Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog Millionaire



What the fuck is Danny Boyle doing?, I heard myself murmur upon hearing the synopsis for Slumdog millionaire. An Indian lad enters Who wants to be a Millionaire with the promise of escaping his poverty stricken life? Sounds a bit crap, if you ask me.
Especially from the man whose last effort brought us the under appreciated, but altogether great sci-fi actioner 'Sunshine'. One thing you should never, ever, do though, is underestimate Danny Boyle.

As I said the basic outline for this film seemed a bit saccharine sweet. It's in the first five minutes of the film that any preconceptions evaporate. We witness the teenage protagonist Jamal (Dev Patel from Skins) being tortured by policemen. His toes and nipples are hooked up to a car battery and he's repeatedly asked the same question before being zapped – How did you cheat?

Coughing up blood, Jamal tells the police that he simply knew the answers to the questions asked. The police play a video of the show and Jamal relays in flashbacks how he knew the answer. If he can prove he is innocent, he can go back to the TV studio and answer the final 20million rupees question.

Jamal's account of his life takes in his experiences with his older brother Salim, as they witness the death of their mother in a religious attack, try to live as orphans on a rubbish tip, escape a local gangster who uses the boys for begging. All the way up until Jamal enters the show. It shows how the same experiences shape both boys into very different men. Salim, always with a vicious twinkle in his eye, becomes a gangster himself and ambitiously moves up the ranks. Jamal is motivated by something much more noble.

Jamal tells the policeman the story of his true love, Latika. How they met as street orphans and were separated during the escape from the local gangster. Jamal, steered by love, spends the rest of his life trying to be reunited with her, almost always ending in heartbreak for them both. It transpires that his sole reason for entering India's favourite TV show was to attract her attention.

Jamal's journey is one of dogged determination (pardon the pun). Something that everyone he meets, underestimates (including the shows host). It's summed up perfectly in one early scene where he drops into a lake of steaming shit, just so he can get a movie stars autograph. It's for this reason that he's a character audiences will to win.

Dev Patel gives British audiences a familiar face to relate to, but to be honest his acting never really enthralled me. It was down to the child actors who played younger versions of Jamal and the others, that this film works so well. The stories from the character's youth are much more interesting than the overall Quiz Show plot.

One thing that will strike any audience watching this, is how original the story is. You'll never think of a film that even slightly resembles this one.
With Sunshine, Danny Boyle tried to meld together a whole host of Sci-Fi influences to make something new. Critics were heavy handed on it and said that it just wasn't original enough. Well, he's answered them now.

Verdict 10/10
A fresh story that deserves the ten Oscars it will surely win.