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Movie: "Slumdog Millionaire"
Feb. 5th, 2009 08:33 pmThe 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.
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.
