Slumdog Millionaire

I only watched this in the cinema a few hours ago, so hopefully it'll be fresh in the memory.

It was an absolute joy to watch. You could sense the whole audience's involvement in the film. At one point I heard a woman to the right of me volunteer and "Oh no!". It sweeps you up and never lets go.

Danny Boyle's film follows the ascent of a 'slumdog' from Mumbai named Jamal. The film is punctuated by conversations between a policeman and Jamal, who is questioning him about his inexplicable success on the Indian 'Who wants to be a millionaire?', akin to the structure in The Usual Suspects. The other two big characters in the film are Salim, his brother, and Latika, his perennial love interest.

The film begins in Mumbai amid the shacked houses and dirty streets. The cinematography is particularly superb in these early sequences. The energy and verve of the slums is captured by frenetic chases across the rooftops and concrete plains, in a loose documentary style reminiscent of City of God. Boyle conjures up a sense of the roughness of life in the slums but also the vibrancy. The complicated relationship between the two brothers is also established, alternating between camararderie and deception.

The attack on the muslims of the slum is brutal and unexpectant, but Boyle manages not to sentimentalise the aftermath. It already has a power of its own, the sight of three orphaned sheltering from the rain. The whole film is almost an updating of Dickens to contemporary India. Jamal is forced through a series of hardships, but all help him on his way in the end. Each flashback shows how he came to know the questions that will transform his life.

The different incantations all turn in fine naturalistic performances as Jamal, Salim and Lakita. The earliest incantations especially carry a zest for life and an infectious humour. The 'baddies' that they encounter on the way could be seen as slightly one dimensional, but it's not to hard to imagine a dog-eat-dog world like Mumbai having its fare share of criminals who desire a better life with whatever means possible.

As I say, I really, really enjoyed this film. It adds another feather to Boyle's illustrious bow. It takes a lot of courage to step into a completely different world form the one you inhabit and present a convincing portrayal of that world. Sure, some aspects of the film require a suspension of disbelief, but if you go along with it then it's a rewarding, enlightening delight.

8/10