Life of Pi (2012)

As with many other films, I find it hard to judge Life of Pi due to having read the book before watching the film. I find it a certainty that, for the large majority of cases, one will all but destroy the other, and it seems silly to favour the adaptation over the original.

Some films for me have been completely ruined by a far superior book - Memoires of a Geisha and We Need to Talk about Kevin being prime examples. While so many film adaptations will get me angry because people seem to insist on changing the plot, these two along with so many others simply failed to bring across on film what was so well communicated by word. They weren’t bad films necessarily but they just weren’t anywhere near as good as the book.

That said, it’s not a given that reading a book beforehand will spoil your viewing experience; some films are just so good that they stand up for themselves. Atonement is the best example I can give here – I love the book, and I love the film. They’re both amazing and compliment each other well. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, also (the Swedish version obviously) was fantastic, and in no way made me angry because the book was better. So many others too – Remains of the Day, Lord of the Rings – it’s definitely possible. So what about Life of Pi?

It fails. The problem with choosing this book to translate into a film is that very little actually happens. There’s a lot of description and thought, and the way to get around that is first person voice-over, which was used liberally throughout the film. Even so, I feel that an audiobook would do the job better.

Now, I didn’t see the 3D. The visuals were really very very good and it was beautifully done in that regard. I can see that with a large screen and the benefit of 3D would make them gasp-worthy, in the same way that The Hobbit’s scenery and high frame rate were. That’s only half the point though and what I want is my emotions pulled here there and everywhere as they were by the book.

Without wanting to spoil the ending, when I finished the book I was shocked and appalled and in complete floods of tears. Maybe it just can’t have that same impact twice, or maybe you just can’t convey that as well with cinema, but I found the ending to the film comparatively underwhelming. If it’s for the former reason, I fear that for an increasing number of films we shall have to make a choice between enjoying the film, and getting the most from the book. It’s one of those competitions that, for me, a book will always win.

I don’t mean by this that it was a bad film. I really did enjoy it. It’s just going to be added to the list of films where the book is just so much better.

Here’s wishing The Great Gatsby good luck – I read it just before Christmas.