Movie: "Slumdog Millionaire"

[timepiececlock]

The low-down: Everything you've heard about this movie is true. Is it the best film of the year? I don't know, because I haven't seen the others, but I can say definitively that if you didn't come out of this movie with at least a small smile twitching at the corner of your lips, then you have no romance in your soul.


The film quality was grittier than I expected--I'm not sure what kind of film stock they used, but it was much less refined, more old-fashioned looking, than the digital stuff you see in blockbuster films. This was definitely filmed, not digitally recorded. And that's a good thing, because the picture attained an intense, saturated color pallett.

I'm in mad romantic love with all of the lead actors, but especially Dev Patel. Damn, that boy is tall. And a great actor, very sympathetic to the audience. I feel like no matter how good or bad the upcoming ATLA movies might be, he'll at least be the one guaranteed bright spot. Anyway, the cast! I just wanted to hug them all. Including the talented child actors. It was a romantic film, painful but sweet. A sad happy movie. I left the movie smiling and I still smile an hour later.

One thing that struck me while I watched was that for all the setting is exotic to my experiences, the story is quite traditional. It felt very Charles Dickensish. Many novelists and playwrights and screenwriters from different cultures have created varients on the rags-to-riches romantic adventure story, but because I was educated in the English-speaking world, my point of reference for this kind of tale will inevitably be Charles Dickens. And I generally like Dickens.

My vote? Go and see it. It's powerful and absorbing on a large screen, but you will still enjoy it on a small screen as well. A word of warning: bringing a date might be hazardous for the simple fact that Jamal's level of romantic devotion sets the bar so high your significant other might find it difficult.

Comments

[gojira007.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed this movie a good deal, but there were definitely aspects that bothered me (Latika really needed to be a better developed character, IMO). Still, it's definitely very good.

[irrel.livejournal.com]

Damn, that boy is tall. So THAT's why you like him so much ;)

I hope this movie wins many Oscars :D

[mswyrr]

LOVE this film. GAH. I want to write Latika POV fanfic set after the film and stuff. :)

I thought they did really well at combining things that would be foreign to a Western audience with enough familiar things--and a story that is meant to reach into the hearts of any human being with feelings, really--that it really, really worked. Even the subtitles were done in a very non-foreign film way, yanno?

I'm in mad romantic love with all of the lead actors, but especially Dev Patel. Damn, that boy is tall. And a great actor, very sympathetic to the audience. I feel like no matter how good or bad the upcoming ATLA movies might be, he'll at least be the one guaranteed bright spot.

Yeah! I'm really happy he's getting work in Hollywood; it'll be good for his career, and good for those of us who want to see more of him. The only other thing he'd done before SM was a small part on a UK teen show that, ew, I don't think I'd enjoy.

Freida and Dev were on the Ellen show, and they were soooooo cute. It was a little surprising see Dev as himself, because his body language and his whole affect is so different from Jamal's. He seems very open and lighthearted, and he really managed to bring across Jamal's wariness and tension in the film. Talented actor!

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

oooh, links! I saw him on the daily show two days ago, he was adorable...all bouncy and bubbly. Funny enough, even though he's probably a year or six months younger in the film, he *looks* younger on talk shows because he's not in so much pain.

[mswyrr]

Bouncy, yes! And a little gawky, too. And he patted Jon Stewart on the shoulder comfortingly! AWWWWWW.

I hope he has a good agent looking out for him, and that he finds lots of good projects to work on, because it would be really great to see how he develops as an actor.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

It was awesome.

DP: "I can't believe I'm 18 and I'm on your show! Life is beautiful! Wheee!"
JS: "I hate young people."

[mshepnj.livejournal.com]

Can't wait to see this movie, but I'll probably end up waiting until I can watch it at home, becuase I hate going out to the movies. I saw the actors interviewed recently and I was almost tempted to leave my comfy home and go out in the Cooooooold and stand in a line for tix. But it passed.

Now this? I feel like no matter how good or bad the upcoming ATLA movies might be, he'll at least be the one guaranteed bright spot.

Do tell! I've been under a rock for a while (as far as the AtLA fandom is concerned) and did not know that Dev Patel had been cast in the movie. Yay! Last I'd heard, all the leads were white, Disneyfied prepubescents or too old for their roles.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

They all still are, except Patel who has been cast as Zuko (the pop star couldn't schedule it). Sad that the palest character in the tv series will be the darkest person in the movies. The actor is 18, which is older than Zuko in the series (16) but still a reasonable age for the character.