French Thrills, Indian Artistry[image: PDF]<http://www.chattanoogapulse.com/film/film-reviews/13-film-reviews/543-french-thrills-indian-artistry?format=pdf>[image: Print]<http://www.chattanoogapulse.com/film/film-reviews/13-film-reviews/543-french-thrills-indian-artistry?tmpl=component&print=1&page=>[image: E-mail]<http://www.chattanoogapulse.com/component/mailto/?tmpl=component&link=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jaGF0dGFub29nYXB1bHNlLmNvbS9maWxtL2ZpbG0tcmV2aWV3cy81NDMtZnJlbmNoLXRocmlsbHMtaW5kaWFuLWFydGlzdHJ5>Written by Phillip Johnson Wednesday, 11 February 2009 18:08
[image: 6.7screentell.jpg]This week's selection in the Arts and Education Council's Independent Film Series is the French thriller *Tell No One (Ne le dis à personne).* The film is an adaptation of Harlan Cobin's bestselling book of the same title, and is helmed by rising French director Guillaume Canet. Although the narrative has been shifted from America to France, the film packs the same terrifying emotional punches as Cobin's novel. Pediatrician Alexandre Beck has lived for years with the memory of his brutally murdered wife Margot. He was once the prime suspect in her murder, but the case was closed for lack of evidence. Now, when two more bodies are unearthed near the area where Margot's corpse was found, the police reopen the case and Alex becomes a suspect yet again. Even more bizarre is the e-mail Alex receives with an image of a woman standing in a crowd, being filmed in real time. The face is Margot's and she pleads for him to tell no one. Tell No One is a supremely stylish and beautifully acted thriller that transposes perfectly to France. The screenplay diverges greatly from Cobin's novel, but Canet says in the film's press notes that it was no big deal. " I told Harlan Cobin right away why and how I wanted to adapt his book. […] I changed the ending but he loved what we came up with. He was very moved and told me that each change added something that wasn't in the novel!" *Everyone wants to be a Slumdog Millionaire* Danny's Boyle's *Slumdog Millionaire* is the most talked about film of 2008, garnering countless award nominations and topping many critical Top 10 lists. You'll find no existential angst in "Slumdog", no depressive suburbanites harping about how their life sucks, and no famous actors trying to outplay their own manifold accomplishments. What you will find is an inspiring story told with more energy and passion than any other film on Oscar's ballot. Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) is a contestant on the Indian version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and is slowly ascending to ultimate-prize status when he's taken away by the police and accused of cheating. He's beaten and interrogated, but never admits to any funny business quite simply because there is no funny business. He's an honest kid–and a very lucky one, too. Energetic flashbacks swathed in color and light are merged with the game-show segments and Jamal's interrogation by a particularly headstrong detective. Danny Boyle's reliance on flashbacks is never tiresome because of the way the story is structured—the game show host asks a question and we see how Jamal happens to know the answer. "Show, don't tell" is Boyle's directing modus operandi. When questioned by his interrogators, Jamal has no answer other than the truth: He learned a lot from being orphaned in the slums of Mumbai with his brother Salim and a young girl named Latika, whom they rescued from the exploitation of a gangster posing as a philanthropist. Jamal fell in love with Latkia at first sight. Their current separation, equally realized through flashback, is heartbreaking, and when Jamal's real motives for being on Who Wants to Be A Millionaire are revealed, the film morphs into a triumphant romance that transcends easy clichés with no trouble at all. Boyle's direction is the film's most revelatory aspect, but cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle is just as responsible for the kinetic energy at the core of the film. Dod Mantle's camerawork creates one living painting after another, whether he's taking his audience through the slums of Mumbai or through walls of confetti in the film's last act. The soundtrack is incomparable as well. Composed by one of Bollywood's most famous musical talents, A R Rahman, the music is anything but conventional as it borrows from traditional Eastern modes, hip-hop, and festive Indian dance music. Much of the film's heart and energy would be absent without Rahman's brilliant score. Slumdog Millionaire is what might happen if Charles Dickens were writing his epic tomes in 21st-century India—and filming them. The common threads are striking: impoverished children living wayward and forgotten lives, sinister adults prone to brutality and violence, a pure and simple view of love, and some serious smiles to be had all the way through. Danny Boyle also seems to be approaching life with the same worldview as Dickens; theirs is a world in which nothing happens by chance and everything seems to work itself out according to a master plan. This isn't even up for question in "Slumdog"—the film boldly states it right there on the screen. Jamal Malik has spent the early years of his life fending for himself much like an adult. Sitting in the hot seat on Who Wants to be A Millionaire, we see a weathered (but hopeful) Jamal with the experiences of a young but complex life informing his present, proving that even though bad experiences can suffocate, they can also set a person free. http://www.chattanoogapulse.com/film/film-reviews/13-film-reviews/543-french-thrills-indian-artistry
