Do Believe the Hype? (Slumdog Millionaire (Blu-ray))

Member Name: samueltyler

Product:	Slumdog Millionaire (Blu-ray)
Date:	09/09/09 (56 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Beutifully directed, great story

Disadvantages: Too cheesy at the end, some hammy acting

Whenever the Oscar bandwagon comes trundling along I start to dread the deluge of worthy films that appear. We suddenly go from an autumn full of exploitation flicks and forgotten flops into a world where every trailer starts with 'From the Oscar Winner...' These films are deliberately written, directed and acted for the sole purpose of winning an Academy award. They deal with issues that they think will fit into the liberal agenda of Hollywood - anti war, disabilities, race, drugs etc. The vast majority of the films are absolute garbage and should be deleted from our memories. Too many unworthy actors have won Oscars to make their output worth seeing; Halle Berry, Cuba Gooding Jnr, Roberto Benigni; the list goes on. I have stopped watching these Oscar films just because they are so disappointing (Titanic! Chicago! Crash!), but once in a while a winner almost meets the hype...

On the Indian version of 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire' a young man is about to win the jackpot. The show ends before he gets the final question, but rather than being escorted to a hotel room to await the final tomorrow, he is taken to a cell and tortured. How could a young man from the slums know so much information without resorting to cheating? To explain how Jamal knows all the answers he tells the story of his life to his captors. A life that contains poverty, family and eternal love. Can Jamal convince them that he is telling the truth and win the million so that he can runway?

Danny Boyle has been one of my favourite directors since 'Shallow Grave'. Although his films sometimes misfire they never fail to have an interesting take or entertain. Boyle is a director who will not be pigeon holed having made drama, science fiction and attempted comedy. He even managed to reinvent the Zombie genre for a new millennia with the sublime '28 Days Later'. After the slight misfire of 'Sunshine' (see my review http://members.dooyoo.co.uk/movie-dvd/sunshine-dvd /1065209/) I still trusted that Boyle could come back to form and when he received an Oscar I knew I had to watch 'Slumdog Millionaire'.

Does the film live up to all the awards hype that it received? Not quite, but as someone that tries to ignore all the fakery I went into the film as neutrally as any fan of Boyle can. This is not a movie that will change the world, although it does highlight the abject poverty of the poorest. It seems to set out to be mostly great entertainment. 'Slumdog' was advertised as a feel good movie, but with torture, rape, child mutilation and extreme poverty there is a lot of feel bad to get through before you can feel good. Some people also went into the film expecting a straight drama, but instead get a melodrama. If you can watch the film expecting nothing you are in for a treat.

The direction is brilliant as you would expect from Boyle. Although he has tackled many genres he has a distinct style that has survived throughout. Many of the angles and shots are reminiscent of 'Trainspotting' and '28 Days Later', but are used for totally different purposes. Shot on a shoestring you would never know as the location shoot in India was a genius idea. Why use expensive FX and sets when you have a rich real world to use. Boyle makes India the most important character in the film highlighting the many ways in which it differs from the West. Having seen this film on BluRay the cinematography of Anthony Dod Mantle and direction by Boyle is even more enhanced.

In terms of story the film also works. For all its important and serious elements the film is really a melodrama. Personally, I preferred the first two thirds that followed Jamal's life as he visited many different places; the third act was mostly about love and was cheesy in a film that also contained children being blinded. This mixture of extreme concepts and the warm heart that lies beneath is what grates on the critics. I agree to an extent that the film does descend too much into light heartedness, but this is perhaps the reason why the film did so well at the Oscars. As a structure the central use of 'Millionaire' works brilliantly as a way to introduce the many aspects of Jamal's life.

Another area that you associate with Boyle is great music and once again this is achieved. An Oscar winning film is not the place to expect a hip soundtrack, but the music used is evocative and sometimes controversial; does it impede on the drama?
One final area that was praised, but not award winning, was the acting. Boyle used mostly people from India with little to no acting experience, certainly in terms of the children. I think as a way of keeping the film feeling real it works as the use of local people means that you are never taken out of the world. British actor Dev Patel fits into the scene brilliantly as the older Jamal and is great as the awkward lovelorn loser. Personally, I was not enamoured with the rest of the adult cast as for me they were a little over the top, perhaps being from the Indian school of acting.

Is 'Slumdog Millionaire' one of the best films of all time? No, it is not even in the top three Danny Boyle films of all time. However, it is one of the greatest Best Picture winners as unlike many films on that list it actually entertains and informs. If you go into the film looking for pure entertainment you will come out happy as the serious aspects are downplayed in favour of big emotions by the finale. This may smack a little of selling out and perhaps some people will look down their noses at the film, but I for one would watch this 10 times in a row, rather than having to sit through 'Titanic' once more.

Director: Danny Boyle
Year: 2008
Cert: 15
Starring: Dev Patel et al.
Price: Amazon uk £17.88 (BluRay)
Play.com £19.99 (BluRay)


Extras

This is a great transfer onto BluRay and it really sells the location shots that Boyle chose. The use of natural lights and colours are what BluRay was made to enhance.

The extras on the disc are mostly entertaining puff pieces about how the film was made, just seeing the enthusiasm that Boyle has for the work is enough to make them fun.

Summary: For an Oscar winner its actually really good!