Chinas Life of Pi Rocked the World - Essay Example

?China’s Life of Pi Rocked the World During the first flight of human civilization, Chinese Dynasty has already dominated the historical books. Untilnow, China has empowered their global influence all the more despite the liberated West’s dominion in various aspects. As recent reports from various sources declare, China has undeniably toppled over the worldwide market not just in dry goods but also in the movie industry. China’s culture has been a worldwide interest in various parts of the world. Stories and plots for movies intertwined with Chinese culture is a common line that is featured in Hollywood movies. Not to mention the skills that Chinese are known for, such as the most popular martial arts. China as the leading country in terms of the highest population in the world is one great reason for people in the West to capture their market for greater profitability. Reports reveal that China is now the second film market in the world and projected to be the number one in the years to come. This most populous nation is expected to grow 17% in the year 2015. Potentially, China has around 1.34 Billion movie goers and this number is surely to affect the worldwide film market. Other countries, especially the US flock their investment in China to garner the Chinese population thereby assuring their projects and films to get the most profit (Guardian News, n. p.). There have been a lot of films that are made in China that toppled the worldwide cinema market. The latest hit that smashed the top charts is Ang Lee’s “Life of Pi”. This movie has generated approximately $570.9 million revenue in the worldwide ticket sales. It has surpassed the other movies in the current film stream, such as “Les Miserables” and ‘Django. Unchained”. “Life of Pi” is expected to seize various awards as the movie is proven to be a global hit. It gained positive reviews with the most number of nominations, which reached about 11 Oscar nominations (Miller). “Life of Pi” is a two hour film derived from the best selling book of Yann Martel. Ang Lee is able to create a marvelous work of art out converting the narrative epic story into an awesome myriad of picturesque effects. The movie centers on Piscine “Pi” Patel who got stranded in a boat with a Bengal tiger named “Richard Parker” in the middle of Pacific ocean after their ship got shipwrecked in Marianas trench - the world’s deepest body of water. Pi is traveling along with his father, mother, and brother Ravi in a cargo ship bound for North America where they are supposed to sell their accompanied zoo animals. During the typhoon, Pi made it to a rescue boat along with a set of other supposed to survivors – one hyena, an orangutan, a zebra and Richard Parker. Due to the animal competitions in the boat, only Richard Parker lasted as the other survivor with Pi. As Pi and Richard Parker stayed for days in the boat, they have established their own territories. Along their trip, they encountered various marvels such as being flocked with a school of flying fish, being toppled over by a looming whale, a calm night ocean filled with luminous jellyfish, ravenous storms, intense heat and hunger, and the carnivorous island. These scenes were magnanimously portrayed with great effects that can leave any viewer open mouthed. The realistic and colorful effects, such as the sky reflection on the ocean, the clear marine activities passing through their boat, the shift from rain and sunny weather creates a tangible impact that anyone would stick to the rest of the film. There is also the use of 3D effects which harnessed the result all the more. The movie creates an eerie feeling as the nature is made closer to the viewers. Pi and Parker made good companion to each other as they clamored towards survival. Parker, being a threat to the life of Pi, makes Pi alert all the time. As he said in the movie, his fear for his companion made him alert, thus making him survive. Pi shared his experiences where anyone would embrace their faith and believe in miracles and in God. As Pi recalls his experiences, anyone hearing his story would sympathize with him, sharing his hardships, hunger, fear, loneliness, hope, joy, disappointment and many more. Through out the story’s progress, it can be derived that despite God’s silence in his situation, there are circumstances that come and go at the most unexpected times to offer divine intervention and make him thank the Almighty for what is provided for him. Pi keeps a thankful heart throughout his journey despite the many moments of losing hope. There was even a moment where he asked God to get his life. He was expecting to die as he divulged himself in the eye of the storm. However, God had mercy on him as he woke up another tomorrow. Many instances that he considers help from God includes the provision of food such as the rain of fish, the rains that provide him water, including the carnivorous island that he discovered as a threat during the night. He keeps a thankful heart as these things happen as divine intervention to keep him alive. Pi’s story is full of wisdom where anyone is left into contemplating into themselves the situations he experienced. “Life of Pi” leaves anyone reflecting on them selves about their own faith. The lessons trailed long the extravagant cinematic effects are left unnoticed. As per popular review, Life of Pi leaves an impression of being an extravagant decorated cake of a film with nothing inside but the wisdom of a fortune cookie” (Gilbey, n. p.). “Life of Pi” has indeed shaken the global movie industry. Plus, being a movie done by Chinese is evidence enough that China is a leading name in the industry. Ang Lee has made himself ingenious in his craft. His other successful movies include “Brokeback Mountain”, “Ice Storm”, “Sense and Sensibility” and others. There are also other films that are made in China that has toppled the top charts such as “Mission Impossible III”, “Men in Black III”, “Iron Man 3”, and “Looper”. Today, there are many American-Chinese productions that are being cooked up in the global movie industry to give them mutual benefits. China is getting into the wider screens with all the adopted technology coming from the West, and at the same time, US being benefited with the profit they gain from getting the Chinese population and including Chinese crafts in their films. These partnerships also allows their movies to penetrate Chinese population as China has a policy that limits foreign films from being distributed and viewed in Chinese cinemas (Kendall, n. p.). With the current trend in China movie industry going upstream, it is no wonder that one day, China will conquer the world. They are projected to increase more especially in the year 2020. Right now, China has overtaken Japan in the cutting edge movie making, and tomorrow, it will be a different story. As “Life of Pi” rocked the world today, China will soon rock the world all the more as time goes. Works Cited Guardian News. China will be the World’s Biggest Film market by 2020. Guardian News and Media Limited. 21 Feb 2013. Web. Gilbey, Ryan. “The Life of Pi-Review”. New Statesman. 24 December 2012. Web. Kendall, Rebecca. With U.S. - Chinese film co-productions on the rise, new questions emerge. UCLA. Asia Institute. CA: Los Angeles. 1997-2013. 20 Feb 2013. Web. Miller, Daniel. “Ang Lee’s tale of a boy and a tiger in a lifeboat, initially thought to be a costly risk, has taken global cinema by storm, besting its Oscar rivals at the box office”. Los Angeles Times. 18 February 2013. Web. Read More