Director: Danny Boyle
Starring: Dev Patel, Anil Kapoor & Freida Pinto
A highly enjoyable and rewarding rags to riches tale featuring a strong cast, impressive cinematography and an inventive and gripping story.
After successful attempts at working with the horror and sci-fi genres with 28 Days Later and Sunshine, Danny Boyle returns with this charming, rags to riches tale and using the energy and inventiveness of Trainspotting that has only briefly been seen in his later films. Slumdog Millionaire, based on the novel Q&A, is the tale of Jamal, a boy who grew up in the slums of Mumbai and whose life-experiences seem destined to provide him with the all the answers to achieving riches he couldn’t imagine by winning India’s version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? Of course, the show runner’s cannot accept that a boy like Jamal could possibly have all the answers without cheating; he is taken by police and interrogated. It is here that the story begins as, through extended flashbacks, Jamal tells the tale of his life and how each major incident provided him with the answers he needed to win.
While the plot might seem somewhat contrived, every question asked of Jamal on the show seemingly relating to a significant life experience, the execution of the story by Boyle, the performances of its cast and its hyper-kinetic cinematography make Slumdog Millionaire such a joy to watch that any concerns over the overwhelming coincidences you are asked to accept are accepted and willingly so. Living in the slums of Mumbai, with his life involving losing his mother, being taken in by a group of child slavers, living on the streets and always by his wits, Jamal’s story and that of his brother Salim and love-interest Latika, might feel like the kind of story that should be shocking and depressing and some scenes are shocking and heart-breaking to witness. However, Slumdog Millionaire is also infused with hope and warmth.
Jamal, played by three actors at different places in his life, all portray him as a character with optimism, with conviction that he’ll find what he’s looking for and that involves a life with Latika, the young girl of which he is separated from and reunited with several times. An early scene from his childhood speaks volumes about his character and the journey in which he is to embark upon when, locked in outdoor toilet in the slums of Mumbai (easily worse than “The Worst Toilet in Scotland” scene from Trainspotting), he leaps into human waste as his only hope for escape and manages to get through a crowd of people gathered around his childhood hero, a famous actor, and secure an autograph with a cry of success. Jamal’s success, despite the sacrifices he had to take to achieve it, and the happiness he feels regardless of the cost gives the audience a sense that no matter how tragic Jamal’s story might sometimes become, he is destined for success and happiness by the film’s end. Less hopeful is the role of Salim, Jamal’s older brother whose envy of Jamal’s attitude and rewards leads him down a darker path of crime but who is still to redeem himself for life and his treatment of Jamal and Latika. In addition to the fine casting of the three child leads, Dev Patel in particular that plays the present day Jamal telling us his story, are also several adult roles. Anil Kapoor plays a somewhat slimy role in India’s answer to Chris Tarrant as his TV presenter is one whose motives remain murky yet hides them in public with a smile and a cheer. Also interesting is the role of the police inspector played by Irrfan Khan, who despite engaging in unpleasant methods to get answers from Jamal in early scenes manages to present his character as someone who is also reasonable and open to hearing Jamal’s tale.
As well as the strong acting performances and a gripping script, Danny Boyle’s direction of the events is impressive. With the aid of a pulse-pounding score by A. R. Rahman, Boyle’s directing style here is his most inventive and hyper-kinetic since Trainspotting. Inter-cutting moments between present day events, Jamal’s story and brief glimpses back and forth of other glimpses like brief, fleeting memories mixed into recollections and with the use of whip-pan camera moves with handheld, in the midst of the action feel, Slumdog Millionaire also keeps you as much on your toes with its camera work and beautiful scenery, capturing the growth of a country as well as the growth of a boy, as it does with its story.
Overall, Slumdog Millionaire is highly entertaining. Great to look at with story, mood and characters that both grip and warm you, the film deserves is hype as a feel-good film and also marks Boyle’s most impressive work since Trainspotting hailed him as the future of British filmmaking in 1996. A must see film.
Rating: 5/5
