My youngest boy wants to see life of pi, I’ve read the book and I’m not sure he’ll like it, he says it’s about a boy who’s friends with a tiger….anyone seen it?

We watched it this evening. I’m not so sure a 10 year old would enjoy it.

No idea what the official rating is either over here in Oz or back in the UK, but there were a couple of kids about that age who got ushered out at one point by some rather fraught looking mothers.

One things for certain, he may be friends with the tiger, but the tiger isn’t particularly friendly

Thanks zokes, I’m assuming its a PG rating..

It is a PG rating but I wouldn’t recommend it for a child. There’s nothing really in it that would upset a 10 year old (less than you’d see in a nature documentary) but it’s more a film for grown ups. I doubt he’d enjoy it. Pi isn’t exactly “friends” with a tiger.

my 10 yr old son loved it as did my 13yr old daughter

As an aside, did anyone who’s seen it think it seemed like a Castaway remake, only with more tiger and less Wilson?

As above, PG rated, but not exactly aimed at kids so I’m not sure how it would go down. There are animals eating other animals, which could be upsetting, and there are also some quite long contemplative sections which might bore younger kids. Not a parent myself so take that with a pinch of salt, but I thought it was very good overall. The CG is mostly immaculate, with a few exceptions when the tiger’s fur is wet and it looks a bit unrealistic.

Not sure there’s much in there to scare a 10 year old boy… couple of moments where there are “surprises” but not much if any in the way of suspense or indeed goar compaired to the book.

Good film… Not excatly a childs film but why shouldn’t he watch something that will make him think a little… maybe encourage him to think about who the tiger really is etc etc ??

I’m not sure he’ll get the symbolism etc, he’ll just see it as an adventure story, it sounds as if the film will work on that level, I’ll watch the trailer with him tonight and see what he thinks…

My 10 year old really enjoyed it. I thought he was going to be bored by all the chat at the beginning (it’s a while before you see the tiger), but he was fine.

As an aside, did anyone who’s seen it think it seemed like a Castaway remake, only with more tiger and less Wilson?
No. I thought it was like the film of the book “Life of Pi”.

No. I thought it was like the film of the book “Life of Pi”.

Well, yes.

However, the only other film I’ve seen where a bloke gets stuck on a boat / island in the middle of the ocean for far too long with an undesirable companion is Castaway. But Wilson was less aggressive.

Yeah – symbolism. Isn’t a lot of it wibbling about religion and “spirituality”?

Kind of put me off.

Perhaps not surprisingly…

My 10 year old and 8 year old both enjoyed it. I guess some children may find it a little slow in parts or a bit scary if they’re of a nervous disposition.

Yeah – symbolism. Isn’t a lot of it wibbling about religion and “spirituality”?

Not really no. Religion is mentioned, and there is symbolism but the view that is taken perhaps not in the way that you’d expect it to be. It’s difficult to discuss it without talking about the end of the film and that would be a bit of spoiler.

As an aside, did anyone who’s seen it think it seemed like a Castaway remake, only with more tiger and less Wilson?

Well, both films Films are about “castaways” so yes, there will be similarities.

But it’s in no way is it a “Castaway remake” 😐

They are no more similar than any two WW2 films you might pick at random.

Isn’t a lot of it wibbling about religion and “spirituality”?

My boy is as anti-religion as you (!) and still enjoyed the film 🙂

zokes – Member

As an aside, did anyone who’s seen it think it seemed like a Castaway remake, only with more tiger and less Wilson?
yup, and wasn’t Pink Floyd’s The Wall just a remake of Revenge Of the Pink Panther but with less laughs and more hammers?

Back on topic – I’d have thought life of Pi might be a bit boring for a 10 year old, but it’s visually stunning so they might just enjoy looking at the pictures. Nothing scary or disturbing IMO

As an aside, did anyone who’s seen it think it seemed like a Castaway remake, only with more tiger and less Wilson?

😀 yeah and Castaway was just a remake of Gilligan’s Island!
I also thought Up was pretty much the same as Apollo 13!

WTF???

I took my kids 8 and 9 year old boys and they both loved it. What’s not to like if your a kid. Tiger on a boat. Simple.
Also the picture and CGI is incredible.

DezB – Member

Isn’t a lot of it wibbling about religion and “spirituality”?

My boy is as anti-religion as you (!) and still enjoyed the film

You must be very proud!

O.K., I’ll buy that for a dollar…

does the end of film match the book, in having an epilogue which IMHO completely ruined the preceding story? (not a spoiler if you havent read it)

Yeah – symbolism. Isn’t a lot of it wibbling about religion and “spirituality”?

I’m not into religion in any way, but I enjoyed the book (not seen the film yet)

Just because I don’t believe doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate a story about belief. Besides most of it was more “philosophy” than “religion” IMO.

does the end of film match the book, in having an epilogue which IMHO completely ruined the preceding story? (not a spoiler if you havent read it)

[Hope this is all suitably ambiguous to avoid spoiling, but skip if you really want to be safe]

I haven’t read the book, but the epilogue in the film did “re-frame” what had come before. I didn’t think it ruined the story though – the re-framing is what raises most of the interesting philosophical questions at the heart of the film.

I haven’t read the book, but the epilogue in the film did “re-frame” what had come before. I didn’t think it ruined the story though – the re-framing is what raises most of the interesting philosophical questions at the heart of the film.

Agreed. I think the epilogue makes the film.

interesting and spoiler well avoided. Sounds like it could be the same as the book but come across better; the “re-framing” in the book epilogue really frustrated me as I couldn’t un-read it!

Ha

Seeing the trailer for this film a few months ago and thinking that I’d like to see it, I thought it might be a good idea to read the book first.

But for some reason I skipped the epilogue. Got to the end thought WOW that was good, I’m going to read it again straight away. I read the epilogue the second time around and enjoyed the whole story again.

I read somewhere the other day that… “A good writer can make you want to turn the page, a brilliant writer will make you pause”. This book did that for me and I found the film added to the “better story”.

Think I might read it again.

Isn’t a lot of it wibbling about religion ?

No, you’re thinking of Dawkins.

loum +1

Credit to a 10 year old for sitting through Life of Pi (and reading the book)! Can be enjoyed at different levels but both drag somewhat IMO (for kids and adults) – I guess that is part of the notion of being isolated/shipwrecked, but I would have been happy to have been able to imagine that rather than enduring sharing the same experience. 😉

Like the rest of us, kids can enjoy the film on different levels and would be interesting to see their interpretation. The CGI would capture kids attention alone. I think the link to religion is vague and not sure how much is intended, but that would hardly be a reason for not watching it. Personally, I think it asks an Ok question, but think the “philosophical masterpiece/life-changing” reviews and critiques are all a little OTT.

To avoid films, music, architecture etc due to perceived or real links to religion would be a remarkable blinkered approach to life, but I guess if folk want to limit their experiences then its up to them.

I watched it in on a Saturday afternoon and the cinema had more kids than adults in it.

The CGI would capture kids attention alone.

Most of them were transfixed by the film. Lots of “oooh”s and “aaah”s at some of the more amazing CGI shots.

That said, two young uns were ushered out by their momma. Think they found the tiger quite scary. Scenes of mild peril, and all that.