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Written by Alejandro Riera
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Wednesday, 12 November 2008 16:25 |
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 Twelve years ago, Danny Boyle blew my brains off with his brilliant cinematographic adaptation of Irvine Welsh’s novel “Trainspotting,” the story of a group of nihilistic Scottish junkies and how one of them chooses life above everything else ‑even if it means cheating your friends off some money. It was a vibrant, exuberant, audacious film. A movie that raised the bar so high, that what came afterward from this brilliant British filmmaker was either a complete disappointment (“The Beach”, “A Life Less Ordinary”) or came this close to fulfilling that promise (“Millions”).
 I am happy to report that with “Slumdog Millionaire,” Boyle and co-director Loveleen Tandan have created a film as buoyant and as full of life as “Trainspotting.” And yet, very, very different.
Written by Simon Beaufoy (“The Full Monty”) and based on Vikas Swarup’s novel “Q & A,” the film is structured around the brutal police interrogation of Jamal Malik (Dev Patel), a young tea server who came from Mumbai’s slums and who has inexplicably won 10 million rupees in India’s version of “Who Wants To Be a Millionaire.”
The police suspect him of cheating and will extract the truth regardless of the methods used. Yet, it turns out that Patel knew the answer to each question based on his own life experiences. And Boyle, Tandan and editor Chris Dickens cut back and forth between the interrogation, Patel’s life and the actual show to tell his story.
In images that sometimes evoke Fernando Meirelles’ equally brilliant “City of God”, Boyle and Tandan show us in the first hour of the film, the dangerous, sometimes brutal, conditions of Mumbai’s worst slum and what kids have to do in order to survive. In these early scenes, we see seven-year old Jamal (Ayush Mahesh Khedekar) and his brother Salim lose their mother during a violent anti-Muslim riot in their district. After picking up Latika, a young girl also orphaned during the riot, the trio try to make a living going through the mountains of garbage and refuse in Mumbai’s dump sites.
They are taken in by a slimy orphanage operator who uses, and even abuses, these orphans. Jamal and Salim escape, leaving Latika behind; the rest of the movie chronicles Jamal’s attempt to find and save Latika in this bustling, changing metropolis. That search takes the teenage Jamal and Salim to New Delhi (where they become fake tourist guides at Taj Mahal as well as petty criminals) and back to Mumbai, where Salim joins the local mobster, and Jamal takes on more legal jobs that end up. The reaons why he ends up as a contestant on “Who Wants To Be a Millionaire” you will need to discover on your own.
The cast is uniformly excellent, particularly the three set of actors chosen to play Jamal, Salim and Latika. You believe you are watching these three characters grow up into their adult selves. Anil Kapoor is equally outstanding as the smarmy host of the game show, a man who sees himself in Jamal and who, in a way, hates Jamal for reminding him of his own humble roots.
“Slumdog Millionaire” does not feel like an outsider’s condescending take on a Third World country. Boyle seems to have been seduced by India’s energy, beauty and humanity. It reenergized his filmmaking. Yes, the fast editing, the equally hyperactive camera work and the magnificent use of Indian and Western pop music in the soundtrack are all Boyle’s trademarks. But they feel new this time around. Boyle uses all these tools to share with his viewer that sense of excitement that he most probably felt while shooting this film.
“Slumdog Millionaire” tells a story that’s tragic and dark but also full of hope. There is indeed a light at the end of the tunnel for Jamal and Latika, and the feel-good ending is more than justified. Boyle and his team celebrate life at its fullest: no matter how cruel it can be, those who live it fairly, who manage to survive all that life throws at them, will be rewarded in the end.
CAFE'S RATING SYSTEM:
FOUR SHOTS: The perfect brew
THREE SHOTS: A decent brew
TWO SHOTS: A weak brew
ONE SHOT: Tastes like tar
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Last Updated on Thursday, 11 December 2008 17:53 |
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