TheInterpretationofthePostmodernismMovie：LifeofPie

ChiMing-hui

【Abstract】With the development of postmodernism， the post-modern film quickly broke into the peoples spiritual world. This article attempts to take “Life of Pi” as an example to analyze the postmodernism color from its theme and form， and deepen the interpretation of post-modern film.

【Key words】postmodernism movie； Life of Pi

Introduction

Using depth of thinking in anti cultural position to subvert the traditional art film， employing the consumerism attitude to use all kinds of artistic techniques and methods， changing montage into collage in film language， are signs of postmodernism film. Life of Pie is a typical postmodernism film that was based on Jan Martels novel， directed by An Lee. The film tells the story of Pie who encountered a shipwreck which killed all his family， only leaving him and a Bengal tiger in a boat drifting for 227 days， and survived. This paper will analyze the character of postmodernism film in the movie Life of Pie from three aspects：the anti-tradition in theme；the combination of virtuality and reality in form；the dispelling of history in deep structure.

1. The Changing belief of Pie

Postmodernism is opposed to absolute truth， the only belief. They think pragmatic view of truth should be maintained. In the movie Life of Pie， when Pie grew up gradually， he embraced three religions at the same time. Actually， Pie is a pragmatist， in Pies mind， these religions are similar except the different forms they possess， and he has the freedom and right to embrace more than one religions. Suffering from the shipwreck， Pie had to struggle for live with a small boat on the endless sea. When he got foods or found the hope of survival， he would appreciate the God or Lord Vishnu for saving him. But when the raging storm hit him， he angrily shouted at the darkened sky：“Ive lost my family！ Ive lost everything！ What more do you want？” And Pies belief makes him a vegetarian， but he killed fishes and ate them on the sea for survival. His belief is blurry and changeable， not like other pious followers. He believes these religions when he thinks they are useful for him. So in fact， Pie overturns the traditional view of belief， and what he had done is just his instinct for survival.

2. The Combination Virtuality and Reality in form

Postmodern movies have obvious characteristics of fiction and absurdity in the plot and content of their works. It draws figures away from the lack of meaning and unbearable reality， a world full of nightmares and fantasy has emerged. As a fictional field， the real life and social environment have been replaced.endprint

On one hand， the whole plot of the movie Life of Pie is uncertain and illusory. From Pies monologue， From Pies monologue， we can read such a story：his family encountered a server shipwreck on the sea， and all of people were dead except him. After the disaster， there are a zebra that broke its leg， a hyena， an orangutan and a tiger on his boat. And the hyena cruelly killed the injured zebra and the chimpanzee， the tiger killed the hyena. He and the Bengal tiger kept each other alive in a boat and defeated all the difficulties. But in the end of movie， Pie said another one：Four people survived. He is the tiger；the sail is the zebra；the cook is the hyena；and the orangutans his mother. The second one replaced all nice things with a cruel and heinous story. Actually， the former or the later are unreliable by accurate deducing， so both of them are absurd for us. On the other hand， in the scene， the movie changes the darkened and dangerous sea into a blue and luminous world， and changes the fierce animals into beautiful and lovely creatures. Actually whether the peaceful sea， the flying fish or the dreamy island are the eagerness in Pie heart， and all of them combine the virtuality and reality.

3. The Dispelling of History in Deep Structure

The post modernist believes that all noble things and beliefs in the traditional sense are ephemeral products derived from words and are not worthy of “sincere” and “serious” treatment. Both the reality and human beings are alienated， and history has lost its direction and significance. In the movie life of Pie， Pie told two stories， and both of them are only “stories”. When Pie asked for the journalist to choose a preferred story， he chose the amazing one full of animals rather than the other which sounds closer to the truth. If we try to interpret the movie， maybe we can explore the third， even the forth story， but we just cannot affirm which is real. Actually， the movie itself is a post-modern language game， which illustrates the truth that we believe is just what we want to believe.

Conclusion

From the above it can be found that the pie is not a reliable narrator， and behind his many religious acts， his belief is empty and weak. Life can be interpreted as a story full of imagination and fantasy， and also can be interpreted as a rational but gloomy story for Pie， and everyone has the freedom to choose the way of interpretation. Therefore， Life of Pie is a typical representative of postmodern films， and the analysis of it is helpful for us to have a clearer understanding and interpretation for postmodernism films.

References：

[1]朱立元.當代西方文艺理论[M].华东师范大学出版社，2014.

作者简介：迟明辉（1994-），女，汉族，黑龙江人，哈尔滨师范大学2016级硕士研究生，研究方向：英语语言文学。endprint