WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - Triple Feature: Life of Pie

Episode Date: April 15, 2025

This week, Triple Feature takes a look at "Life of Pie."

you for tuning into Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. This is Triple Feature with your host, Anna Eddie, Audrey Hunsbet, and McKenna Bamberry, where we dive deep into the world of movies, rating, roasting, and raving about the best and worst of cinema. Today we will be reviewing the Life of Pie. So grab your popcorn and let's get into it. We will start with a plot overview, give our general takes, and dive into a bit of the deeper elements of the movie and wrap up with our overall rating. Life of Pye is adapted from the novel with the same name written by Jan Martel and is directed by Angley. The movie begins with a writer meeting Pai Patel, played by Saraj Sharma, a man whom he is told would have a fantastic story to tell him that would make

him believe in God. Pye tells the story of his life, beginning as a young boy in India. His family owns a zoo where Pai develops a fascination for the Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. Pye is raised Hindu and is introduced to Christianity and leader Islam, all of which he chooses to follow. His father, a strict rationalist and hater of religion, critiques Pai's belief of multiple gods. When his family decides to leave India due to political strife, they board a ship along with all the animals they wish to sell. One night, Pye ventures out of the room he and his family are sleeping and goes above deck to watch the monstrous storm. That is when the ship begins to sink. Pye is thrown into a lifeboat by some crewmates, and when a zebra jumps from the ship into the ship

to the boat with him, the boat breaks away from the ship. Pye watches as the ship sinks along with his family and all the animals. Amongst the huge waves, Pye sees something swimming in the water. As Pye throws a life preserver to help, he realizes it is the Bengal tiger, Richard Parker. Richard Parker now joins the lifeboat with Pye and the zebra. Pye wakes up the next day after the storm has settled, and he hears something calling in the distance. It is an orangutang fondly named Orange Juice. pile of floating bananas. Orchews joins Pye and the boat. From under the tarp that covers half

the boat, a hyena emerges. The hyena eventually kills both the zebra and the orangutan. Suddenly, Richard Parker, who has been hiding under the tarp as well, jumps out killing the hyena. The rest of the movie follows Pye's journey at sea as he tries to survive with an adult bingo tiger, Richard Parker. The movie ends with Pye and Richard Parker arriving on shore in Mexico where Richard Parker runs into the jungle and Pye is saved by a group of men. and the hospital, representatives from the Japanese shipping company, investigates for insurance purposes why the ship sank. Pye tells them the story above, which they don't believe.

They ask him to give another story, one that's more believable, which Pye does by replacing the animals with people from the ship. The hyena is the nasty cook, the zebra, the happy Buddhist, the ring-attang his mother, and Richard Parker as Pye. Still unsatisfied, as the story doesn't explain any further how the ship sank, the representatives leave. The movie jumps to present day to the writer and Pye. Pye asks the writer which story he prefers to which the writer answers the one with the tiger.

Pye responds back with, and so it is with God. Let's dive into General Takes, Audrey. Go ahead and take it away. Okay. So I did kind of expect this movie to be one of those sort of documentary things where it's just one scene throughout the entire film. And I was excited because I obviously love animals and love. seeing movies with them, but I definitely did not expect there to be so much drama and depth in the movie discussing there's a lot of exploration about faith and hope and redemption,

but also you see relationships develop between pie and the animals, particularly with Richard Parker, which is just a hysterical name for a tiger. But overall, I definitely, I enjoyed the flashbacks because the movie jumps between, Queen Pi telling the story of what happened to the writer and actually what was going on. So we are able, as the viewers, to see the flashbacks, but we can also see Pi in present day. And we can see how he reacts to moments of recollection from the past. Like there's one point where he's crying as he remembers his family's death. And he also cries when he recalls to the writer.

