Life of Pi Reviews
EW feature on the movie with Claudio interview
“The cinematographer, Claudio Miranda, had always wanted to work with Lee, and he jumped at the chance to join Life of Pi. No stranger to the ambitious production, having shot TRON: Legacy and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Miranda was excited. “Ang came to me because I do a lot of jobs that are kind of complicated,” Miranda says. But he only found out after he’d agreed to do it that Lee wanted to shoot the entire film in 3-D.”
“Miranda remembers the day well. They were trying to capture Pi landing in the water while the ship is sinking. A camera was supposed to circle around him as he fell. “It was a lot of coordination,” Miranda says, adding later that the scene didn’t even make it in the movie. In retrospect, Miranda can now pinpoint why things went so wrong that day. One of them was simple: The water in the tank was too hot. But he counts that day among many when things didn’t go as planned with the equipment. Everyone was still learning.”
http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/11/23/how-ang-lee-saved-life-of-pi/3/
Examiner review
“Claudio Miranda’s stunning cinematography gaining early comparisons to Mauro Fiore’s game changing work on Avatar.”
http://www.examiner.com/article/movie-openings-for-november-21-2012
LA Times review
“The film is consistently beautiful, but it is during Pi's months at sea that it turns stunning. Sometimes it is in the simple wonder of a school of flying fish or a breaching whale. At others, it is the sense of an infinite presence in a star-drenched midnight sky or an ethereal underwater world illuminated by phosphorescence. The vision is Lee's, but credit must go to the battalions required to pull off this remarkable feat, including director of photography Claudio Miranda”
“there are moments when the ocean seems to float around you”
“boundary-breaking visuals”
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-life-of-pi-review-ang-lee-20121121,0,902072.story
EW review
“Everything looks beautiful in Life of Pi. The dangerous animals look beautiful. The terrible storms look beautiful. The crashing ocean waves, the twinkling stars, the wondrous carnivorous island on which the hero at one point lands — pure gorgeousness”
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20483133_20620088,00.html
The Atlantic feature on the film
"The imagery in Life of Pi is more than simply picturesque. Lee and his cinematographer Claudio Miranda manage to reinvent the storytelling power of shot compositions, shoving the audience's lifeboat gently through disheveled space and time."
"These sorts of moments abound with refreshing consistency in Life of Pi, and their transfixing beauty reaffirms that this movie is first and foremost designed to be looked at. The stunning clarity of the images is in fact part of the film's message, reflecting a hero who can find wonder and awe in the world, even at the darkest moments."
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/11/life-of-pi-and-the-late-2012-revenge-of-really-really-pretty-moviemaking/265569/
Chicago Sun Times/Roger Ebert review
“a landmark of visual mastery”
“The camera is placed in the sea, looking up at the lifeboat and beyond it. The surface of the sea is like the enchanted membrane upon which it floats. There is nothing in particular to define it; it is just … there. This is not a shot of a boat floating in the ocean. It is a shot of ocean, boat and sky as one glorious place.”
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121120/REVIEWS/121129995
Sacramento News and Review review
“the shimmering, dazzling, ecstatically visual beauty of it—they are aided nearly beyond measure by cinematographer Claudio Miranda”
“scene after scene, image after image, you simply will not believe your eyes”
http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/pi-of-the-tiger/content?oid=8413589
Wall Street Journal review
“Has anyone before Ang Lee rethought the visual essence of water? What he and his cinematographer, Claudio Miranda, have done in several sequences is to treat water like a mirror, a radiant medium that floats the lifeboat and its passengers on a glassy surface, or to render it invisible, a magical absence that suspends living creatures in a state of ecstatic grace.”
“ineffably beautiful images”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323713104578132912697702772.html\<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323713104578132912697702772.html/>
Slate review
“lush imagistic tangents, his camera plunging to explore luminescent jellies beneath the ocean’s surface or rising into the heavens to look down on boy and tiger from a chilly stars’-eye-view.”
“lavishing sheer visual beauty on the viewer.”
