After watching this movie, I was just wondering what all the fuss had been about! I mean the movie is great and all but those who were arguing on it deserving to have won the best picture of the year at the Oscars (including Ali Moallem who I have discussed about before in the post about the Oscars 2013) must have had some really huge issues artistic-wise! Of course, I have come to learn that people have very vast differences in their tastes.
What I mean is that I know somebody might dislike what I like, but what I consider to be a pro is the same thing that someone else might consider to be the con! I had never paid attention to this teeny detail before until a few days ago when we went to the show where this Iranian-American stand-up comedian named Maz Jobrani (who is basically considered to be a celebrity at least among Iranians and who is a genius by the way in what he does!). After the show, when I was talking to an Iranian friend about it, she said she likes Max Amini, this other Iranian-American stand-up comedian, because "Maz speaks too fast but Max doesn't"! It was amazing to me hearing this because to me what I saw as a positive thing was the negative part in her eyes! Again, I know there must be differences in taste and it is vital in a way to the survival of humanity and social progress (!), but I thought in this case everyone would have the same view on pros and only have different taste in the jokes that sets them apart. You know what I mean?!
I first learned this after making a crappy handcraft at the charity event we held each year before the Iranian new year back in Iran, and I didn't want to put it on display 'cause I thought nobody would even bother looking at it but not only it was sold but we also got an additional order to make the exact same thing! Everyone have their own fan base or what we like to call it in Iran "هر کسی مخاطب خاص خودش رو داره!"...and that's what really matters in life, doesn't it?!
You must be going crazy now, aren't you?! Me and my digressing, huh?! Came here to read about Life of Pi and got some kind of preaching on life instead! But don't be too hasty, we're getting there!
As I was saying, I was enjoying the hell out of the first half of the movie...witty and upbeat...you wish they never got to the second part! Slowly the rhythm lost its pace to a point where you didn't even know why you had been sitting there and watching a boy and a tiger go back and forth for an hour! If it hadn't been for the visual effects (I hereby thank the crew on behalf of Ang Lee as it seemed that he'd forgotten to thank them in his speech! Great job guys!) the movie would've been nothing! If you take out the breath-taking scenery, especially the reflection of the sky in the water, you would be left with a boy and a tiger and I bet many people would have been tempted to leave the theater right about then! It even could've easily been a movie based on Calvin and Hobbes! Maybe it was based on a figment of Calvin's imagination! Who knows! Just a theory! Throwing it out there!
No disrespect but my expectations had gone rather high after hearing all about the rave reviews I had seen. AGAIN, not that it wasn't a great movie, but sometimes you see a review on a movie and your expectations are met, like "3:10 to Yuma". Then there are those that exceed what you couldn't even expect, like in the case of "Amour". And sometimes you are just let down a bit, as in this case.
But one thing that made my hair stand up during the movie was the music. Oh, the music! In the first few minutes of the opening scenes of the movie, you would be pinned down to your seat just listening to it and watch gazelles sprint with a chyme and feel the magic of the animal world! I turned to my friend and asked him if he remembered the winner of the Oscar for best original score but he didn't know. The next morning I received an email from him saying "no wonder why you liked the music so much, it had actually won the best score!". He also suggested me taking over the Academy so I pronounce myself an honorary member of the Academy and in honor of Asghar Farhadi will change the name of the award to Osghar! (I know it's an old joke but couldn't resist!)
What my friend pointed out after we left the theater was that there was almost nothing that we hadn't seen in the trailer. The only part that they hadn't included in the trailer was the first half of the movie, and you know that they keep the best part out so you could discover it yourself while watching the whole movie. So, you can see how this also proves that the first half was the best part!!!
Oh, and you probably know the storyline by now so no need in me going into it. A boy and a Bangal tiger get trapped in a life boat adrift the Pacific ocean after their ship sinks and is basically about their survival battle!
(By the way, the whole time I was writing this review, with each sentence that I was typing, Roger Ebert was on my mind. I already miss him! What a shame he's no longer among us. There are some people in this world that you wish they had lived on forever. Maybe in another life!)
No comments:
Post a Comment