when Richard Parker leaves him after they get a shore in Mexico, which is very sad. That actually made me more sad than when Pye's family died just because we had had the entirety of the movie to see their relationship. So I loved that. I just thought it was overall a really cool movie, interesting to see relationships develop. But also, the cinematography was so cool. The shots were awesome. really reviewed a movie that's had pretty intense shots of landscapes or just the atmosphere

and environment in general. I thought that was awesome. I'm sure we'll talk about that a little bit more later. But yeah, I just thought there were almost like Easter eggs of happiness and depth throughout the movie. At the end, when we are in present day, there's a point where Pye tells the writer that his wife is home with their two kids. And when they come in and meet the writer, Pye introduces everyone. And his son's name is Ravi, which is the same as Pye's late older brother who died when the ship sank. So I just thought there were a lot of cool little Easter eggs sprinkled throughout the movie that made it really, really meaningful. So yeah, definitely not a lot of hate.

Yeah. Good stuff. That's good to hear. Not a lot of hate. Okay, Anna, your turn. Honestly, I didn't really know what to expect from this movie because I heard about it previously because I think when it came out it was like a huge deal. But I just like remember hearing like, oh, it's about like a tiger and a boy in a bow.

And I was like, oh, great. Boys in the boat. Cool, yeah. Like that was pretty much all I like knew about the movie going into it. And then kind of just you saying like, oh, it's been, or it's a great movie. And then, like, when it started out, I was like, wait, I'm so confused on how they're going to get to,

how they're going to actually get to the boat and just the two of them and their, like, whole journey. So, yeah, I really enjoyed the movie. I think there's, like, a lot to unpack and kind of, like, reflect on. So I think it takes a little bit of time. to grasp the gravity of the movie. Because, like, at first, not at first glance, but, like, the first time you watch it,

it's kind of just like, whoa. Like, there's so much going on, so much to think about and, like, take in, not even just, like, mentally and, like, spiritually, but also, like, visually. There's just a lot. So, yeah, I really did enjoy it. I think I want to keep thinking about it and obviously talking about it, which we will. I liked the parts that, like, I couldn't tell if they were real or not. And, like, because I think that that added to the story,

because, like, you were saying, Audrey, if you took all of that away, like, he did at the end, it's just kind of, like, any old, regular basic plotline or story that's just kind of like, oh, this boy did this with his family and he did this, whatever. and then you see all these other like little moments of like beauty throughout our little moments that really just add so much depth to the storyline and really like grab your attention like you have to um you have to look at it and like it grabs you in like not just a visual way but also like a spiritual way and like just in so many different aspects you're being like pulled and whatever so Yeah, I guess that's my general take. Okay, well, this is great. I love what I'm hearing. This is my third time watching this movie.

Oh, three? Yeah. That's huge. Give us the take. Yeah. All that to say, it still keeps making me think. Yeah. I feel like it's like any book, great book you read.

You can read it so many times and you're going to pull new things from it. And I think that's how you know, like, okay, that's a great movie that did its job. and forcing you to really think deep. Totally. Yeah, so I love this movie for a lot of reasons. One, it is surprisingly deep. Yeah. It reminds me a bit of Dunkirk and that it's so quiet.

Yeah. For most of the movie. Well, not, like the parts when he's at sea, because obviously he's not going to have a conversation with the tiger the whole time. He talks to the tiger. Like, I talked to my dog, but it's only one way, you know?

It's not a dialogue. It's just like a monologue. I think that's where the visual side comes up, comes into play and really anchors a movie down and is what makes it great is because it's so beautiful. And it reminds me of watching

just a nature documentary in like an iMacs movie theater like there's one that came out that i'm thinking of and it was really cool i think it had to do with space or just the beauty of nature and like the ocean and just how intricate and kind of magical it is with the things that we don't commonly witness day to day So yeah, I really love the visual element. I love animals. Was it from Blue Planet? What? Was it from Blue Planet? Is that what I have no idea? It was so long ago. Maybe.

