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 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.
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