Slumdog Millionaire

It has taken me a long time to get to see this film, but finally I am in the "seen it" club. I originally intended to see it when it came out, however there were a number of other movies in the queue before it, and as time passed by the hype began to get to me.

Don't get me wrong I am all for a movie recommendation, but being told by everyone, especially the media that I "Have" to see, read or do something is a surefire way to make me dig my heels in and not want to do it. The hype usually has some sort of basis, but I still can't abide being made to feel that I am not as good as everyone else, or that my life is missing a vital piece because I haven't done something. So I have been bidding my time. Then last week on a long haul flight  I found my entertainment choices to be somewhat limited and was rather pleased to see that Slumdog Millionaire was one film I did want to see. I felt much better that I was able to watch it in a "ooo this should be fun" frame of mind as opposed to a "I am going to hate this just to spite everybody else" one. 

The advertising and the hype for this movie has invited us all to see a feel good movie about a a boy from the Indian slums not getting on India's 'Who wants to be a millionaire' but also making good despite the hardships, and injustices he has endured. Though the movie does have a element of the feel good factor it is also a gritty portrayal of India's slums and the lives of poverty that are lived in this vastly over populated country. 

The protagonist is Jamal, and the story begins with him being interrogated by the Mumbai police for fraud. A slum boy of India's underclass, Jamal has achieve the near impossible by reaching the final question on India's 'Who wants to be a millionaire' and is set to return for a second evening on the show to attempt the 20 million rupee question. The police however have had a tip off that he is a cheat and given his background are themselves curious as to how he could have correctly answered as many questions as he has. 

The story cleverly weaves between the set of the show, the police interrogation and Jamal's past life, to answer how a street boy slumdog knows the answers. As we are led through the questions Jamal has previously answered we being to learn more and more about him and the things that drive him, notably his search for Latika the girl who he has looked for for so long and loves. 

Our Hero grew up as a Muslim street boy, he living with him mother and brother, Salim, in the Mumbai slums. The boys go to school, learn about life, and play in the slums, a hard but never-the-less relatively peaceful existence until the day of an anti-Muslim riot, in which their mother is killed. The boys manage to save themselves and another street child, Latika, from the rioting masses, but with nowhere to go soon find themselves living as scavengers on a scrap heap. 

The children are approached one day but a man, Maman, offering them safety, The life they are offered is better than the children could have imagined and they think they are saved. Only when Salim is given his induction into Maman's inner circle do the children discover they are being trained to be beggars and worse. The three run, but only the boys escape successfully, Latika is recaptured, this is something that will go on to haunt Jamal. 

The story continues to follow the lives of the boys as they grow, learn about the world in which they are destined to live, and inevitable attempt to break out of, each choosing a different approach. Jamal however never forgets about Latika and searches tirelessly for her trying to rescue her from the horrors she is enslaved to. 

The movie depicts the seething, unrelenting, ongoing life of the Indian subclasses, and the struggles that go on within them. It does not try to cover every angle, but instead focuses on the experience of one individual weaving, through his experiences, tastes of the ways to get by in such a system. There is joy, colour and humor, but equally there is pain, darkness and fear. The film portrays difficult subject matter, in a very down to earth way. The writers and directors do their best not to bias the viewers experience, or to elicit a response. Of course there is no way to deliver a tale which depicts forced child prostitution, maiming of children, enslavement and police brutality without a certain level of bias, however they tell what they see and that is enough to allow the audience find their own conclusions.  The story says, this is what happens, not why, not how it can change, just that it happens. Certainly they imply that things can change, but one is left with more questions than answers, always a sign of strong story telling. 

I enjoyed this film, it left me contemplating a lot of things, as well as with a smile on my face. It certainly deserved the praise and attention it got, but don't let me or anyone else tell you to see it, that is up to you.  

Gran Torino

I have an admission to make, (unfortunately there will be more, but we'll save them) I have never seen a Clint Eastwood movie. I haven't seen Rawhide, Kelly's Hero, Where Eagles Dare or Dirty Harry, nor have I seen The Bridges of Madison County, Space Cowboys, or Million Dollar Baby. Which, as my better half might say, equates to a massive fail!

