Slumdog Millionaire

Man, it's January 6th already and I'm finally posting my "Slumdog Millionaire" review. I was going to do an elaborate review with links and everything, but I'm just all, "eh" now. This doesn't diminish the fierce feeling I have about this movie. Bert and I saw this about three weeks ago (the same day we ate at Mille Feuille on that dreary Morrissey day). The movie was not yet in wide release until the Friday of that week (which was 12/19). I'd been recommending it to all of my friends. Those who have seen it have agreed it's one of the best movies they'd seen this year.

The movie is directed by Danny Boyle(the gnarly "Trainspotting", the Leonardo diCaprio flop, "The Beach", and the slow but disturbing "Shallow Grave") and features virtually no known actors unless you are a Bollywood addict and already knew of Anil Kapoor, who plays the slimy game show host. I only knew of Dev Patel, who portrays Jamal Malik. As a fan of the raunchy BBC teen show, "Skins", I recognized him as the horny and nerdy Anwar Kharral. The movie is about a young man (a former "slumdog" or impoverished child of the slums, now a "chaiwallah" - tea server), Malik, who is a contestant on the Hindi version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire". On the brink of answering the very last question, the game show host and police are convinced that he's cheated and therefore, he is jailed and tortured. Through the framing device of toggling back and forth in time, we learn exactly how and why Malik knows all the answers. The film was a bit Capraesque in that despite the shittiness of one's life, there is good in the world. Young Malik's life was even a bit Dickensian. Filmed in the gritty slums of Mumbai (formerly Bombay), he and his brother are orphaned when their mother is killed in a religious riot (the song for this scene in the soundtrack by A. R. Rahman, is awesome by the way!); they befriend a young girl, Latika who joins the brothers as they eke out a meagre existence before being whisked away by a Fagin-like character. Of course, in the movies, any kindly adult who takes young children away from a life of misery is also bound to be a miserable and shady bastard. In this case, the guy abused and maims the young children he protects so that they can earn more money in the streets because disfigured children are more "valuable" (there is a scene in the movie involving a boiling liquid and a spoon which made me shudder with revulsion). The children escape but Latika is left behind. Jamal and his brother live on the streets and swindle unsuspecting tourists. There's a gorgeous view of the Taj Mahal as well.

Jamal Malik and his brother Salim, were played by three different sets of actors. The young children spoke in Hindi. What was really cool about this was that the subtitles were not just your plain old boring white or yellow subtitles at the bottom of the screen. These were multicolored and moved fluidly with the action. The second set of actors whoportrayed Jamal and Salim in their middle childhood years did a good job especially since the story picks up dramatically when the boys find Latika dancing for money and rescue her. Actors Patel and Madhur Mittal portrayed Jamal and Salim respectively as young men. I really felt for the characters - sympathisizing with Jamal's predicament and despising Salim for his selfish ways.

The movie fast forwards to Jamal's involvement on the show "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" in the hopes of finding his lost love, who is being held prisoner by a criminal (whom Salim works for). He amazingly answers question after trivial question much to the delight of the audience and to the nation who view him as their own personal underdog.

"Slumdog Millionaire" is one of those rare films where you experience just about every emotion. This was quite refreshing - it was definitely not a "one-note" film (ex: see any piece of crap Adam Sandler is in). There was one scene in particular that had my heart pounding, but the next cut, which was also jarring, still had my heart pounding but for a totally different reason. The flashback scenes also give the viewer insight as to how a totally uneducated young boy's life was shaped by a fantastic series of events. I really liked the cast - the tough police interrogator, the lead actor and the condescending game show host. Latika (played by Mumbai native, Freida Pinto) seemed to be there just for eye candy, since she didn't really do much. Stay for the last scene which is a Bollywood style choreographed number filmed in Victoria Train Station in Mumbai. You'll leave the theatre smiling. Unless you are a heartless S.O.B. with a heart of stone.

Bottom line - if you plan to see a movie this year, put this down on your list to see FIRST. I hope it gets nominated for a lot of awards. BAFTAS? SAG? I would say Golden Globes (but those are kind of meaningless, eh), OSCARS? I smell "Best Picture"!