Reviewer: Jonathan Dawson Director/Producer/Editor: Danny Boyle Classification: MA Date of release: December 2008 Duration: 120minsmins Country of origin: India
At last, here's a whizzbang movie that captures the reality of Mumbai streets with a kinetic energy and a driving storyline that makes this hyperactive marvel a great piece of pure moviemaking. Directed by Danny Boyle (*Trainspotting, 28 Days Later*), *Slumdog Millionaire* is the story of Jamal Malik (the utterly believable Dev Patel), the 18 year old orphan from the slums of Mumbai. When we meet him he's just one question away from winning the Indian version of 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?', with Bollywood superstar Anil Kapoor great as the slimy host Prem Kumar. Jamal is arrested (life's been so awful so far he takes it with amazing grace!) on suspicion of cheating. Over the course of a night of beatings and threats, he tells the police his picaresque life story, and of Latika (Freida Pinto), the girl he loved and, maybe, lost. There are more pleasures and terrors to come. The script's based on the novel *Q and A*, by Vikas Swarup, and the screenplay was written by Simon Beaufoy (*The Full Monty*) - an extraordinary double act when you think about it and one sure to attract post-colonial critique from the middleclass Indian and English press and academies. But there's no clumsy collision of cultures here - or at least not one that diminishes the pure energy and joy of the narrative. *Slumdog Millionaire* is a classic Dickensian yarn of survival from the worst of starts that would have made Oliver Twist himself blanch. Danny Boyle's camera swoops, hovers and dives into the slums and back streets to give a sense of the sheer mad energies of the life below the tourist snaps. It's exhilarating and touching at once - a great piece of populist storytelling that, like *Trainspotting* before it, manages to convey with no little irony the terrible realities beneath the romantic dreams of Western tourists. A bright anti Bollywood soundtrack by A.R. Rahman adds a sparkle to the soundtrack that reveals a whole new breadth and vitality in Indian musical culture. *Slumdog Millionaire* was recently named Best Film at the 2008 British Independent Film Awards, and snaffled the Audience Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival. Now it's picked up four Golden Globes so maybe there is a movie God - or Gods - after all. Come on, Oscar! http://www.abc.net.au/local/reviews/2009/02/06/2484054.htm -- regards, Vithur
