"Slumdog Millionaire is a film so upbeat and colourful that, by the time you’re relaying its infectious air of optimism to friends, you could forget that it features orphans, slaughter, organised crime, poverty, enslavement and police brutality."
It's like The God of Small Things without incest. It's like another genre of reality TV. It's like a crash course into a third world country, it's like a roller-coaster that can only be described as breathtaking. It's like a dream and a nightmare at the exact same time. It's like a thousand things, and yet, it rises above the rest as the one that you have to watch.
Two words: Slumdog Millionaire.
A movie set in India, starring Dev Patel and Freida Pinto, based on the book Q&A by Vikas Swarup, this Film of the Year contender is nothing short of extraordinary.
We've all heard of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" We've all probably taken a whack at answering those trivia-like questions. We've all cheered for a contestant, we've all felt sorry for those who couldn't cut it. But Jamal (Patel), the central character in this story, is more than just any contestant. You've probably heard of something like his story before: a young boy, his brother, orphaned in a world that doesn't want them. A first love lost, a foray into the enterprises that poverty entails, a rush for freedom. A stab at life. Rationality in irrationality. A present that longs for the past.
Slumdog Millionaire tells Jamal's story through three timelines: one is the present, in a police station; the second, the immediate past, as a contestant in Who Wants to be a Millionaire?; and the third, his childhood. The excellent direction definitely makes this movie (all hail Danny Boyle), even when some of the elements become predictable. And the cast... Oh, the cast. All I have is love.
Every question Jamal is asked, he is able to answer. But every answer has a story. A story that is painful yet beautiful, tragic and not. And that's what this movie tells, in a style that can only be described as masterful. It caters to the world audience while staying true to its Bollywood roots.
It's a story that goes on, long after the credits roll.
And here I quote John Berger:
Never again will a single story be told as though it's the only one.
Watch, watch. You won't regret it.
It's like The God of Small Things without incest. It's like another genre of reality TV. It's like a crash course into a third world country, it's like a roller-coaster that can only be described as breathtaking. It's like a dream and a nightmare at the exact same time. It's like a thousand things, and yet, it rises above the rest as the one that you have to watch.
Two words: Slumdog Millionaire.
A movie set in India, starring Dev Patel and Freida Pinto, based on the book Q&A by Vikas Swarup, this Film of the Year contender is nothing short of extraordinary.
We've all heard of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" We've all probably taken a whack at answering those trivia-like questions. We've all cheered for a contestant, we've all felt sorry for those who couldn't cut it. But Jamal (Patel), the central character in this story, is more than just any contestant. You've probably heard of something like his story before: a young boy, his brother, orphaned in a world that doesn't want them. A first love lost, a foray into the enterprises that poverty entails, a rush for freedom. A stab at life. Rationality in irrationality. A present that longs for the past.
Slumdog Millionaire tells Jamal's story through three timelines: one is the present, in a police station; the second, the immediate past, as a contestant in Who Wants to be a Millionaire?; and the third, his childhood. The excellent direction definitely makes this movie (all hail Danny Boyle), even when some of the elements become predictable. And the cast... Oh, the cast. All I have is love.
Every question Jamal is asked, he is able to answer. But every answer has a story. A story that is painful yet beautiful, tragic and not. And that's what this movie tells, in a style that can only be described as masterful. It caters to the world audience while staying true to its Bollywood roots.
It's a story that goes on, long after the credits roll.
And here I quote John Berger:
Never again will a single story be told as though it's the only one.
Watch, watch. You won't regret it.
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE ROCKS.
ReplyDeletethat's it.
nothing more, nothing less.
it was an amaaaaazing movie. with amaaaazing concept. very original indeed.