Accutally that statement is no longer entirely true I hadn't seen a Clint Eastwood movie until last Wednesday, when I entered into a new phase in my movie education and headed off to see Gran Torino. This is Eastwood's latest offering as a Director/Actor. It is based in a Michigan neighborhood and focuses on the life of Walt Kowalski, a retired automobile assembly line worker for American Ford, who served in the Korean war, brought up two sons, and has recently lost his wife Dorothy.

The film opens at Dorothy's funeral where the audience are introduced to Walt's two grown up sons and their families, none of whom seem to understand Walt or his values. Equally Father Janovich, Dorothy's Preist, who gives the eulogy, is eager to connect with Walt now he is seemingly alone but does not understand the war veteran's perspective on the world. As the scene moves to the wake the audience get further evidence of Walt's disconnection from those around him, though more and more we also see how much of this distance is created by the man himself. He growls at his grandchildren and is as unable to find common ground with his sons as they are able to do so with him.

The audience also learn that Walt's neighborhood has been almost entirely populated by Asian people of Hmong decent and Walt finds himself a lone white man living in an alien, and to him hostile, environment. His experiences in Korea have given him, definite and set opinions of the people he now shares his community with and he is not about to change his views in a hurry.

Walt's next door neighbours are a Hmong family, grandmother, mother and two siblings and brother, Thao,  and sister, Sue. The family are a typical Hmong family with strong community ties. Thao is a quite boy and keeps himself to himself until his older cousin tries to get him to join his gang. The gang bully Thao and we see him on the edge of a slippery slope towards a life of crime. Eventually Thao's bubbling discontent at his cousin's bulling lead to a confrontation outside the house between the gang and the family. This looks set to end badly until Walt hearing the comotion steps in. He may not been a fan of his neighbours but he isn't going to allow bullies on his patch no matter who they are targeting. 

After this turning point in the film a slow burning build up of friendship between Walt and his neighbours begins to develop. We see Walt realise that the people he previously knew nothing about have a respectful culture in which he feels far more comfortable than has done for a long time. However the Hmong's aren't immune from the evils in society, and there are on-going confrontations with the darker elements, the gangs of the communities, which crushendos towards the films conclusion. 

There are a variety of observations and ideas portraed in this film, all of which tie together and give the viewer a picture a view of our changing times, for a perspective that while not entirely new is never the less well portrayed and meaningful. This is a film about people and relationships and for the most part the characters are strong, well develpoed and well acted, an achievement for a mostly unknown cast. The only fault I would draw is with Walt's son's and theri respective families. They are presented in a characturishly manner and whilst one of the sons appears at points through out the film to back up the films ideas, the other sons is only featured in the first scene. This character therefore seemed a little unecissary. 

The film is paced extremly well, and has some wonderfully played moments of intense drama, and some perfect comedy moment, brining balance throughout. The conclusion is well played with balance and care, it is an tempered but emotional peice of cinema, which leaves a strong and powerful impression. 

So far sor me one of the tope movies of the year and an absolute must see. 

Evan Almighty

Well here I am again, I am afraid I have been away for a couple of weeks, so whilst I have seen a lot of tantalising trailers Stateside, I have not been to the cinema in a while. I did however make good use of the local DVD rental store, plus the in-flight entertainment whilst on my travels. So if you will be so kind as to indulge me I shall talk a little about some older films and what I made of them. 

The first of the films I saw was Evan Almighty. I was a fan of the first film in this duo, Bruce Almighty, which starred Jim Carey in the humorous lead role, and made the most of his energy and physical comedy. I was courious about where they could take the idea next, Evan Almighty has similar themes, and sees Morgan freeman reprise his role as God, however the comparisons really don't go much further, except in the fact that this is another enjoyable piece of family entertainment. 

The casting of Evan Almighty is well thought through and works beautifully. I was a little dubious about Steve Carell in the lead Role as our eponymous hero. Carell is best known for his parts in more adult centric humor, he has recently played Micheal Scott in the U.S. version of The Office. However he has provide the voice for a number of animated characters in children's films and his physical style of comedy much like Carey's in the previous film fitted the story well. Morgan Freeman's return as God is particularly enjoyable, he portrays a wisdom and dignity whilst still being a mischievous and fun character. Other recognisable faces include Lauren Graham as Evan's wife Joan, John Goodman as the loathable baddie Congressman Long, Wanda Sykes and John Micheal Higgins as Evan's PA and his assistant, and Johna Hill as the fawning office new boy. Everyone of the supporting members of cast keeps the pace and the tempo of the comedy running at a smooth pace throughout. 

