Slumdog MillionaireI know I have pestered most of you to go and see this movie. But if you haven't yet (and I cannot imagine anyone really resisting my pester for very long), I am going to give you some good reasons right here.
1. Slumdog Millionaire isn't just the best movie of this year; rather, it's one of the best movies of the last 5 or 6 years.
2. The story isn't just about a poor kid answering questions on a game show; it's about Mumbai, it's about survival, it's about love, its about integrity and faith in people, it's about families, and persecution, and abandonment, and tolerance, and care, and our place in the world and ... well everything. And, it's about destiny.
3. The cinematography is stunning, startling, serene! It begs to be seen in the theater 10 feet high. Anthony Dod Mantle makes even the garbage dumps magnificent. The vastness of the multicolored roofs on the labyrinth of slums is just as delicious as the lofty riches of the new towers downtown. The intense pigments of daytime and the wet darkness of nighttime are equally intoxicating. Shame on you if you wait for the DVD.
4. Action scenes. Friends and I had just talked about lazy camera work in too many action movies these days. Jiggling the camera just doesn't do it folks. It isn't creative and it conveys only nausea to me. Then we saw Slumdog Millionaire. During the first moments, the kids are running through the slums pursued by police, and it is poetry! At one point in the chase, the children leap off a roof, and the camera freezes them for one split second in mid-air. Suddenly, the entire audience is jumping with them, suspended for an instant in that giddy change from forward motion to downward, enjoying the delight of flight. Now that's the way to film action!
5. The soundtrack crosses all cultures. It is spicy and danceable and broad, it makes you want to move. It is exhilarating. Once you see the movie you will want to own the soundtrack.
6. The storytelling is rivetting, compelling, non-stop, unapologetically romantic and flies forward at an unable-to-peel-your-eyes-away pace. It unravels in a series of short stories, each illustrating a piece of the main character, Jamal's life, and how it relates to the game show answer he has correctly guessed. The ending is hugely satisfying.
7. The three main characters are each played by three actors at different ages, and every single performance is true.
Seeing this movie is like trying to describe your first skydive to somebody who has never jumped. You just have to experience it for yourself. Then we can talk! But be sure to see it soon - because the Oscars are coming!!
A Christian Colson production directed by Danny Boyle (yes, of Trainspotting) and Loveleen Tandan. Written by Simon beaufoy, based on the prize-winning novel Q & A by Vikus Swarup. Starring Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Irrfan Khan.
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