SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE - MOVIE REVIEW
Posted on | February 1, 2009
Dev Patel Jamal Malik
Anil Kapoor Prem Kumar
Saurabh Shukla Sergeant Srinivas
Rajendranath Zutshi Director (as Raj Zutshi)
Jeneva Talwar Vision Mixer
Freida Pinto Latika
Irrfan Khan Police Inspector
Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail Young Salim
Ayush Mahesh Khedekar Youngest Jamal
directed by: Danny Boyle
Loveleen Tandan (co-director: India)
Every once in a while a movie: An art form that is sometimes delegated to Rob Schnider fart movies, flickers on the screen and reminds us why we need to see films not in our living rooms but in a communal space.
An experience that needs to be shared.
Where gasps, laughs, cringes, and grouped aspirations, cause us to share in a moment that would be somehow bereft without the ‘another‘.
This is one of those movies.
So many times have I sat through a film - flickering on the screen, and not even be cognizant to crunching of popcorn, rustling of candy wrapper or even that annoying cell phone that goes off.
Yes DVD and now the all glorious BLUERAY are cheaper to buy1 than to see in the theatres but to share that moment?
That can never be replaced.
I loved this movie, Danny Boyle’s incessant need to show people diving into feces aside, so much that I had to write about it at 3:56 AM.
It starts out with a question that asks the audience what the ending will be. At first I wasn’t sure what the answer was2 but I took my guess.
It traverses time lines but not to the exclusion of leaving the audience questioning, “Just where the hell are we?”
The film has received so many accolades that I was almost tepid in agreeing with popular opinion.
But this movie delivers.
Yes, there is the controversy surrounding the film. A non-Indian making an inherent Indian film.
The term “slumdog” is negative at best. It’s demeaning and that’s why it’s probably doused with so much controversy from the Indian People.
But the heart of the film transcends culture.
It’s an old fashioned, rip-roaring love story. The one we all want to have in our lives.
Titanic, An Affair To Remember, The Note Book
Those who rage against the film say it’s romanticizing poverty. I saw no romance in the abuse our “hero” takes.
Dev Patel tackles this role with a compassion so that, regardless of our history, we understand his pain.
Losing a love then getting them back then losing them then getting them back . . .
I could go on.
And I will.
Freida Pinto as “Latika” is so gorgeous, so complete, you can understand why Jamal would spend a lifetime trying to find her. But it’s not just the physical beauty. It’s the understanding that Jamal has found his love.
There’s no questions asked.
And she is gorgeous. Stunning in fact. Almost too beautiful so that you think she’s unattainable.
He fights to be with her.
She fights to be with him.
And they met in a rain storm, covered in the deaths of their families.
Is it predictable?
Could be.
My sister figured it out.
I’d figured it out - only because I’d seen enough clips to piece the story together3.
I’m not going to say anymore. It’s hard to write about it without giving too much information.
Go see this movie.
When you do, you won’t be as surprised when it receives the Oscar for best film.
I was treated to this movie but I would have gladly paid $22.50.
Wow.
Just, WOW!
- when they’ve been out in the stores for over six months [↩]
- and I was wrong in my first assumption [↩]
- but it didn’t make it less potent [↩]
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One Response to “SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE - MOVIE REVIEW”
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February 5th, 2009 @ 3:32 pm
total agreement. I enjoyed this film, and I didn’t think I would, as I have an aversion to all things indian. This film trancends all.