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Watch and Discuss
At our next Film Society meeting, which will be held on April 10, we will be discussing Ang Lee's Life of Pi, which took home 4 Oscars at the 2013 Academy Awards, including the Best Director Oscar. Based on the best selling novel, the film tells the story of Pi, who was shipwrecked after a storm and survived in a lifeboat with a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena and a male Bengal tiger named Richard Parker.
This film is rated PG for emotional thematic content and scary action sequences.In an attempt to expand our horizons, the Film Society will begin to engage in discussions about the themes of the movies we watch. Our viewing enjoyment can be enhanced by thinking more deeply about the movies we watch and beginning our discussions online with everyone who wants to participate in the discussion with us. Please join us as we enjoy the film on April 10 and engage in thoughtful discussion with us about it here.
Questions for Discussion
Please leave your comments regarding these questions and any thoughts about the movie you'd like to discuss or share in the Comment Box below.
1. Pi is a very religious person. What are some of the themes involving religion and belief in God that are brought out in the film?
2. The novel was about imagination and the movie is very imaginative. Do you think the stories Pi tells are true of fictitious? Are there clues in the film that hint at the truth?
3. Names and identities are also a strong theme running through the movie. What does this movie say about personal identity?
4.. How do the three themes or religion, imagination, and identity tied together in this story?
References
Life of Pi on IMDB
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0454876/
Life of Pi, Sparkle Notes about the novel
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/lifeofpi/study.html
Life of Pi Questions on Shmoop
http://www.shmoop.com/life-of-pi/questions.html
Movie Trailer
Image Credits
http://www.themommy-files.com/2013/02/get-a-head-start-on-all-of-the-excitement-with-the-academy-awards-and-life-of-pi/
http://www.parentalguide.org/movieratingsguide.html
What a great night was had by all. We had 16 people participate in the movie night. After the move about 10 film buffs remained to discuss the film.
ReplyDeleteWe noticed the themes of identity, religion, and imagination throughout the film, and we talked a great deal about the relationship between these three themes, both as they applied to the stories Pi told, and in the way these themes support and reinforce each other in creating our own realities and values. Essentially, our ability to imagine, supports our ability to believe and thus have faith. Both of which define us as a person.
Personal favorite scene: When Pi gets angry at the hyena and starts to attack it. We see him first, from the front, screaming and getting ready to charge. But then the camera reverses angle and we see him from behind. As Richard Parker pounces out at the hyena, he appears to be jumping out of Pi. A wonderful visual which symbolizes the identity change Pi has to make if he is to survive on the sea.
Thanks everyone who participated, for a great turnout and a enthusiastic discussion.
Stan