Slumdog Millionaire: Festival Fim of the year nominee

SYNOPSIS:
After being orphaned, little Jamal Malik has to rely on his wits to survive on the streets and slums of Bombay with his older brother Salim. Victims of child exploiters, they eventually escape along with a little girl, Latika, but are separated while being chased. He never forgets Latika, and after many dangerous escapades, he and Salim return to Mumbai and find her, again in the clutches of a gang. The teenage brothers fall out over her, and are separated for some years before Jamal’s quest once again leads him to her - a helpless captive in a gangster’s world, where his brother is now a sidekick. Knowing her favourite show is Who Wants to be A Millionaire, Jamal enters the tv contest, hoping she will see him and understand his love for her … and starts winning. Suspected of cheating – how could a slumdog know all the answers - he is arrested and during the harsh interrogation he explains the series of dramatic and life threatening events that – coincidentally - gave him the information.

Appropriately enough, Slumdog Millionaire is a rich and enriching film teeming with life, death, love and pain. The story of Jamal (Dev Patel) and his brother Salim (Mdhur Mittal) is one of surviving by the thinnest thread as orphans in India. Based on a novel, Simon Beaufoy’s screenplay is a standout of economical storytelling. Brilliantly directed and edited, Slumdog Millionaire reaches into our hearts and minds with its confounding juxtaposing of human tragedy and nobility of spirit.

The tender romance that blossoms gradually through the story is its heart, but there is so much of the human condition around it as the brothers defy the odds to survive.

The performances are absolutely riveting, from the little boys as the young brothers – and the young Latika – through to all the adults and of course, Dev Patel as Jamal the contestant and romantic, with Freida Pinto as the lovely Latika. Also excellent is India’s famous movie baddie, Anil Kapoor, as the host of Who Wants to be a Millionaire, whose outward bonhomie hides a jealous and treacherous heart.

The film captures the essence of India in a tangible way with its combination of cinematography and music adding to the sum of its parts. Compelling and moving, bitter sweet and haunting, it’s one of the best films of the year – any year.
Review by Andrew L. Urban : http://www.urbancinefile.com.au/