This publicity photo released by 20th Century Fox shows Suraj Sharma as Pi Patel battling the forces of nature at sea in a scene from the film, "Life of Pi." The film is based on the best-selling novel by Canadian author Yann Martel, a globe-trotting writer born in Spain. (AP Photo/20th Century Fox, Peter Sorel)
Overseas slice of 'Pi' flips Hollywood formula
This publicity photo released by 20th Century Fox shows Suraj Sharma as Pi Patel battling the forces of nature at sea in a scene from the film, "Life of Pi." The film is based on the best-selling novel by Canadian author Yann Martel, a globe-trotting writer born in Spain. (AP Photo/20th Century Fox, Peter Sorel)
By DAVID GERMAIN
AP Movie Writer /
February 17, 2013
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The film comes four years after ‘‘Slumdog Millionaire,’’ another surprise smash about an Indian youth facing grave challenges. ‘‘Slumdog’’ took in $377 million worldwide and won the 2008 best-picture Oscar.
Two such films don’t constitute a new wave of Hollywood openness to foreign flavors, though.
‘‘Remember after the success of ‘Slumdog,’ there was a lot of talk of a lot more films like that set in similar locations, and it just didn’t happen,’’ said Nitin Govil, assistant professor at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. ‘‘Anytime you get a success like this, there’s an attempt to kind of genericize it. But the thing that makes these successful is that they’re singular. Maybe not one-offs, but certainly not formulaic.’’
And Hollywood remains a formulaic place, with stories mostly reflecting American tastes.
There have been small steps toward diversity in characters and a broader world view in themes, thanks partly to inroads by such overseas directors as Lee, Peter Jackson, Alfonso Cuaron, Guillermo del Toro, John Woo and Neill Blonkamp.
‘‘I don’t see that as mainstream yet. Someday. The establishment is the establishment. The film grammar was established that way. Patterns. I think for the majority of films they make, they will still follow that. That’s the formula. You have to respect that if you’re serious about money,’’ Lee said.
‘‘It’s just that I think they have to be more opened up to different types of filmmaking,’’ added Lee, who figures the enormous business ‘‘Life of Pi’’ did overseas will help that along — a bit. ‘‘It’s a gradual thing. It’s not going to dramatically change anything. But just look at the number. You have to pay attention to it. The number of what the world did on this movie. The market in America didn’t dwindle. It’s everybody else in the world. They stood up. They did their share.’’
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