We should watch it. Yeah, we should. But you guys may not remember, but the cat that I rescued over the summer, I fondly named Richard Parker. I remember that. Oh my gosh. Yes. And you were like, you usually don't know who Richard Parker is. And I was like, what do you mean? That makes so much more sense. I named him Richard Parker because I just watched Life at Pie with Julia. Shout out Julia over the summer.

Is that your first time? No, that was my second time watching it. Okay. Yeah, so I just thought this would be a great movie with a lot of depth, depth. Johnny Depp? A lot of depth in layers. What is the rum always going on? Sorry.

With a lot of depth and layers that we could talk about. And truly, we could talk about this movie for a really long time because I think... Four hours. Yeah. It can open up a lot, but we only have 22 minutes, so we're not going to do that. So let's just get into the deeper elements and talk about some of the themes and the philosophical elements that this movie provides. So, Audrey, if you want to start. Yeah.

I definitely think that the biggest topic I saw throughout the film was... faith. I think theme-wise, it's more so the pondering of the almighty, I would say. Because I think it's interesting because towards the beginning of the movie, Pye is talking about gods, plural. And then as the movie progresses, and once he is stranded at sea for such a long period of time, he then starts talking to God. And what's interesting, we obviously watch it with the

captions. I wanted to say, lyrics. We watched it with the captions and when the captions were showing what he was saying, G was capitalized. And I think that's really interesting. I saw, I mean, I think it's left a little bit ambiguous whether he comes fully to faith in one particular, whether he comes to believe in one particular faith. But I mean, obviously from my perspective as a Christian, it's interesting to see how he starts from talking about multiple gods to then moving to one god, crying out to God, and then there is a point in the movie probably about three quarters through. There's a really big storm, and Pye and Richard Parker are trying to seek whatever shelter

they can on their boat, their little boat. But at the same time, Pye is super excited. And he's like out on the edge of the boat screaming. He's like, Richard Parker, like, here it is. were getting saved, this is it. Like, he's, like, thinking it's the rapture. That's how I thought of it. I don't know what it was.

It was very bizarre. I don't know if it was him being, if he was delirious, obviously, like, after 270-something days lost at sea, maybe it is. Like, to that point, even when there was the other storm, he had a really interesting reaction to that

when they were on the ship. Yes, the first storm where the ship went down, when he was on it with his family. He still had a really interesting reaction to a storm. He was fascinated by it. He had excited him. My first thought in like a massive storm in the middle of the ocean would not be, oh my gosh, I'm going to go outside.

Yep. And check it out. Definitely not. And like just put myself in a spot of potential like harm. Absolutely. Like so yeah, I just thought it was interesting how he responded. he responded in kind of the same way to the first storm. His faith is super ambiguous.

I mean, in the beginning, he calls himself the Catholic Hindu when they do the prayer. And then from his young life, his mom's Hindu, his dad is not. His dad, I'm pretty sure is atheist and doesn't really believe in anything. He was saying he pretty much just believes in like reason and science. Yeah, reason and what he can see. Actually, like, he warned his son that religion is darkness. Yeah, religion is darkness, which I thought was such an. Interesting quote.

And then while he's at sea, we see the visuals of the Hindu gods and the drawing that his mother drew and then we go through her third eye. And then I remember he caught a fish randomly and he thanks this one god. He's like, thank you for coming to me in the form of this fish and saving us.

And then at sea, I forgot about this part during that storm. the clouds open and he sees the light coming. Is this the first... The second storm that you brought up. And he thinks that like God is coming down to save them. And it's confusing if it's him going crazy or if he's having this spiritual awakening because he talks a lot about suffering and saying,

I surrender myself to you. Like I am your vessel. And it's just, yeah, interesting. figure out, okay, what God is he talking to? Because that's a very Christian-like language that I feel like we use. And it, we can talk about this later, but it reminded me a lot of, like, Job. Just having, yeah, his whole family stripped away and, like, everything taken away. And he's coming to this point where he realizes all he has is God, whatever God it is, a higher being.

