Life Of Pi Page #20

Pi takes a tattered notebook out of the bookcase.

ADULT PI (CONT'D)

They had insurance claims to

settle, and they wanted to find out

why the ship sank. They didn't

believe me either.

Pi hands the notebook to the Writer. On top, there is a

newspaper article with the headline "BOY RESCUED: 227 DAYS IN

THE PACIFIC." The Writer unclips the article, revealing the

insurance report beneath. We hear Okamoto's first line over

the report.

A175 INT. INFIRMARY - MEXICO, 1978 - DAY A175

OKAMOTO:

Thousands of meerkats? On a

floating carnivorous island? And no

one has ever seen it?

YOUNG PI:

Yes. Just like I told you.

CHIBA:

Bananas don't float.

OKAMOTO:

(In Japanese:
)

Why are you talking about bananas?

CHIBA:

You said the orangutan floated to

you on a bundle of bananas. But

bananas don't float.

OKAMOTO:

(In Japanese:
)

Are you sure about that?

YOUNG PI:

Of course they do. Try it for

yourself.

69.

OKAMOTO:

In any case, we are not here to

talk about bananas or meerkats.

YOUNG PI:

I've just told you a long story.

I'm very tired.

OKAMOTO:

We're here because a Japanese cargo

ship sank in the Pacific.

YOUNG PI:

Something I never forget. I lost my

whole family.

Pause.

OKAMOTO:

(In Japanese:
)

Get him some water.

(In English:
)

We don't mean to push you. And you

have our deepest sympathies. But

we've come a long way. And we're no

closer to understanding why the

ship sank.

YOUNG PI:

Because I don't know. I was asleep.

Something woke me up. It may have

been an explosion; I can't be sure.

And then the ship sank. What else

do you want from me?

CHIBA (OFF)

A story that won't make us look

like fools.

OKAMOTO:

We need a simpler story for our

report. One our company can

understand. A story we can all

believe.

(Chiba gives Pi a glass of

water.)

YOUNG PI:

So.... a story without things you

never seen before.

OKAMOTO:

That's right.

70.

YOUNG PI:

Without surprises. Without animals

or islands.

OKAMOTO:

Yes. The truth.

B175 INT. PI'S HOME, MONTREAL - DAY B175

WRITER:

So what did you do?

ADULT PI:

I told him another story. Four of

us survived...

YOUNG PI (V.O. - OVERLAPPING)

Four of us survived...

C175 INT. INFIRMARY, MEXICO, 1978 - DAY C175

YOUNG PI:

...The cook and the sailor were

already onboard. The cook threw me

a lifebuoy and pulled me aboard.

Mother held onto some bananas and

made it to the lifeboat. The cook,

the cook was a disgusting man. He

ate a rat. We had food enough for

weeks, but he found the rat in the

first few days - and he killed it,

and dried it in the sun and ate it.

He was such a brute, that man. But

he was resourceful. It was his idea

to build the raft to catch fish. We

would have died in those first few

days without him. The sailor was

the same man who brought rice with

gravy, the Buddhist. We didn't

understand much of what he said,

only that he was suffering. I can

still hear him - the happy Buddhist

who only ate rice with gravy. He

had broken his leg horribly in the

fall. We tried to set it as best we

could, but the leg became infected

and the cook told us we had to do

something or he'd die. The cook

said he'd do it, but mother and I

had to hold the man down. And I

believed him - we needed to do it.

(MORE)

71.

YOUNG PI (CONT'D)

So... I kept saying, "I'm sorry, I'm

sorry", but he just kept.. looking

at me, his eyes so... I'll never

understand the point of that man's

suffering. We didn't save him, of

course. He died. The morning after,

the cook caught his first dorado,

and I didn't understand what he'd

done at first, but Mother did, and

I'd never seen her so angry. 'Stop

whining and be happy,' he said. "We

need more food or we'll die. That

was the whole point.' 'What was the

point?' Mother asked. "You let that

poor boy die in order to get bait?

You monster!' The cook got furious.

He started towards her with his

fists raised, and Mother slapped

him hard, right across the face. I

was stunned. I thought he was going

to kill her right then. But he

didn't. The cook didn't stop at

bait either, no. The sailor, he

went the same way the rat went -

the cook was a resourceful man. It

was a week later that he... Because

of me. Because I couldn't hold onto

a stupid turtle. It slipped out of

my hands and swam away and the cook

came up and punched me on the side

of the head and my teeth clacked

and I saw stars. I thought he was

going to hit me again, but then

Mother started pounding on him with

her fists and screaming, "MONSTER!

MONSTER!" She yelled at me to go to

the raft - "Nee poda!" I thought

she was coming with me or I'd never

have... I don't know why I didn't

make her go first. I think about

that every day. I jumped over and

turned back just as the knife came

out. There wasn't anything I could

do; I couldn't look away... He

threw her body overboard. Then the

sharks came. I saw what they... I

saw. The next day I killed him. He

didn't even fight back. He knew he

had gone too far, even by his

standards. He'd left the knife out

on the bench. And I did to him what

he did to the sailor. He was such

an evil man, but worse still, he

brought the evil out in me.

(MORE)

72.

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