The film begins with Evan leaving his old small town life and moving to Washington to fill his role as a newly appointed congressman. From the outset viewers see his character as shallow and self absorbed. When Even kneels to pray the night before he begins his new role little does he expect that the Lord will listen to his prayers let alone answer them so literally. 

As his first week progresses strange things begin to occur in Evan's life, culminating in God appearing to him and telling him he is to build an ARK. Despite evidence of God's power and the fact that he isn't going to get out of this Evan fights his task at every turn. Eventually as in any feel good movie though Evan comes good, learns his lessons and becomes a better person, not before coming across a number of hilarious pitfall along the way though. 

This is simply a fun family movie with a lots of laughs and little to offend. I am glad I finally got round to seeing it, if you haven't already then give it a go. 

Seven Pounds

When I first saw the trailer for Seven pounds I was hugely excited, I am a big fan of Mr. Smith and have loved the direction his acting has been going in. I fell in love with his performance in The Pursuit of Happyness and as Seven Pounds was being billed as a similarly role and performance it hit my must see list. However time went on, other films got in the way and there seemed to be very little hype surrounding this film, whether that is down to people opinions or just a lack of promoting this side of the pond it is hard to tell. 

So I finally got a chance to see it this week as a number of my usual companions were out of the fray and we are generally quite well caught up on our list of "to sees". So myself and my friend Ian headed off to make the most of the popular two for one deal a certain mobile phone company offers. 

Chocolate and drink in hand I was all set for a good piece of cinema and possible a bit of a cry. The film is difficult to review as I don't want to give away too many twists for those of you who are yet to see it. As trailers suggest the film is quite mysterious, you spend a huge amount of time wondering about the background of the main character, Ben, played by Smith. The beginning of the film cuts between scenes quickly and often in a jarring manner, it leaves the viewer feeling a little uncomfortable and unsettled, though you are aware this is a deliberate move by the film makers. You do however learn a few things, Ben is an IRS agent, though he hasn't always been. You also met a few of the supporting characters, though you often have no idea what Ben, relationship to them is, or why he has a relationship with them. You do however very quickly get the feeling that all is not as it seems. 

The story begins to settle down when Ben meets Emily, played by Rosario Dawson. Ben's face to face dealings with Emily are, to start with, in the capacity of Ben's job. However from the very beginning the audience is made aware that Ben's actions are by no means orthodox, and possibly not entirely confined to the realms of tax auditing, and a fairly inevitable love story plays out as the pair grown closer. The films conclusion is dramatic and full details are not disclosed until the dying moments of the film, however I was certainly not as surprised as I would imagine the film makers intended me to be, more worryingly however I didn't care as much as I hoped I would. 

This film has a lot of strong points, the cinematography and artistic directions is stunning, the acting is sublime, the score is beautiful and the word play between characters engaging. The writers, actors and directors have not been afraid to make the audience uncomfortable, but not cringe worthily so. The film is balanced and measured, with a exquisitely managed tempo and some hauntingly beautiful scenes. Having said this however there is one major failing, which left me hugely disappointed. The cloak and dagger techniques of not revealing certain parts of Ben'slife story to the audience leave you unable to fully connect with his character, and they give you nothing to make up for this fundamental failing. Not feeling in touch with who Ben is left me utterly underwhelmed as the story played itself out. I desperately wanted to sob into my popcorn, but the story had just never hooked me in enough to make me care that much. 

I am sure that anyone who sees this film will take something away from it, it has some touching and beautiful sentiments and is certainly a clever story in many ways. However that is also it's down fall, it is too clever to really have any heart. Given that heart is the crux of the story all of the brains in the world were never going to save this film. 

Welcome

Hi and welcome along, I'll try and keep this brief. This is my movie blog. I like movies, I watch a fair amount of them, and I am starting to form opinions of them. The best way to hone and refine my opinions is to articulate them. If you have comments on my ideas great, if not hope you just enjoy reading my thoughts.