Who Wants To Be A Slumdog Millionaire?
Jamal is a young man in his mid-to-late twenties who has just won a phenomenal amount of money on the Indian version of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" Such a phenomenal amount, in fact, that the host of the show has had him taken at the end of the broadcast to a hidden room and subjected to a series of tortures that would be very familiar to the staff at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo, in order to find out how he did it. As he subsequently tells them the story of his poverty and violence-filled life, you begin to get an idea of what an incredible person Jamal must be merely to have survived it all, much less make it to the point he is now at.
"Slumdog Millionaire" is co-directed by Danny Boyle of "Trainspotting" and "28 Days Later" and Indian director Loveleen Tandan, and it's hard to be sure what aspects of the film to credit to which one, but whoever is responsible, they have created a remarkably complex but always coherent film whose multi-layered structure tells the story of Jamal's life at a number of different points over the years in a way that makes for a much greater impact than if it had simply been told in a straightforward, chronological style. Jamal sits in the office... you flash back to him on the show answering the increasingly complicated questions... as he ponders the latest question, you flash back further to his troubled past and see how it has provided him with the unorthodox education to be able to master all kinds of arcane information. And in the process, you get to know and love three pretty amazing characters.
Jamal's widowed mother is killed when he's still a small child, and he has to survive on his own on the streets, eventually teaming up with two other such youngsters, another boy and a girl named Latika, who dub themselves "The Three Musketeers". But circumstances keep tearing them apart and dragging Latika and the other young boy into the criminal underworld. Jamal's dedication to them, even at his own risk, becomes more and more touching as the film goes on, and it eventually becomes clear that his very appearance on "Millionaire" is part of a last-ditch, virtually life-or-death attempt to contact them again. But will he succeed, and what will happen to Jamal... and to them... if he doesn't?
Boyle and Tandan have managed the nearly impossible feat of assembling a cast of differently-aged actors to play the same characters over a 15-to-20-year span and never leave the audience in doubt that the characters at each stage WOULD age and mature to become those of the next phase. Each set of actors is remarkable, and together they create an intense, unforgettable portrait of a set of troubled friends capable of surviving ALMOST anything the world throws at them, but continuing to wonder at each new level if they've finally met their match. Dickens himself couldn't have done better, and, indeed, they may very well remind you of Oliver Twist and other Dickens classic protagonists.
The film builds to a level of intense suspense as it becomes increasingly obvious what high stakes are at risk in Jamal's appearance on the show. In fact, intense emotions are present in nearly every scene, at a level that some western moviegoers unfamiliar with Indian films in general and "Bollywood" productions in particular might find a little melodramatic. But it's perfectly in keeping with Bollywood style, even if the movie does on the whole resist the typical Bollywood trend toward incongrous song-and-dance musical numbers... with one notable exception, and what a memorable exception it is. I'll admit that the whole concept of the Indian equivalent of Regis Philbin being so dedicated to finding what he suspects are the cheating techniques of a contestant that he would try to literally torture them out of him seemed quite implausible at first, until I remembered that plausibility is not exactly the first order of business in Bollywood movies. The point is that all the various elements add up to a story that totally involves the viewer, and makes you cry for characters who fail and cheer for those who succeed. And that, it most definitely does.
But don't get the idea that you need to be familiar with Indian films to appreciated "Slumdog Millionaire". The absorbing story, fascinating characters and the impressive film-making techniques used to tell their story are universal. And even if you DO know Indian film, you'll be surprised from time to time at how the movie takes standard narrative techniques and twists them into unfamiliar patterns. Whatever kind of movie fandom you may be approaching this film from, it will at times seem familiar but ultimately be unlike anything you've seen before. And if that's not a good enough reason to see a movie, what is?
"Slum Dog Millionaire" opens in limited release in New York and Los Angeles on Wednesday, November 12th, and in the Twin Cities area on Friday, November 21st.
"Slumdog Millionaire" is co-directed by Danny Boyle of "Trainspotting" and "28 Days Later" and Indian director Loveleen Tandan, and it's hard to be sure what aspects of the film to credit to which one, but whoever is responsible, they have created a remarkably complex but always coherent film whose multi-layered structure tells the story of Jamal's life at a number of different points over the years in a way that makes for a much greater impact than if it had simply been told in a straightforward, chronological style. Jamal sits in the office... you flash back to him on the show answering the increasingly complicated questions... as he ponders the latest question, you flash back further to his troubled past and see how it has provided him with the unorthodox education to be able to master all kinds of arcane information. And in the process, you get to know and love three pretty amazing characters.
Jamal's widowed mother is killed when he's still a small child, and he has to survive on his own on the streets, eventually teaming up with two other such youngsters, another boy and a girl named Latika, who dub themselves "The Three Musketeers". But circumstances keep tearing them apart and dragging Latika and the other young boy into the criminal underworld. Jamal's dedication to them, even at his own risk, becomes more and more touching as the film goes on, and it eventually becomes clear that his very appearance on "Millionaire" is part of a last-ditch, virtually life-or-death attempt to contact them again. But will he succeed, and what will happen to Jamal... and to them... if he doesn't?
Boyle and Tandan have managed the nearly impossible feat of assembling a cast of differently-aged actors to play the same characters over a 15-to-20-year span and never leave the audience in doubt that the characters at each stage WOULD age and mature to become those of the next phase. Each set of actors is remarkable, and together they create an intense, unforgettable portrait of a set of troubled friends capable of surviving ALMOST anything the world throws at them, but continuing to wonder at each new level if they've finally met their match. Dickens himself couldn't have done better, and, indeed, they may very well remind you of Oliver Twist and other Dickens classic protagonists.
The film builds to a level of intense suspense as it becomes increasingly obvious what high stakes are at risk in Jamal's appearance on the show. In fact, intense emotions are present in nearly every scene, at a level that some western moviegoers unfamiliar with Indian films in general and "Bollywood" productions in particular might find a little melodramatic. But it's perfectly in keeping with Bollywood style, even if the movie does on the whole resist the typical Bollywood trend toward incongrous song-and-dance musical numbers... with one notable exception, and what a memorable exception it is. I'll admit that the whole concept of the Indian equivalent of Regis Philbin being so dedicated to finding what he suspects are the cheating techniques of a contestant that he would try to literally torture them out of him seemed quite implausible at first, until I remembered that plausibility is not exactly the first order of business in Bollywood movies. The point is that all the various elements add up to a story that totally involves the viewer, and makes you cry for characters who fail and cheer for those who succeed. And that, it most definitely does.
But don't get the idea that you need to be familiar with Indian films to appreciated "Slumdog Millionaire". The absorbing story, fascinating characters and the impressive film-making techniques used to tell their story are universal. And even if you DO know Indian film, you'll be surprised from time to time at how the movie takes standard narrative techniques and twists them into unfamiliar patterns. Whatever kind of movie fandom you may be approaching this film from, it will at times seem familiar but ultimately be unlike anything you've seen before. And if that's not a good enough reason to see a movie, what is?
"Slum Dog Millionaire" opens in limited release in New York and Los Angeles on Wednesday, November 12th, and in the Twin Cities area on Friday, November 21st.
posted by Joe Bunce at
8:09 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home