Life of Pi

I still remember the moment I turned the final page of Yann Martel's "Life of Pi".

It was a weekend morning in 2003, I was in my dorm room in Hualien, Taiwan, for military service. The days were long and the idle Pacific breeze never far from touch. Out of nowhere came this Canadian author's fantastical tale about an Indian boy and a tiger, and when its last sentence fell, it shook me to the bone.

Nearly a decade later, one of my favorite works of fiction finally made its way to the big screen. Thanks to the uncommonly beautiful images captured by Claudio Miranda, the haunting and emotionally eloquent music scored by Mychael Danna, the seamless visual effects created by a team of thousands and an able cast anchored by the majestic tranquility of Irrfan Khan, this seemingly impossible leap was achieved in front of our eyes, and it was magical.

Faithful as the adaptation is to the original, it also inherited the book's weaknesses, evidenced by some glitches in editing. But as a fan of Martel's work, especially his take on the power of storytelling and the essence of faith, there's really nothing more you can ask for than the vision and craft of an assured and soulful filmmaker as amply displayed in this movie. For that, thank you, Ang Lee.