Slumdog Millionaire

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I just wanted to say that the movie exceeded my expectations. It was such an amazing story and such a brilliant way to tell it too. I wasn't sure if the story would be understood by many in mainstream American culture, but it's return to many large theaters in my area says that it's human themes are well understood. Danny Boyle, you are great! For those who enjoyed it, it's based off a novel called "Q&A."

I suggest that you take the time to see this one.

T
K
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Been meaning to see it.....

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@Diest TKO,

Great movie. It doesn't pull any punches when it comes to an unflinching view of poverty in India.

Some parts of the story were a little thin, but overall - an excellent movie that I was extremely pleased to see!

Cycloptichorn

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@littlek,

littlek - Oh you should make the effort soon while it's still in theaters. I think it's wonderful to have a full cinema experience and in this case with such a good film, I don't think you'd regret it.

T
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@Diest TKO,

Yep, definitely a big screen movie.

I was very entertained. A lot of flaws, but a lot about the movie that was really, really strong, too. They pulled no punches, but they also did get bogged down in the horror of it all. (Love the kid covered in **** trying to get the autograph...)

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@Diest TKO,

Agree that it's an excellent movie, but you have to stop underestimating mainstream America Young Jedi.

Or perhaps you need to stop overestimating yourself.

Mainstream America understands and appreciates that there are varied cultures in the world, and are not going to have too tough a time relating to one rendered by a Brit director with visions of Oliver Twist dancing in his head.

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@Finn dAbuzz,

No doubt. I guess I'm putting the low intellectual expectations on the wrong people. Mainstream America seems to be getting this story, and I questioned that they would. I based that on a media culture that makes movies like "White Chicks," or the mindless "Saw" movies. The failure really isn't on the average movie goer, it's our shitty Hollywood that can't seem to get behind original ideas opting instead for new iterations of the same ****...

Anyone looked at what movies come out this year? It's really sad. Very few with any real promise (by my standards).

T
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@Diest TKO,

Movies that are expected to be major bombs generally are released early in the year. I wouldn't judge this year's crop yet (unless you're already looking forward to the summer and fall releases).

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@patiodog,

patiodog wrote:

Movies that are expected to be major bombs generally are released early in the year. I wouldn't judge this year's crop yet (unless you're already looking forward to the summer and fall releases).

I am. I looked at the roster for the full year. 2009, doesn't look very promising. This is something I'd really like to be wrong about. I love movies soooo much.

T
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I'm very interested in seeing this movie as well.

One interesting thing I have read about reactions to this movie is that many in India actually do not like it and are afraid it will start negative and incorrect opinions of them and their country. They feel it is an incorrect imagine of their culture and country.

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@Linkat,

They have a point.

A movie about the slums of Los Angeles should not be mistaken as representative of the entirety of the US or anything approaching a general "American Culture."

Having said this, abject poverty is fairly widespread in India, Beggar Masters still operate in major Indian cities, and Hindu mobs do, on occassion, attack muslims in their midst.

Still it would be a mistake to view this movie as a fair representation of India or its culture as a whole.

In the end, I think what makes this movie so appealing to American audiences is the fact that despite the exotic location and unfamiliar customs, they can relate to the basic emotions and motivations of the characters.

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@Finn dAbuzz,

Finn dAbuzz wrote:

They have a point.

A movie about the slums of Los Angeles should not be mistaken as representative of the entirety of the US or anything approaching a general "American Culture."

Having said this, abject poverty is fairly widespread in India, Beggar Masters still operate in major Indian cities, and Hindu mobs do, on occassion, attack muslims in their midst.

Still it would be a mistake to view this movie as a fair representation of India or its culture as a whole.

In the end, I think what makes this movie so appealing to American audiences is the fact that despite the exotic location and unfamiliar customs, they can relate to the basic emotions and motivations of the characters.

Well put. I didn't walk away from the movie with conclusions about the class system in India or other political conclusions, I left thinking about the human emotions of the characters.

T
K
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@Finn dAbuzz,

Quote:

Having said this, abject poverty is fairly widespread in India, Beggar Masters still operate in major Indian cities, and Hindu mobs do, on occassion, attack muslims in their midst.

I consider this to be the most brilliant stroke of the movie: it is both a fanciful fairytale (every single question on the game show happened to have a correlate in Jamal's life? Come on...) and yet painfully real.

