fact, I would have probably enjoyed it more, if it was just him talking.
Looking at it from a selfish point of view, it's possible I just didn't actually need this film to be made. For me the experience of reading the book was such a rich and imaginative experience, that I already had all of it, and more, in my head.
There were times when I found the film very moving, and mostly these parts were created by a man sitting in a room talking to another man and recollecting stories from the past. There was a point near the end, when I nearly started crying, but I managed to suppress it, because I didn't want anyone else to hear. I was already wearing stupid 3D glasses over my own, I couldn't cope with any more embarrassment..
The part that got to me was when the older Pi was talking about the point where he and Richard Parker went their separate ways, and he said something like this, which I am paraphrasing terribly. 'Life is all about letting go, but what hurts is when there is no pause, no time to share what we've been through together, no time to acknowledge the passing, before we part'. He was talking about the tiger, but also about his family, who were lost in the shipwreck. This is maybe why it's so important for people to be with their loved ones, as they die. Just to be aware of the process of letting go.
One of the things I love about the film Inception is the part where Leo finally realises that he has to let his wife go, and move on. He finally accepts that they had their time, but now he has to go. He has to move forward, and be with his children in the future.
And thinking about the subject of loss reminded me of another of my favourite films. Deja Vu. In that Denzel says 'Everything you have you lose', and although it's never explicitly stated, it seems likely that the family he no longer has, were lost in a terrorist attack, which partly explains his determination to change the past. He makes a comment along the lines of 'loved ones gone in an instant', and his suffering is very much like that of Pi in Life of Pi, whose family are lost very suddenly and without warning. This must be the hardest loss of all to take. As miserable as losing someone to an illness is, at least you get used to their absence in increments. It doesn't just go from all to nothing.
When I read Life of Pi, one of the parts I enjoyed the most were the descriptions of animals, and their behaviours, and this had more resonance with me at the time than the human stuff. But I think 10 years on, the parts that stuck with me from the film, were the human dramas. The decision to sell the animals and move to Canada, which took the family away from their home and their country, and Pi away from his girlfriend, and then the loss of Pi's family in the shipwreck, and finally the bonding with, and then the loss of Richard Parker.
I usually find it quite annoying when people in the cinema start talking, just as the credits start to roll, about how the film of their favourite book, wasn't as good as they expected, and how they missed this bit out, or that part was too long, or about how Galadriel isn't as tall as I imagined etc..
But I think that almost happened to me yesterday. Because I'd already seen the extended edition 10 years ago, in my own head. And I loved it.
Even the cheap seats at the cinema now cost around £8. With prices as high as these, I might have to keep going to the cinema by myself. There's a bit in Trading Places when the really mean Duke brothers give one of their staff a very small Christmas bonus, and he says 'Gee thanks, maybe I'll go to the cinema....by myself'. Well, now it's not just poor domestic servants that have to go by themselves, the prices are almost reaching personal loan proportions.
In last night's case, going alone wasn't entirely to do with the cost. Ruth thought the book was garbage, so she didn't want to see the garbage film that went with it.
It was either 10 or 11 years ago that I read the book, I'm not sure which, but one thing I do know is that I read it over Christmas Day and Boxing Day, so going to see the film on Boxing Day had a nice symmetry to it. I'm a big fan of symmetry. Earlier in the year I took great delight in going to see Total Recall aged 44, 22 years after going to see the original when I was myself 22. For good measure I took my 22 year old stepson with me to see the remake. Numerologists could have a field day with that one. The only problem being that the remake seemed to have been hit by the recession and instead of going to Mars they had to tunnel to Australia instead. I was blown away by the special effects of the Arnie original but the Farrell affair just made me want to go to sleep.
Anyway, the film of 'Life of Pi' was pretty good, in places it looked stunning, but overall I think I preferred the experience of reading the book. In the film, I could have done without the boat, and the phosphorescence, and the special effects and all the jazzy stuff they can do with computers now, the most compelling parts were listening to the older Pi talking. In fact, I would have probably enjoyed it more, if it was just him talking.
Looking at it from a selfish point of view, it's possible I just didn't actually need this film to be made. For me the experience of reading the book was such a rich and imaginative experience, that I already had all of it, and more, in my head.
There were times when I found the film very moving, and mostly these parts were created by a man sitting in a room talking to another man and recollecting stories from the past. There was a point near the end, when I nearly started crying, but I managed to suppress it, because I didn't want anyone else to hear. I was already wearing stupid 3D glasses over my own, I couldn't cope with any more embarrassment..
The part that got to me was when the older Pi was talking about the point where he and Richard Parker went their separate ways, and he said something like this, which I am paraphrasing terribly. 'Life is all about letting go, but what hurts is when there is no pause, no time to share what we've been through together, no time to acknowledge the passing, before we part'. He was talking about the tiger, but also about his family, who were lost in the shipwreck. This is maybe why it's so important for people to be with their loved ones, as they die. Just to be aware of the process of letting go.
One of the things I love about the film Inception is the part where Leo finally realises that he has to let his wife go, and move on. He finally accepts that they had their time, but now he has to go. He has to move forward, and be with his children in the future.
And thinking about the subject of loss reminded me of another of my favourite films. Deja Vu. In that Denzel says 'Everything you have you lose', and although it's never explicitly stated, it seems likely that the family he no longer has, were lost in a terrorist attack, which partly explains his determination to change the past. He makes a comment along the lines of 'loved ones gone in an instant', and his suffering is very much like that of Pi in Life of Pi, whose family are lost very suddenly and without warning. This must be the hardest loss of all to take. As miserable as losing someone to an illness is, at least you get used to their absence in increments. It doesn't just go from all to nothing.
When I read Life of Pi, one of the parts I enjoyed the most were the descriptions of animals, and their behaviours, and this had more resonance with me at the time than the human stuff. But I think 10 years on, the parts that stuck with me from the film, were the human dramas. The decision to sell the animals and move to Canada, which took the family away from their home and their country, and Pi away from his girlfriend, and then the loss of Pi's family in the shipwreck, and finally the bonding with, and then the loss of Richard Parker.
I usually find it quite annoying when people in the cinema start talking, just as the credits start to roll, about how the film of their favourite book, wasn't as good as they expected, and how they missed this bit out, or that part was too long, or about how Galadriel isn't as tall as I imagined etc..
But I think that almost happened to me yesterday. Because I'd already seen the extended edition 10 years ago, in my own head. And I loved it.
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