So the great relationship between Ang Lee and the original author of the novel Jan Martel right here.
All the documentaries I've seen about the universe and all the books I've read about religion have failed to clearly address these questions. Jan Martell and Ang Lee used an artistic way to compare a brutal shipwreck survival to a beautiful fantasy drifting, and let a few attentive viewers take a shower in the morning and get off work after watching it. On the way, after tea and dinner, while walking the dog, I suddenly wanted to understand some metaphors, and naturally solved the mysteries of many big questions...
Now I can understand why Ang Lee tells stories and expresses emotions so delicately. Even the part laid out in the front is like an adult telling a story to a child slowly...because this is a prophecy story that needs to be understood slowly...
[Interpretation of some metaphors] (Additional and perfect)
Richard Parker is a tiger hunter The
Bengal tiger was captured when he was thirsty to drink, hence the name Thirsty;
the secretary of the zoo registered the two names upside down, so the tiger has been called Richard Parker since then.
When brother Ravi made a bet to be sent to the Christian church to drink holy water, the priest said, "You must be thirsty." This is a pun. On the one hand, the priest guessed that the visitor must be thirsty, and The aspect is foreshadowing: Tiger and Paicun are one.
Regarding the question of the pie, the priest's answer shows that Christianity recognizes the "evil" side of human nature. God sent his Son to use the pain of the flesh to relieve the sins of mankind. This logic is simply incomprehensible. But if you sort out the whole story and come back to see if it can be understood like this: Before Jesus appeared, people had no faith, and fundamentally they could not control their desires. Jesus used his flesh as the price to fully stimulate people's hearts. At this time, good and evil will clash fiercely, and there will always be some people whose goodness can overcome evil and become the earliest believers and missionaries... , Hinduism also believes that human nature is inherently evil, and tells people to use acquired growth education and self-improvement to control improper desires in their hearts)
The sect has believed in Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam, and wants to find answers to many questions in their hearts. And his father told him that to believe everything means to believe nothing. Dad taught him to face the problems of survival through rational and scientific means. His mother taught him to face his inner problems through a path of sensibility and faith. From the perspective of the whole story, the balance between reason and sensibility, and the simultaneous development of science and faith are the ultimate solutions to all problems.
When Pi looked down at the sea, what he saw was not himself, but a tiger: once again, there was no tiger on the lifeboat, and the tiger and Pi were one.
Floating Cannibal Island: Mother's Corpse? I don't think so. At the beginning of the story, the image of the sleeping Buddha appeared when the boy was praying at night. I think this cannibal island refers to religion, and the core of religion is to talk about the positive and negative aspects of human nature, that is, the day and night on the island.
Edible roots: Mother's corpse, and the corpses of several others.
Lake: Shi Pai saw his own personality, part of which is the "superego" as pure as the blue sky, which is the lake during the day; the other part is the anger and evil hidden in the "id", which is the lake at night. It turned into a high concentration of acid and devoured all kinds of animals.
Lotus: I have never understood this image... At first, because of one of the girl's dance moves, "the lotus is hidden in the depths of the woods", and later the lotus reappeared on the man-eating island, which attracted the attention of Pi, and then because of the discovery of the lotus. Alerted by the teeth in the lotus, Pi finally chose to leave... Probably to express that the lotus (the lotus is where the Buddha appears in Hinduism) is "the answer to all questions": Sensibility + reason can save you.
To sum up, tigers are "evil" in human nature.
In the metaphorical story, the tiger and the pie are interdependent: the tiger did not choose to eat the pie, because the pie fished and fed the tiger every day. He drowned because he couldn't get on the boat; and because of the existence of the tiger, Pi has a goal of work every day, and he can't slack off every day.
In the real story, because of his emotional hatred for the cook, Pi breeds the "evil" in his heart, and kills the cook who killed XXX and his mother successively with a knife; Allowing Pie to survive, he eats his own mother. Pi feeds the tiger every day in the first story, proving that he admits that he needs this "evil" to continue at the time.
Pi and Tiger's struggle, interdependence, and eventual departure from him: The reason why Pi and Tiger are separated in the first story is to clearly express the struggle between the id and the superego. The id is likened to a hungry tiger, and the superego is the pure pie that everyone sees. The process of their struggle is the complex, dynamic relationship between the inner id and superego in the extreme circumstances of the second story.
At the beginning, the tiger was in the lifeboat, and he hid on the small raft he built, and the living space formed a strong contrast; then he sent the lifeboat, trying to pee on the lifeboat space to occupy the original territory of the tiger, but was killed by the tiger. Pee on his face; later, Pi managed to gain control by grabbing the big fish. Since then, Pi can share a room with the tiger, and Pi can eat the big one, but Pi continues to feed the tiger, and in the process of feeding the tiger. , gradually domesticated the tiger; the tiger became thinner and more docile throughout the journey; finally when Pai was rescued, the thin tiger jumped off the boat and walked to the jungle without looking back. This whole process is talking about reality, the complex and dynamic relationship between the id and the superego in the heart.
