Celador Films, 2008
Mov No. 44838
Genre: Drama
Rated: R
Directed by: Danny Boyle
Staring: Dev Patel, Saurabh Shukla, Freida Pinto, Madhur Mittal, Anil Kapoor
Oscars: 8 Wins (Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Film Editing, Score, Original Song (10 nominations (Film Editing, Score, Original Song ("O Saya"), Original Song ("Jai Ho"), Sound Editing, Sound)
AFI 100 years, 100 _____ tributes: None
Runtime: 2h
Best quote: "Doctors... Lawyers... never get past 60 thousand rupees. He's won 10 million... what can a slumdog possibly know?" "The answers." - Police Inspector and Jamal Malik
Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) is a Muslim who is given the chance to be a contestant on India's version the hit game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire? He does not waste his chance.
Answering question after question, Jamal winds up closer and closer to the top prize. However Jamal is believed to be a cheat. "...what can a slumdog possibly know?" the police ask. Jamal, already a national hero, recounts his life to the police, hoping they will let him go in time to answer the final question, a question that could earn him Rs. 20,000,000. (Rupees). Each question Jamal is asked brings him back to a time in his life where he learned the answer to that question... the hard way.
Growing up on the streets of Mumbai, India, with only his brother after his mother is brutally killed, Jamal must do anything and everything he can to survive. Jamal Salim, eek out a meagre living, but face the horrors of street life with every passing day. Jamal befriends a girl, Latika, who he grows to love. However, Latika is always taken away from him so he must search and find her however he can.
Slumdog Millionaire is a film that takes us to a place we rarely see in film. In this case, it is the slums of Mumbai. Not unlike the masterpiece City of God, Slumdog displays street life at it's worst with a little bit of Oliver Twist thrown in for good measure. We see the horrors with clarity that often become clouded by Hollywood.
The cinematography is exceptional. The Taj Mahal is filmed with beauty and mystery. When you combine that with the exceptional editing, score, songs, and the terrific acting, Slumdog becomes a suspenseful, rag-to-riches story that combines drama, romance and action onto one piece of celluloid, giving birth to a masterpiece. the film is, quite simply, amazing.
The Best Picture of the year has already been chosen. Lets see if the Academy gets it right.
Movies it was nominated with for Best Picture:Is the movie worth your time to watch?
10/10 30-01-09
