Sunday, January 25, 2009

Slumdog Millionaire


So what is this one about?
Wikipedia tells us,
Set and filmed in India, Slumdog Millionaire tells the story of a young, uneducated man from the Dharavi slums of Mumbai who appears on Kaun Banega Crorepati (the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?) and exceeds people's expectations, arousing the suspicions of the game show host and of law enforcement officials.
And how much did I pay to watch?
$4! I saw it at the Bijou Theatre in Eugene, OR. If you find yourself in Eugene, I would heartily recommend that theatre.

And what did I think?
So, whats the big gd deal?! So far this movie has won the Golden Globe for best film. It was nominated for ten Oscars including best film, best director, and best adapted screenplay (I swear to jesus up in heaven, if this wins--even though I haven't read the book--I will be pissed because there are so many solid adapted screenplays). But, I don't really get what the big deal is...

Now, the film was good enough. Clever and fresh and all that, but it didn't pack the emotional wallop that I demand of my oscar winning films. Danny Boyle and his flashy directoral/cinematographic choices were a bit frenetic for my liking. A little too much like 28 Days Later. And perhaps I am a subtitles purist, but I didn't enjoy the subtitles being all over the screen in colored boxes.

I did, however, LOVE the music. M.I.A. (who I know like nothing about) had some songs in the film, and they were fantastic!! I even had to download them...

I did like the structure of the story with the flashbacks to illustrate how Jamal knew all the answers. Mostly, I liked that the idea for the film was so new. It is actually a little dissappointing that it is based off of a book, because if it were an original idea I would be very impressed by how creative and new it all is.

Also, when did Bombay become Mumbai?

So what is the rating? (out of 10)
It was good, no Gran Torino obviously, but I don't think it was the best film of the year, at all.

So, I give it a 7.5. If only for the innovation and the ending dance number.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bombay became Mumbai in 1993.
I'm a film student from India, I guess u liked the movie bcz its a new and fresh idea fo u, bt lemme tell u its a very western version of an Indian stories. The point of view of Danny is like a tourist who came and saw and shot and went.
The musik by the way is amazing, A.R.Rahman and MiIA have done a gr8 job. I guess cinematography is good for 2 reasons. 1)It is shot on real locations, where its really difficult to place something as big as a camera, but the guys managed it. 2) The youngest of the muskeeteers are shot beautifully, color tones and background usage for their charactors.

Anonymous said...

Thank you! I really don't get all the awards for this movie, finally someone with a brain :*:*:*