How anyone involved with this film ever felt that this was the right strapline for the posters to promote it is beyond me.
Here is a film that has poverty, death, mutilation, murder, child poverty, slavery and corrupt police officers...feeling good yet? Thought not.
That's a small gripe though because here Danny Boyle has managed to deliver his finest film. After the horrors of "A Life Less Ordinary", "The Beach" and "Millions"...after the hysterical over-reaction to "Trainspotting" (don't believe me? Go back and watch it now...it's embarrassing) and the false promise of "Sunshine" Boyle has given us a film to match his own reputation.
Jamal (Dev Patel) finds himself competing on Indias version of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" and with each question more and more of his remarkable life story is unveiled. It is all utterly unrealistic and fantastical but that's the point...this is not a piece of realist cinema, it is a fantasy and a fable. As such it works very well. In amongst the fantasy Boyle manages to remind us that the issues of homelessness, poverty and child slavery are real issues in modern India.
This is a film that manages to do those things that only the best films manage; it will make you smile, feel good, cry, feel ashamed and leave you feeling like you have seen something remarkable.
Haven't gotten to see this one yet...ok I haven't seen anything that wasn't animated in about 6 months. I might not be qualified to read-- let alone, comment on this blog. We'll see...
ReplyDeleteI found the hype surrounding this movie baffling.
ReplyDeleteSure; the idea was pretty novel, answering questions on the quiz, because you knew the answer from life experiences, but that apart it was shallow.
The film would get six out of ten from me, much the same as the pop corn on the night, which was soggy-ish.