Slumdog Millionaire

With the Oscars coming up on Sunday I went through the past winners to find something to watch and realised I've never seen the Danny Boyle smash-hit of 2008, and winner of Best Picture, Slumdog Millionaire. I remember when it came out thinking that this wouldn't be a film for me and resolutely stood by that to the point where the whole craze passed me by.

Confidently into my 20s and with a new-found respect for films without car chases or Angelina Jolie, I can declare that I was wrong to resist watching this for so long. I thought it was excellent. Fearing that perhaps it would be a simple story of Dev Patel, playing lead Jamal Malik, winning Indian Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, I was pleasantly surprised with the backstory behind each of his answers. I enjoy films which jump between time periods as it keeps you on your toes. Boyle does a good job in ensuring that things do not become messy nor leave you wondering who's who or what's what, a mistake often seen with this type of filming. The poetic connections between some of the answers were the sort which make you go "aaahhhhh" whilst openly grinning.

The child actors were terrific, especially the youngest Jamal who was adorable as the younger brother of bully Salim and really helped to make the early days of the Malik brothers' lives interesting. Often if they aren't up to scratch, films lose impact and become un-believable when the children don't act well but thats no problem here. Some incredible shots of India during this period, especially during the slum scenes, were fantastic on the eye. The vivid colours of the locals washing their "things" were amazing and, although I've never been, I felt like I got a real sense of the frenzy of India.

Having found Dev Patel incredibly annoying in his breakthrough role in Skins, I didn't think of him as that character at all, a sign that his acting was successful. I did though find in some parts that his face seemed to be stuck in a "I've had a really hard, troubled life and am in constant discomfort" kind of expression which was a bit one dimensional but on the whole he was very good. Anil Kapoor had the perfect swagger for the presenter of the show and so too Madhur Mittal, playing Salim Malik, was authentic as Jamal's troubled brother, however I could not help but think all throughout the time he was on screen that he looked exactly like Bruno Mars????

Onto Freida Pinto then, as the stunningly attractive Latika, the childhood sweetheart of Jamal. She had relatively little involvement but for me, as long as I never think something like "she can't act" or "thats not believable" then said actor has done a solid job and this is the case for Freida. Obviously she is sensational to look at in shot but for this, and for reasons I shall explain, Slumdog falls down a bit and leaves me questioning as to whether it is a film deserved of 8 Oscars.

It was obvious from the minute Jamal allowed Latika into his temporary shelter aged around 5 or 6 that they would be destined to become adult lovers. The only thing that I believe let the film down was the fact that even in pre-adolescence, Jamal was talking of his "destiny" to find and be with Latika and he, on several occasions throughout the film, mentioned that she was all he'd been looking for. I don't know about others but when I was 12,13,14 the last thing I was thinking about was being in love and getting married, and I was hardly the butchest of teenagers. I realise that this isn't as suited to Hollywood as an epic tale of romance but for me Slumdog wasn't a "Hollywood" film. It had more depth to it until it became about simply Jamal finding his love. I'm not saying it makes the film bad by any means. It was thoroughly enjoyable throughout but it had potential to be alot more.

 

The romantic in me though, as I have shown in previous posts, was thrilled with the ending. I did, though, think that Boyle could have made it slightly less obvious that they would be together, as it was a touch predictable. This said, the very end sequence left me unashamedly teary!!...Not for long though as the ridiculous post-credit "dance" I found to be utterly idiotic. After an intense and passionate story I didn't think a comic dance with the main cast at the spot where Latika and Jamal came together was in any way appropriate. My sense of humour had been put to one side for a dramatic couple of hours and the credits only caused me to raise a sceptical eyebrow and take the DVD out in frustration.

All in all though, it was, as quoted on the poster "a heartwarming story" and as an original way to tell a story from India, it deserves great credit but 8 Oscars....I'm not so sure....