I also thought of Job just because rather than like cursing God and just like being done pie like turns to God and like you said says like I'm your vessel like I surrender to you like I am going to continue to like praise you and and and go to you and these like really awful difficult times but yeah I agree with you guys I think it's really interesting that he's really interesting that he's. He is trying to find meaning and purpose and, yeah, meaning and purpose in multiple different religions and different gods. I think it's interesting because it kind of makes you question, like, is there something lacking in each of those? and like why does he feel the need to have multiple religions? Is that like, is that okay? Is that possible? Like should you be doing it? Like, in my opinion, obviously, like, no,

because I do believe that there's just like one true God. So I don't know. I think that's a super interesting question that the author brings up of like, is there truth that comes from a bunch of different places? or is there like just one truth? I don't know. It's just an interesting. Interesting question.

That is interesting. I think the second aspect, we don't have to keep this in, but it's just more about faith. Another aspect I think that's interesting about his faith is that that seems to be sort of the one thing that brings him through this time that he's lost at sea,

which I can, definitely a test like without my faith i don't know how i would have gotten through certain things that i've gone through and certain things that i'm sure i will go through right but it seems like in the worst of times and in the best of times he's turning to his faith or talking about some sort of faith whether it's god capital g or gods or whoever it may be i think that that is pivotal to his survival and success otherwise and i and i think that i would be i would be i i'm and i think that i would be in the same situation. If I was lost at sea, I don't know if I would be able to do anything other than cry out to God and just pray and trust him. But I think that that, I know we talked about

like faith and survival as being like a dual theme or dual topic. They go hand in hand. And I think that in this movie portrays how faith and survival really do go hand in hand for anyone. I think whether you're religious, whether I'm using air quotes, whether you're quote religious or not, I think you have to have some sort of faith or hope in those kinds of times. Oh, yeah. Because otherwise, I mean, what are you living for then? And at that point, he had nothing. His family was gone.

Yeah. All his family's, like, wealth and assets were gone on the ship. So, like, there was, he truly had zero. So then Richard Parker? Except for Richard. Which I think also gave him a lot of purpose, which he even. said too he was like keeping him alive gives me additional purpose oh yeah so yeah so at the end of the movie when the representatives from the japanese shipping company come and they hear the story that was

portrayed throughout the whole movie that pie gives about all the animals in richard parker and the mysterious island that he claims is a carnivorous island at night. And they don't believe him and they ask him to give a simpler story, one that is more believable and they say the truth. Then he gives a story about man and nature, the nature of man, when he replaces the animals with people. and so it would go the cook kills the happy Buddhist and basically eats him and then kills Pi's mom to which Pi then takes his revenge and kills him and then uses his body to survive

and catch other fish a very, a much more, I guess, realistic story. Believable, which is crazy, but yeah. If I asked the writer which story he would prefer to which the writer answers the one with the tiger, Pry responds back and so does with God. So we can unpack a little bit of what that means about faith and God and storytelling and all that rational and irrational and irrational. I just think that that's such a cool response that he has and kind of explaining that like the story that God writes and the story.

that he has like for your life and for you is i mean that's such a christian sentiment but like is so much better than like anything you could have ever imagined even if there are moments of like intense pain and suffering and all that stuff like looking at his story there were moments of just like even deeper like beauty and um creativity within that So, and we would always like, we would always prefer the story that is more creative and more beautiful and there is a depth in both ways. Because I think that's kind of a crazy statement. But like to really get a depth of beauty, there sometimes needs to be a depth of suffering. And there's like a richness and a fullness in that.

that can't be like understood without both sides. Right. I don't know. Maybe that's, maybe that's false. And you guys can comment on that. I mean, but as Christians we read throughout the Bible,

the importance of suffering. I mean, yeah. Jesus is sacrifice on the cross wouldn't have amounted to anything if he didn't suffer. Yeah. His whole purpose in coming to earth was to suffer for our sins

and to defeat death, and you can't do that without suffering first. And I think literally that, that whole act, there is like intense and deep suffering in that. But at the same time, in both perspectives, there's also, like, deep beauty and creativity, like in that, in the way in which God wrote that story. Right. So.

