A new underdog tale proves that –if done right – they can be a captivating and wonderfully uplifting watch, sure to movie the most cynical of souls.
One of the best of its kind, Slumdog Millionaire is a perfect mishmash of varied genres and styles. It has a spirit which reminds of Rocky; its fable like structure brings to mind Forrest Gump (minus the schmaltz); and its moments of grit and danger evokes City of God.
The film is set in Mumbai, India, 2006, and opens with our hero, Jamal Malik, as a contestant on India’s version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire.
This is quickly followed by Jamal in a compromising position of a different kind; accused of cheating, he is tied up and tortured by the city’s top police inspector (a typecast but effective Ifran Khan). A car battery is used to coerce a confession, but to no avail.
And so, with wonderful editing by Chris Dickens, the film ventures back and forth from the game show; to the interrogation afterwards; and through Jamal’s journey as a young boy in the slums of India, and all of the poverty, pollution, and violence that comes with it. Alongside Jamal is his vile older brother Salim, and the love of his life, Latika.
The films cast of near unknowns brilliantly portray their characters, especially Dev Patel, who inhabits Jamal with the right amount of naivety and chivalry.
Like a great story teller should, director Danny Boyle plays the role of an emotional puppeteer, bewitching his audience with visually intoxicating images, and guiding them through an exhilarating and at times heartbreaking series of events.
The ...Millionaire segments are nerve racking. Comedy driven sequences, such as a young Jamal duping tourists with fake tour guides around the Taj Mahal, are side splittingly funny. And the violence and abuses of a life in poverty are presented with unflinching detail, with the most shocking that of young orphans purposely blinded in order to receive more money while begging on the streets.
Cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle captures the colour of India, which practically leap from the screen; while A.R. Rahman provides a pulsating and atmospheric score full of infectious compositions.
Boyle remains –much like Australian director Peter Weir - a theologically difficult filmmaker to pin down. Although raised as a Catholic –with aspirations to join the Priesthood – Boyle has recently declared to be a non-believer, “coming out” with Atheist inspired sci-fi film, Sunshine.
Yet a common thread throughout the film is the concept of destiny, written by the hand of God. As a result, Slumdog Millionaire is one of the most spiritually positive and theistic films released in some time. However, it does not convey a religious bias, nor does it preach to its audience.
A hot contender for movie of the year with good reason. |
