Following the arrival of 2013, another promising year of cinema looks set to unfold as the first couple of months brings us some fascinating award contenders. With the Oscar nominations due to announce this week, audiences will be keen to see what all the fuss is about as January gets busy with its releases. One of the current contenders tipped for recognition is Ang Lee’s fantasy adventure Life of Pi which was the lucky recipient of my first cinematic trip this year. After making a couple of stunning masterpieces in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) and Brokeback Mountain (2005), Lee once again delved into the concept of adapting a film from a renowned novel as he looked to make his most ambitious and mature feature to date. Think of it as a young Indian boy’s version of the Old Man and the Sea….

SYNOPSIS: In the modern day, Pi Patel (Khan) is questioned by a writer (Spall) about an incredible experience he went through years ago. Going back to his days as a young man living in India, Pi (newcomer Sharma) developed an understanding for different religions but was to be left distraught when his zoo-keeper father decided to relocate the family and their zoo of animals to Canada. But whilst sailing across the Pacific Ocean via a Japanese ship, a deadly storm would produce destructive waves that resulted in the vessel sinking. However Pi survived but was left stranded on a lifeboat before discovering he was sharing it with a Royal Bengal Tiger named Richard Parker. An unlikely bond between the two was to be formed leading to a long and frustrating journey for survival.

Just like his work on Crouching Tiger (and the critically-panned Hulk), director Ang Lee is able to bring author Yann Martel’s articulate vision to life from the best-selling novel with this imaginative production that benefits from its artistic features. While the coming-of-age format is a simple one for the narrative, Lee handles the film with creative craftsmanship as we explore this unbelievable journey that Pi goes through. Straight from the outset, the opening title-sequence introduces us to the wonders of nature as we get shown the zoo of animals as they thrive upon the space they occupy. Mychel Danna’s pleasurable (and award-worthy) score captures the beauty of these surroundings and becomes more central later on during the individual scenes involving Pi. After a quiet opening half-hour, the film does spring to life through the monstrous shipwreck sequence which is visually stunning and up there with other classic cinematic sinking ships like the Titanic. Once Pi is left stranded on the boat, he is forced to face up to harsh lessons about nature in the most grisly form (vicious hyena anyone?). But it is the impeccable creation of Richard Parker (the tiger) which makes for fascinating viewing as Lee’s visual effects team work effortlessly to make the animal look as realistic as possible. It all comes together perfectly as the intense relationship between man and beast becomes a key part of the film’s narrative especially when we watch the pair try to bond amidst the peril and one-off humour. Aside from Parker, there is also the beautifully rendered use of motion capture and CGI which enables every frame of the film to look artistically glorious when we see Pi out in sea. It also works out well with the other state-of-the-art CGI models ranging from the large army of cute looking meerkats to the spectacular-looking humpback whale that jumps over the lifeboat in the sparkling night-time scenes. Given a lot of responsibility to deal with in such a visually-vibrant production is teenage newcomer Suraj Sharma who shines in his role as the young Pi. The fact that is his debut role makes his performance more remarkable as he really captivates us emotionally as we spend our time overseeing his desperate quest for survival and his touching bond with the tiger. Veteran Indian actor Irrfan Khan is also effective as he lends a gentle warmness to his role as the older Pi who discusses his extraordinary past to Rafe Spall’s intrigued writer. One random actor to look out for just before the shipwreck sequence is Gerard Depardieu as the volatile cook who ridicules Pi’s family.

Though the film is a sight to behold, it isn’t one that will be embraced by most audiences especially youngsters. The opening half-hour requires patience as the scenes involving Pi’s curiosity of different religions are not something that most children will be aware of yet. The film also relies on natural ‘circle-of-life’ themes which may be too dark for some families to handle with two particularly brutal scenes involving Richard Parker and the dastardly hyena showing their carnivorous motives (though at least there isn’t any blood to see!). It is on the subject of cannibalism which leaves you with an unsettling feeling in the film’s ambiguous ending as the young Pi decides to tell an alternative story to some journalists about what supposedly happened when he was out at sea after they refuse to believe his ‘tiger’ story. It took me back t0 that other survival film ‘Alive’….

VERDICT: Cast Away meets Slumdog Millionaire in Ang Lee’s beautifully-vibrant film which looks and feels mythical from its stunning visual creations to its compelling debut role from newcomer Sharma. Though it isn’t quite a film for children, it is paradise to watch on the big-screen.