mrkwooSlumdog Millionaire (2008)
January 3rd 2009 18:50
Trailer
Slumdog Millionaire is the deservedly hyped new offering from Danny Boyle, about a young "slumdog" named Jamal, who despite coming from poverty and little education, has managed to win 10 million rupees on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?. He is arrested and brutally interrogated by the police who believe he is somehow cheating. Instead, Jamal slowly unravels his past, and piece by piece he puts together how he came to know all the answers to the questions. The film works on the premise of destiny, that Jamal's is already written down and all will come through for him in the end. The film was beautifully woven together, with the right amount of thrills, drama, humour and romance without getting too hectic or overindulgent.
The main characters were each portrayed by three different young Indian actors, as we follow Jamal's flashbacks into his childhood in the slums with his brother Salim and orhpan Latik, and all the young actors do amazing performances. Dev Patel as the main Jamal is solid, empathetic and posesses a quiet and gentle grace whenever he's on the screen. Jamal's highly eventful journey to the millionaire hotseat has made him weary, thickskinned but he ultimately remains pure hearted and hopeful despite the many tragedies he's endured in life. His brother Salim on the other hand grows up to become violent, conniving and destructive, and although he is greatly protective of his younger brother, they are torn apart by Salim's fall into crime. Latik receives less of the brunt of the violent slum life due to her beauty, but her life has its own share of pain and loss, making her vulnerable and without hope of leaving her grief stricken life.
The pacing of the film was great, going well with the editing which alternated nicely from vibrant and frenetic, to fragmented and evocative, both in turn capturing the rough and violent world of the slums simultaneously with the star-crossed romance between Jamal and Latik. The music was superb, using A R Rahman's original score which captures Indian old and present culture as well as modern music for the scenes where the boys are surviving by stealing and selling stolen goods to hapless wealthy tourists, who nobody in the audience seemed to feel sorry for.
The story, although at times requiring more suspension of belief from the audience than they would usually allow, was overall extremely moving and memorable. The story, we realise, is not how the boy rose from poverty to fame and fortune, but how far the power of love can take a boy who has nothing, making this a modern-day Romeo and Juliet. This may disappoint those who expect a gritty insight into class divisions in India or a suspenseful thriller. It definitely has those elements, but neither are the main focus of the film. It's not intent on making social commentary, but rather on simply depicting a foreign world as truthfully as it can while creating something beautiful and uplifting. I found the violence inflicted on the kids and the poverty very confronting, but Boyle isn't the type of guy to lecture anybody about right and wrong, as we have seen in Trainspotting.
The touches by co-director Loveleen Tandan, who worked previously as casting director for the very lovey dovey Monsoon Wedding add a softened light to the chaos and give a strong sense of optimism, which saves the film from being dismissed as completely unbelievable and unnecessarily cruel at times in what is ultimately a feel-good flick. As I'd said before, it's like a modern-day fairytale, with a strong sense of realism to not make the whole world turn away with cynism. Slumdog Millionaire was refreshing, moving and enjoyable. And although I realise how pompous I sound in this day and age saying that a story about two poor people in love is refreshing and enjoyable, I'm giving it 8/10
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Comment by Anonymous
*takes hat off* to your effort