There are two ways you could look at SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE.
One way would be to say (as I have read) that the film is a complete fairy tale and its story is impossible to believe, and that it is a Disney-ized version of a Bollywood film with a cheesy happy ending. I think that whoever feels this way about SLUMDOG has a valuable point.
But there's another way to look at the film, and if you haven't already figured out by my high ranking, it's the way I look at it. This is to say that SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE can be a fantasy if it wants to be, but whatever it is -- it is an uplifting story at a time in the world when we need it, and it is stunning sensory cinema at a time when everyone is running off at the mouth about the merits of movies far less artistic and adventuresome.
I take issue with those who would call this "sappy" or "Disney-like." Um...did you not pay attention to what the main character, Jamal, went through as a boy? What, are those the lost scenes from "Aladdin"? Because that's about as close to Disney as this gets.
On the contrary, the film is energetically edited in a simple way, with the street punk Jamal (played fantastically by Dev Patel) contemplating questions on the Indian version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" while we are exposed to flashbacks of his treacherous life, which often provides seemingly fate-driven connections to the answers to his questions on the show.
I will grant you, the structure is simple. But it works. Damn...it works really well!
Danny Boyle gives his film the kind of energy that I found missing from a few of this year's other excellent films (and touted potential Best Picture co-nominees) like "Milk" and "Frost/Nixon." There is artistry in the camera work and stunning visuals that are paramount to the storytelling. There is also a funky, contemporary, kinetic, memorable score...one of the first this year that has really just grabbed me by the neck. I read somewhere that Boyle told his composer that he didn't want "any damned cellos," and I think this is exactly why the film is not as cheesy as it could have been...it got the right director to give it the street edge the story called for. Heartbreaking, heartwarming, exciting, stunning...all of the adjectives work. And if this bunch of no-names ends up hitting the Oscar podium in a few months, it might just be because the film so deftly straddles multiple time-honored film genres.
It's a coming of age story, it's Dickensian, it's a drama, it has comedic moments, it's a gangster film. And, to top it off, it's probably mainstream America's first true taste of India -- and the films from that region are a whole other can of worms with many delights to be had. SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE was fantastic!
4.0 out of 4
One way would be to say (as I have read) that the film is a complete fairy tale and its story is impossible to believe, and that it is a Disney-ized version of a Bollywood film with a cheesy happy ending. I think that whoever feels this way about SLUMDOG has a valuable point.
But there's another way to look at the film, and if you haven't already figured out by my high ranking, it's the way I look at it. This is to say that SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE can be a fantasy if it wants to be, but whatever it is -- it is an uplifting story at a time in the world when we need it, and it is stunning sensory cinema at a time when everyone is running off at the mouth about the merits of movies far less artistic and adventuresome.
I take issue with those who would call this "sappy" or "Disney-like." Um...did you not pay attention to what the main character, Jamal, went through as a boy? What, are those the lost scenes from "Aladdin"? Because that's about as close to Disney as this gets.
On the contrary, the film is energetically edited in a simple way, with the street punk Jamal (played fantastically by Dev Patel) contemplating questions on the Indian version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" while we are exposed to flashbacks of his treacherous life, which often provides seemingly fate-driven connections to the answers to his questions on the show.
I will grant you, the structure is simple. But it works. Damn...it works really well!
Danny Boyle gives his film the kind of energy that I found missing from a few of this year's other excellent films (and touted potential Best Picture co-nominees) like "Milk" and "Frost/Nixon." There is artistry in the camera work and stunning visuals that are paramount to the storytelling. There is also a funky, contemporary, kinetic, memorable score...one of the first this year that has really just grabbed me by the neck. I read somewhere that Boyle told his composer that he didn't want "any damned cellos," and I think this is exactly why the film is not as cheesy as it could have been...it got the right director to give it the street edge the story called for. Heartbreaking, heartwarming, exciting, stunning...all of the adjectives work. And if this bunch of no-names ends up hitting the Oscar podium in a few months, it might just be because the film so deftly straddles multiple time-honored film genres.
It's a coming of age story, it's Dickensian, it's a drama, it has comedic moments, it's a gangster film. And, to top it off, it's probably mainstream America's first true taste of India -- and the films from that region are a whole other can of worms with many delights to be had. SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE was fantastic!
4.0 out of 4
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