Thursday, January 01, 2009

Slumdog Millionaire, All Vibrant and Frenzied


I saw the wonderful Slumdog Millionaire tonight with my dad. Just, wow.

More than anything, it's the very real images of slums and poverty that stays with. Making beggars out of children. Blinding them for better "revenue." Such a lack of hope for the poor. Victims.

Then it's the story. My dad, who also loved the film, was wisely critical of a few things that didn't quite make sense. But overall, director Danny Boyle hit hard and fresh with every single shot. The pulsing beats of M.I.A. played loudly through frenzied and frantic scenes of desperate lives with motivations both violent and romantic.

Vibrant colors and quick jump cuts kept my pupils dancing from beginning to end. Rooting for the heroes and even forgiving tired old lines ("What will we live on?" "Love.") because, well, that's what some eighteen-year-olds say and they deserve for us to root for them, especially Slumdog's Jamal, played superbly by Dev Patel.


This is no review. I'm just writing to write and I wanted to repost this picture because I thought of it while watching the movie today. The girl in the picture could be the beautiful Latika who was undoubtedly Jamal's destiny.


Thanks for stopping by.

1 comment:

Sam Davidson said...

I saw the film on Tuesday. It was excellent on all accounts. Rarely does a movie really 'get' the idea of destiny.