Slumdog Millionaire has now won 8 Oscars, including Best Film, Best Director and best adapted screenplay, 7 Baftas, 4 Golden Globes,
So, does the film deserve all the honours it has received?I believe that it does. It is a film which has what some may regard as old-fashioned virtues and it may well be that that is why it has proved to be so popular with both critics and audiences. It has a simple but effective storyline with a beginning, a middle and a satisfactory ending; it has humour, romance, excitement, a likeable hero and a beautiful heroine; its subject is that of an underdog struggling with the horrors of life which confront him. In some ways it is a modern fairytale, but to classify it as such does not do it justice.
Indeed, Slumdog Millionaire has been criticised for its graphic violence. Some of the scenes are certainly disturbing but none of the violence is gratuitous. I suspect that the criticism is in many cases from people who were led by some reviews to believe that this is a feel-good movie. That is a misleading description, but I can understand why the term has been used. Although the director does not hold back when depicting the squalor of the Mumbai slums and the deeply unpleasant episodes in the lives of the principal protagonists, the overall mood is one of warmth and optimism. It is also the case that the final scenes, an affectionate pastiche of Bollywood movies, over which the credits roll, are guaranteed to make all but the most miserable cynic leave the cinema with a smile on his face.
Danny Boyle has made a film with great panache. It is vibrant, colourful and atmospheric; the pace never slackens. He is well-served by the screenplay of Simon Beaufoy, whose best-known work hitherto was The Full Monty, and by a wonderful cast, including several very appealing children, some of whom are themselves slum dwellers who had not acted previously. Special mention should be made of Dev Patel as the eponymous hero. It is extraordinary that an inexperienced and unknown young actor could produce such a natural performance in his first film.
On the debit side, the plot of Slumdog Millionaire is undoubtedly contrived and the tone is a little too sentimental. For these reasons I do not think it is a great film. It is, however, hugely enjoyable and entertaining. I loved it.
Rating: ****
Click on blue underlined film title for Amazon product link.
Leave a Reply