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Hi there,

As an Indian I rate this film good (but not the best one I have seen). Indians do not have problem with the poverty shown in the western films. Its just that too many things happen very conveniently in the film e.g. Jamal's Escape (believe me the beggar owners are much synchronized and cold blooded than shown in the film ... I will suggest a good Hindi film made on the subject called Traffic Signal (watch with subtitles)), Jamal and Salim's life at the Taj, Latika's search and Salim's first kill.

Also mainstream Mumbai police doesn’t use electric shocks and lack of media element in the whole picture. India has its own over the top paparazzi culture.

In-spite of these shortcomings, what’s different about the film is its fairytale style of telling the story. The film also kind of self explains itself in its last message...
Jamal won because
D. It was written .

It convinced me of D for Destiny. And with that mesage I bought the overall concept of the film.

Smile

1 Reply

@vinsan,

Thanks for the movie suggestion, Vinsan. I'll try to hunt that one down.

Quote:

too many things happen very conveniently in the film

Quote:

what’s different about the film is its fairytale style

I think the latter comment explains the former one. As I watched the movie I was also struck by the all-too-lucky turns of plot throughout the movie, as well as the outlandish premises on which the story is built, but once I accepted that the movie is supposed to be a fairytale, it all became more palatable. I don't think the movie asks us to accept anything more ludicrous than what fairytales usually ask us to accept.

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@Shapeless,

I loved it. One of the most beautifully shot movies I've seen in a long time. Incredible cinematography and I enjoyed the editing style. I loved the shots of the 'slums' and the women doing the laundry.

The actor playing the youngest Jamel is the most beautiful and appealing child actor I can remember seeing on screen.
Loved the relationship between Jamel and Lateka. I was a little confused about Salim and the whys and wherefors- unless it was just to contrast two different peoples' reactions to the same circumstances which I guess sort of underlines destiny.
I liked the soundtrack and the dance scene at the end.
I was sad when it was over.
I want to see more of these characters - especially when they were younger kids. Maybe he could be invited back for another round and they could ask different questions that would trigger different memories.

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@Linkat,

You're right, Linkat. A lot of Indians do feel that it's too negative a picture of India.
A lot of my friends said so...and they also said (in the same breath) that it's too cliched...
There have been several movies about India and the poverty here but Indians made no noise about that. I think that reaction could be coming because Indians probably see the movie as too simplistic a portrayal of the hard life in the slums of india.

I liked it a lot (mostly because I had already read the book and knew what kind of movie it would be...). I most liked it for the imagery, music, and the story format....I thought it was very clever to mix up painful events with fairy-tale-like good luck and hope. Yes, and as Vinsan because it kind of explains itself....

But I also somehow felt the movie went at breakneck speed - I somehow wished it was a bit longer!

I read the book too (Q&A). The book and the movie are different (the book is even more fantastic, fairy-tale-like, even as it narrates painful events) and I liked both.

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The famous Naushad, a music director, slept on the streets before he got a start in the movie industry. There are whole streets lined with prostitutes sitting out in their front of their houses, or shops, like the red light districts in Hamburg and Amsterdam. The problem is the over population from the rural areas all jamming into the cities like Bombay (Mumbhai) and Calcutta (Kolkata). Maybe 50 years from now India having become a developed country will suffer from low births with an aging population and poverty a minor social problem.

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@talk72000,

They are fast on their way to becoming a developed nation, in fact their tech literacy is pretty high isn't in in the cities? I know there's a ton of outsourcing that goes there right now because they are so capable.

I'm betting that's going to be key to their continued development. It's amazing that a movie can make us talk about all these things, proves how great it really is.

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I did not see the move. Others I know have seen the movie. Just about everyone had something good to say about the movie. Odd? Not one person finds this movie's subject matter of non interest? My point is, I wonder if many people feel a need to give only a positive review, since we keep hearing only positive reviews from the media, or whoever. In my opinion, what may make the movie so appealing is that one can give a positive review, and then can appear to oneself as though one is the politically correct movie goer that one wants to think of oneself. I did not see the movie, since seeing the abject, stinking poverty in India would only spoil my day. Why would I want to do that?

Can the seeing the movie include a sort of unconscious penance for living in an abject wealthy nation?

1 Reply

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