I had been planning to see Slumdog Millionaire since I heard about it being screened at a Film festival in October 2008 (Savannah Film Festival 31st October 2008). I had seen a trailer online, heard good things about it, the storyline seemed good and it's directed by Danny Boyle who gave us Trainspotting. All these things actually made it a "much anticipated" movie for me, and I put down the UK release date in my phone calendar.
[Warning: Spoiler possibility]
I watched Slumdog Millionaire today at the DCA in Dundee. After hearing it being described as everything from Poverty Porn to Slumtastic. Listed as Comedy, a Feelgood movie; also described as "revels in violence, degradation and horror", you can see I had already been influenced by others' opinions. Everybody sees something different in this movie and everything from politics to aid agencies will have their opinions and try and obtain a specific meaning from this movie.
There is no single word, no single meaning to this movie. It was everything.
It was funny. Jamal dropping in the shit and then running to obtain the autograph of Amitabh (still covered in shit) may not make everybody laugh but I'm sure it was meant as such. It was violent. The riots and shouts of "kill them they are Muslims. It was compassionate. Jamal inviting Latika into the train for shelter. These scenes are all at the start of the movie but the themes were maintained. It was real. While based on a novel, most of the scenes reflected ideas and situations which may not filter to the western world or indeed impact as much. This was also the case here enveloped in this movie. It lifted your spirits up with a laugh as quickly as bringing it back down with yet another graphic scene of violence and degradation.
The acting.What struck me most were the children actors. While they may not obtain the recognition they deserve, for me they were the best. The best combination of sincerity, charisma, naivete and tragedy and all that attitude. That is not to say that Dev Patel (Oldest Jamal), Freida Pinto (Oldest Latika) or Madhur Mittal (Oldest Salim) weren't as captivating, but the whole task of drawing the audience into the story was from the first hour or so of the younger actors and their story which in my opinion definitely outshines the rest.
The music. I have heard some describing this as having similar characteristics to bollywood musicals. I could not disagree more. From the opening score however those familiar with his work would know this was A. R. Rahman. The impact of that first score was spectacular and the great mix of modern and old as well as the inclusion of M.I.A worked well although Paper Planes was a bit unexpected on my part but now that I think back, very appropriate.The storyline. Unlike most this was not in my opinion the pivot of this movie. It follows a pattern many are familiar with and I am not going to dwell on this, simply saying that it worked.
The themes and settings. This is the aspect of the movie which has met with the most criticisms from a variety of quarters. I think the themes and settings go hand in hand. You can't have one without the other. Enveloping the realities in a movie such as Slumdog which is able to trigger so many different emotions from horror to compassion, laughter and feelgood shows " truth with great warmth and humanity".
This is the crux of the movie.
You will either experience all these emotions and more and and actually consider both extremes and like the movie for what it is. Or you will experience one of the extremities. Focusing solely on the violence, hatred and degradation or the compassion, love, humour and the dog having his day you will either slate it or love it for that feelgood feeling only.
Overall a powerful movie with a lot of stir and impact. I really liked it.
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