Well, I just watched Life
of Pi. At times I found it terrifying almost beyond bearable and wanted to
switch it off. By the time it was over, I found it so heart warming that I watched
every second of the end credits just to prolong the experience. It was some
experience.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
I loved Life of Pi though wept for 20 mins after leaving the theatre (clearly an overreaction, but the twist took me by surprise). It is indeed a very heartwarming film.
I've been meaning to visit for the last week since I'd started reading The Mists of Avalon. I remember you had talked at great length about the book a while ago and I've finally gotten around to it. I love it, I'm eating it up! I've read a few other versions of the Arthurian romance, including the first of Mary Stewart's trilogy, but this is really set apart. The female perspective is fascinating, as are the details of everyday life – whether or not entirely accurate, who knows – they add depth and realism to the tale, a bit like in Tolkien's LOTR (but different :)
I hope this finds you well J.J. and getting along in the midwinter cold...
I don't believe there's any such thing as an emotional overreaction, Della. Who but you has the right to draw the line? As for the twist, the child in me agrees with the writer: 'I prefer the one with the tiger.'
For me, the terror started with the shipwreck itself. Shipwreck stories are usually seen entirely from the survivors' point of view. Seeing the ship actually go down - watching the lights disappearing into the deep - brings to the heart a perception of the lost. I felt a similar reaction as a boy when I watched the old classic Titanic film 'A Night to Remember.'
Ah, 'Mists...' That book was a chapter of my life. It made sense of some of my most abiding attitudes and sensibilities. As a piece of literature, I think its main flaw is that the male characters tend to be a bit two-dimensional, but so what. It balances centuries of male-centredness.
Our winter is being unusually mild and wet so far, and we've had lots of storms. On balance, I think I prefer it to snow.
So true about the shipwreck, I hadn't realized it. I also prefer the tiger story but have an unfortunate bend toward realism (pessimism). My son had come home and told me what a cool movie it was about a tiger in a boat, etc. so when I finally saw it, I realized there was another meaning and was completely crushed and heartbroken (thinking of him). But actually, you're both right and I'm just wrong, damn it!
Just read a lovely bit in Avalon where Igraine tells off a priest - a real feel-good moment somehow.
Snow is in our forecast for tomorrow and I also look forward to it (because I'm in the city and do not have to shovel). I hope you get just enough to blanket the fields a glistening white, without it wreaking havoc.
Not wrong, surely. If we're meant to recognise that the animal story wasn't an adventure story at all, but an allegory for a horrific and poignant human drama, doesn't that make the rite of passage all the more powerful, and the pathos all the sadder? I like allegories for the very fact that the fantastical side strengthens the meaning of the real.
Have you read 'The Da Vinci Code,' and did you see my swingeing criticism of Dan Brown's writing? I think I might have been a little unfair (the infamous priestess - aka my beloved Chinese ghost - told me off in an email!) While I hold to the opinion that certain aspects of his writing are pretty poor, I admit he got a valuable point across: that it's about time the god and the goddess be given equal prominence in the matter of life.
Ha, yes, I did see some of your criticism of Dan Brown, and thought it was funny. I had read the DaVinci Code a while back and was too swept up in the adventure to notice his writing. But looking at it again, the writing is indeed not great as I too, like to savour the written word. In the end he does come through with the right message of course, as you say, and many people enjoyed it I think for its rebelliousness (although the character who believes in the cult of Mary is also crazy, so I'm wondering if the message is mixed?).
Back to Life of Pi – yes the allegory absolutely made the pathos that much sadder. I empathised so much with my son who saw the tiger story as true while feeling crushed by the disappointment that it wasn't. It was such a well-done film, I don't know why I've never heard much about it.
Post a Comment