There's a scene in it that I figured out when I was in the shower. Pi called out to God in the rainstorm and thunderbolt, and lifted the rain-covering canvas to let the tiger watch the thunderbolt: it was expressing that the pie let his evil and faith confront each other, God did not appear, and there was no rescue pie, but the tiger was in the thunderbolt. He hid in fear in front of him, proving that the strong belief in his heart was about to fight a counter-offensive. (Many viewers said they saw this scene and immediately wanted to smoke him. They thought that Pi was abusing small animals... Radical animal protectionists...)
Finally, let's talk about the original title of "Life of Pi". In fact, it is "Pi's Life", not a fantasy drifting, this is just a popular packaging made by translators/publishers/production companies for sales/box office. Rather than saying that this is an adventure to survive a shipwreck, it is better to say that this is a life journey for the youth to grow up. In the process of constantly trying to subdue and control the tiger (that is, the original evil in human nature), he also realized the redemption of his life and the perfection of his spirit.
[Human nature is inherently evil, and evil has meaning]
Some people sighed at the point of "human nature is inherently evil" after watching the movie. I think this has gone astray again, and did not continue to go down... Think of Gautama in Buddhism. After experiencing indulgence and witnessing extreme evil and suffering, he began to wake up and search for problems. The answer is ultimately self-improvement. I have always believed in this point. No one can go from a barbaric birth to a state of self-improvement through a perfect growth environment and high-end education. Many of the most important things in life must be experienced through intense inner struggles. If you understand it thoroughly, the answers you hear from other people's mouths are impossible to penetrate into your blood. Acknowledge the existence of evil and let your good and evil fight fiercely, wisely. There are never any shortcuts to self-improvement.
[The art form of film is easy to make the public despise the value of good works]
Just like those famous works, famous paintings and famous songs that have been passed down from generation to generation, works that make a certain group of people immerse in thinking for a long time are great works; and those that make most people feel refreshed quickly , high and fleeting are fast-moving consumer goods.
When the end of the world in 2012 (regardless of whether it is true or false) comes, it is not a waste of life to see such a movie and understand part of the ultimate big questions of human beings.
I have always firmly believed that the more active an artist is to approach life and the public, the more vitality and influence of art can be brought into play. But it cannot change the reality that most profound art can only be touched and understood by a few people. Movies are an art form that penetrates into people's lives, but because of the over-commercialization, popularization, and fast-foodization of the modern movie industry, most audiences equate all movies with fast-moving consumer goods such as popcorn and cola. Their choice and appreciation cannot be as serious as reading books, and they have not developed the ability to use information filtering tools to make their choices more wise. Most people come to follow the crowd, follow the trend, and have fun, and they have no intention of doing any film. "Read" carefully. Therefore, the youth faction is regarded by the public superficially, and it is no wonder that many netizens in the mass media commented, "Those literary and artistic youths are just pretending. I don't see any religion or philosophy at all. The scenes of fantasy drifting are really beautiful. But it's just that, it's weaker than Avatar." Such comments. The industrialization and globalization of the film industry has brought more good-looking films into the sight of ordinary audiences, and the huge box office revenue can in turn breed more possibilities; The public is even more unthinking (of course, there is no need to think about most commercial films).
[About the relationship between philosophy, art, and religion]
Artistic films need to be interpreted. In the interpretation, you are inspired to think, and in the process of thinking, you can find the answer you need, and the answer everyone finds is also Different. Similarly, religion is not a doctrine that directly corresponds to many questions of human beings one by one, but an allegorical story, each character and symbol has its symbolic meaning. So, can I come to the conclusion that in the rational world, all kinds of gods and demons, fairy tales and miracles do not exist at all, but in the emotional world, the ultimate purpose of their existence is to explain that no one can To save you, people must save themselves, use belief (the positive side of sensibility) to persevere, and use reason to control the negative side of sensibility well, and use logical thinking to find solutions to problems. So at the highest level, philosophy and art are connected. Art without philosophical thought is just a puddle of fresh meat, a form without core and meaning. Without artistic expression, philosophy is a shriveled corpse, a lifeless dogma. The perfect combination of philosophy and art is religion.
In the end, I have always firmly believed that no book, movie, or song is aimed at all of humanity. Like it or not, believe it or not, read it or not, it's all up to you. Don't watch "Youth Pie" because it is super popular, and don't stop watching "Youth Pie" because it is super popular. Going against the wind in order to prove yourself special is more indicative of your lack of judgment than "following the wind".
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