“ the ocean water resembles thick molten glass, and the sky, often shown in unnatural shades of peach, gold, and celadon, has a palpable depth, as if the movie were being projected inside a transparent cube”
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/movies/2012/11/life_of_pi_directed_by_ang_lee_reviewed.html
AV Club review
“strikingly beautiful,”
“overwhelming visual richness”
http://www.avclub.com/articles/life-of-pi,89000/
The Star review
“Claudio Miranda’s luminous camera, set to Mychael Danna’s intoxicating score, captures all manner of wild delights. The film opens with a montage of birds and beasts, from hummingbirds to zebras, leading into a story that links India with Canada. The montage inspires awe, as does a later scene with meerkats on a remote island. And don’t forget the elemental images: the sleepy fat clouds mirrored on an unbroken sea during days of calm; the raging of wind and water during stormy times”
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/article/1290642--life-of-pi-review-a-cat-and-kid-you-can-believe-in
The Columbus Dispatch review
“a visually ravishing feast of indelible pictures”
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/life_and_entertainment/2012/11/21/film-grabs-the-tiger-by-the-tail-stunningly.html
Fox 5 San Diego review
“It was absolutely beautiful to look at. Cinematographer Claudio Miranda and production designer David Gropman get a tip of the hat for that.”
http://fox5sandiego.com/2012/11/24/life-of-pi/#ixzz2DMoENNe6
FilmFare review
“Claudio Miranda's luminous, glossy, color-saturated cinematography gives the movie a picture book quality which impresses to say the least. Especially the night portions at sea, when the water reflects the deep glimmering stars. Or the cameo made by the fluorescent painted whale that makes the scene look so magical. You almost start to believe that Pi, even while he’s stranded in the middle of the ocean, is living a better life than yours. “ “a shimmering visual spectacle”
http://www.filmfare.com/reviews/life-of-pi-is-ang-lees-best-till-date-1749.html
ZeeNews.com review
“ample breathtaking visuals”
http://zeenews.india.com/entertainment/movies/life-of-pi-review-grab-your-ticket-for-a-spectacular-visual-treat_123187.htm
Hindustan Times review
“Claudio Miranda's tantalizing cinematography”
“A visual fiesta”
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Entertainment/Reviews/Rashid-Irani-s-review-Life-Of-Pi/Article1-963483.aspx
Reuters review
“Watch out for one scene at night when the whole ocean is lit up, thanks to jellyfish glowing. It is guaranteed to take your breath away.”
“There are vibrant colours, beautiful camerawork”
http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/11/23/life-of-pi-suraj-sharma-ang-lee-idINDEE8AM06120121123
New York Daily News review
“an exquisite bit of eye candy”
“a visual marvel”
http://india.nydailynews.com/newsarticle/637a591da8213943b69aa6dc515af049/life-of-pi-overcomes-low-expectations-shines-under-lees-direction
Press Republican review
“ ‘Life of Pi’ may not be the best film of the year, but it seems unlikely there’s a film that’s better looking.”
“immersing the viewer in a lush and slightly surreal world of color, shape and movement.”
http://pressrepublican.com/0500_what_to_do/x2120608911/Life-of-Pi-visually-stunning
We Are Movie Geeks review
“It was shot beautifully”
“Claudio Miranda’s beautiful cinematography”
http://wearemoviegeeks.com/2012/11/afi-fest-2012-life-of-pi/
Up and Comers review
“The beauty of “Life of Pi” comes… in huge part, from the brilliant cinematography by Claudio Miranda and the perfect use of 3D as an art form. The real and the fantastic are blurred seamlessly and purposefully through the lens to create a dreamlike yet often harrowing journey for Pi and for us.”
http://upandcomers.net/2012/11/05/afi-film-fest-review-ang-lees-life-of-pi-is-a-thought-provoking-visually-stunning-leap-of-faith-well-worth-taking/
Slant magazine – Oscars prospects feature
“eye-popping beauty”
“It may also have a fighting chance in the Cinematography race, as Avatar proved there's minimal stigma around new-school lensing of not-yet-realized worlds, and DP Claudio Miranda, a David Fincher favorite, netted a nod in 2008 for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. If Miranda slips in, a development that, at this point, seems quite likely”
http://www.slantmagazine.com/house/2012/10/oscar-prospects-life-of-pi/