Review: Life of Pi
"None of us knows God until someone introduces us." - Piscine Molitor Patel "Pi" in Life of Pi
I've just watched this incredible movie Life of Pi which is about one's great and never-ending faith in God. It tells a story of a man who as a young boy has been told that he cannot follow three different religions at the same time because believing in everything at the same time, is the same as not believing in anything at all. He has been told that 'Religion is obscurity and religion is darkness' and yet he still believed in a greater power; he still believed in God despite all that he has been through.
My faith has been renewed and re-energized by watching this movie because it gives us a "concrete" example of God's work in our lives. It focuses on the things that are so often misunderstood regarding one's faith. It tackles the topic of suffering while striving to follow God's path and believing His great plans for us. One conversation in this movie struck me and it goes like this...
Pi Patel: Faith is a house with many rooms.Writer: But no room for doubt?Pi Patel: Oh plenty, on every floor. Doubt is useful, it keeps faith a living thing. After all, you cannot know the strength of your faith until it is tested.
This quote summarizes our faith as a whole. One cannot say that he has faith until it is tested. It is in our struggles that many of us turn to God for help and strength. It is in those trying times that we either hold on or we let go of our own faith in God. This story portrays how Pi, a boy who believed in Vishnu, Christ and Allah, conquered a journey of faith in God. Faith that God will never abandon him; that God will deliver him from all of his troubles. The story shows how a man, even after losing almost everything he has in life; his first love, his family and almost everything that he needed in order to survive in the vast ocean, still came to believe that there is still this God who will never forsake him. He saw God in various forms; a storm, a tiger, a fish and even in that deserted forsaken island. None of us can ever imagine Pi's great faith in God if we are in his place and yet he still did. Many of us will say that it is just a work of fiction, a movie that can never happen in real life but all I can say is that we can't tell whether this story has already taken place in real life but maybe in a different way. In a way that is much simpler than Pi's story but as equally astounding.
It gives us a choice on whether to believe if God really exists or He's just a mere illusion. It can be seen in the way Pi related the story in two different ways. One story consisted of tigers, orangutans and mysterious islands; a story which is so unbelievable that if you dared believe you'll find yourself doubting your sanity. The other one is what most of us would find believable just because it portrayed real people and real struggles that can be reached by our simple mindsets. Pi let's the writer decide which story to believe and just let him decide whether to believe in God or not just like all of us.
Pi Patel: So which story do you prefer?
Writer: The one with the tiger. That's the better story.
Pi Patel: Thank you. And so it goes with God.
Writer: It's an amazing story.
I don't know which story each one of us will tend to believe if we are the writer but one thing is for sure, Pi's story, in one way or another sparked our curiosity about how we will react if ever we find ourselves in his situation. It gives us the courage to face all the trials that life brings us and will bring to us in the future. Pi says above all else, don't lose hope.
And then I leave you with another favorite quote from the movie and also a simple reminder which applies to almost everyone us of whether we believe in God or not.
"I suppose in the end, the whole of life becomes an act of letting go, but what always hurts the most is not taking a moment to say goodbye. "- Pi
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