This is interesting because we were just talking about this. Well, I guess it was a reading that we had in, our biblical leadership class where as Christians sometimes we want something really badly when we're in the middle of a struggle I think anyone who's not a Christian goes through the same feeling like if we're feeling a certain way or we're going through a certain struggle where we have some way of wishing that something were different or that we had something else or that something had changed in our life and then if we had that like everything would be fine but that's not how life works and I think it is in that waiting period and how we choose to respond when circumstances are

less than ideal that brings us to this point of realizing not only the beauty in the waiting but also helps us appreciate the beauty and the greatness of when things are really like good and there is always good in a certain situation um so yeah let's then go into are criticisms. So Audrey will start with you. What would you critique and what would you change? Okay. I think that I really like that we could see the development of the relationship between

Pi and Richard Parker. At the same time, I do wish that there had been a little bit more almost, it wouldn't be dialogue because it wasn't two-sided, but I do wish that there had been more interaction between Richard Parker and Pi. I think that there was a really good sort of like easing into how they went from being like obviously pie could not approach Richard Parker because he would have gotten mulled. But at the same time, there were times where I kind of felt like are we getting anywhere? But I think that's also very difficult to capture. It's very difficult to capture how a relationship develops in that sense.

So while that might not be something I would change, it's almost something that I wish were there. even though I don't know how it would be changed. Maybe making the part about Pye's family dying a little bit more dramatic. Like it was super dramatic and I felt that pain. But for some reason, it seemed like it didn't affect Pye that much. But that's just me. You might want to push back on that a little bit. Go, do it.

I think maybe it didn't seem to affect him. because his focus was on survival a little bit more than like being able to actually like mourn them. I think when you're put in a situation of like kind of fight or flight, it's like I don't even have time to process the traumatic thing that just happened because I'm thrown into another traumatic situation and I need to just like focus on like, how am I getting food or living or like not getting mauled by a tiger? So I totally do get what. you're saying but I think maybe he didn't even have maybe that time to explore that grief that he was feeling.

Yeah. And I think that a bit you're like so right, but I think a bit of it manifested in him taking care of Richard Parker and trying to save him because he couldn't save his family. So the only things he had to save were the animals that were in the boat. I guess what I'm surprised I didn't hear from you guys is something I would change, which is not change because I can understand this was in 2015, but is the CGI and just funny. But I wouldn't change the visual elements that they chose.

I would just love to see it done today. Revamped a little. Yeah, revamped, like cleaned up a bit and maybe see what more they could possibly do. I mean, there's already so much. and I wanted to just plot myself in that movie because it's so beautiful, like, at night with the water glowing and all the animals in a glowing was so cool. And then the one shot when the sky is reflecting on the water

and it kind of looks like you're in heaven. Like, I think that was the point of it was it supposed to be like the celestial bodies in heaven, which was super cool. And it just visually looked amazing. Okay, overall review. So let's start with plot. Audrey, let's give a rating on the plot. The plot itself and seeing the relationships developed

and seeing how it all tied back to the present day with Pye talking to the writer, I did enjoy that. I think the plot was there and it wasn't... I don't feel like there were any elements that were left ambiguous or undeveloped. that were not meant to be left ambiguous. If everything felt very intentional.

Yeah. For that reason, I will give the plot a nine. Sweet. Anna? I think the plot was good. I mean, if it was just going to be a tiger and a dude on the boat, just kind of like floating around, I think there would be a lot left that would be needed. But I really did. I liked the creativity.

There was a lot of that just like, throughout. So I think I'm also going to give it a nine. I weirdly liked that. I will also, I feel like because I showed you this movie, I have to give it a 9.5 out of 10. Because this is my third time watching. Yeah, I'm going to give a 9.5 out of 10. Okay, cinematography, Audrey. Loved it. I thought it was awesome. However, I do think that now that you brought up the CGI, I do think seeing it with eyes that are... Yeah, 2025 eyes. I'm like, yeah, you know, it could have been better. So I, however, I do think it was a big part of the movie. And for that time, I think it was awesome. So I think I'm going to give it a 8.5.

Oh, okay. Wow, you wanted to go higher. I know you did. I did, but I have to be harsh. I don't feel like an 8.5 is that harsh, TBH. Okay, be harsher. I will. Dang. No, the cinematography was really good. I loved, like, that heaven scene. Like, that was just visually stunning. The scene where there's, like, the glowing jellyfish was beautiful. Even the scene where, like, the ship is going down was, like, kind of insane.

Although, like, there's a few, like, moments there when there were, like, sharks going by and, like, parts of the waves is like, Yeah, is that that believable? You're right. Yeah. So I think, I mean, it's kind of unfair because they didn't have the technology, but I'm going to rate it like an eight or like a seven and a half. Yeah. We'll get one.

All right. So I will be giving the cinematography a 9.75. Girl one out of ten. That is the highest. Yeah, self-explanatory, very beautiful. We'd love to see it in modern-day CGI. Real. Yeah.

Just to clean up a little bit of things that were like, but yeah, visually compelling, and that moved the plot a lot, so I loved it. Okay, acting, Audrey? Acting, honestly, it didn't even cross my mind that anyone was doing a poor job. Best actor, Richard Parker, great. Shout out. Shout out. He really embodied the being an animal.

Being a tiger? Yeah, it was crazy. I think he did a really good job. No, in all seriousness, I do think that Pye did a fantastic job of portraying like a disconnect once he was in the middle of sea, portraying like the extreme fatigue and suffering that he was going through. I'm going to give acting a nine. I thought it was great. Okay.

Anna. I also thought the acting was really good. I think it would be really difficult to basically be the only actor acting in a majority of the movie, which is two hours long. Like, I think that would be really hard. And I've seen another movie where it was, like, one actor. And I thought it was probably the worst movie I've ever watched. Yeah, I think he did a great job. And there was, like, obviously more, like, monologue.

He actually, like, spoke. and, yeah, I just, I think he did a really good job portraying, like, what he needs to portray. So, props to him. Way to be the only actor. Sweet. And what are you giving it? I'm going to give it at nine as well. Okay.

Okay. I will be giving this movie a 9.5 out of 10. I love the drama and all the scenes that you could just see Pye fighting with his emotions and his mental and I thought it was great and fabulous so 9.5. Great and fabulous. Also I will just like sub-noi, I know we're not scoring this but I thought the scoring was really awesome too

and just added to the beautiful mystical element of the movie the music. Oh. I was scoring. I could see you were lost. I was like, let me use proper terminology. And I thought you were getting. No, and you're so, it's because I was looking at the totals.

And I was like, what do you mean? We're not scoring the movie. No. The music was great. And I felt so at peace watching the movie, even though it was so dramatic and about survival. Except for the moments that you were supposed to feel stress. That is true. I was so stressed during the storms and everything.

Yeah. So honestly. That was my worst nightmare. So I fell asleep. Watching him try to decide between being in the water with the sharks or being in the boat with the tiger. I was like, this is a horrible. Oh gosh. But yes, I agree.

The music, the scores were, um, the score was beautiful. Yay. Y'all's. Okay. Um, yeah, so I think this is one of our highest scoring movies and that's a wrap. Go watch it. Go watch it. go read the book if you're a book reader before a movie read the book first watch the movie um yeah okay

with that thank you for listening to triple feature on radio free hills o 101.1.7 fm see you next week