Rarely does a film suck viewers in and cause hearts to reach out to the characters the way “Slumdog Millionaire” does. The film captures the viewers’ attention and keeps it throughout the entire Oscar-worthy ride.
“Slumdog” is set in Mumbai, India, and the story revolves around the peculiar experiences of Jamal Malik, played by Dev Patel. Jamal is an Oliver Twist-like character — undereducated, impoverished and considered a nobody — who grows up haunted by a tragic love.
In the opening scene, Jamal is on verge of winning the top prize of 20, 000 rupees on the Indian version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.” Because of his slum background, many question the validity of his intellectual acumen and accuse him of cheating.
Before answering the final questions, he is tortured and interrogated by officials who are certain someone has given Jamal the answers.
As the story progresses, the audience learns that Jamal is not an erudite, nor is he cheating. Dispersed between the game show questions, flashbacks into his rough childhood reveal a series of encounters and life-altering events that would later help him answer the questions.
In one flashback, Jamal hands a blind boy the $100 bill he’d received from an American tourist earlier in the day. Jamal didn’t know the denomination of the currency, and the blind boy asks him to describe the face of the man printed on the front of it. The boy tells Jamal that the man is Benjamin Franklin. This helps Jamal answer the question: “Which U.S. statesman is on the front of the $100 bill?”
Through the flashbacks, the audience also learns that Jamal is only participating in the show to attract the attention of his long-lost lover, Latika played by Freida Pinto.
Jamal and his love interest are forcibly separated throughout the story.
Despite falling in line with any modern-day fairy tale, the film’s portrayal of Jamal’s maturation is anything but tame.
In the first few seconds of a flashback in Jamal’s childhood, raggedly dressed children sprint through the sea-like junkyards of Mumbai, accompanied by thunderous and passionate ethnic crescendo. A traumatizing religious massacre follows, as raw as scenes from “Saving Private Ryan.”
Within these few short frames, these iconic shots entrench viewers into the neglected dystopia these impoverished children inhabit.
“Slumdog” is a classic story about desperation, deception, unyielding romanticism and prejudice, every bit flowing as effortlessly as the initial bravado. All actors deliver stellar performances in the film. None of the screen time is wasted.
The gritty, yet stunning cinematography also is iconic and groundbreaking. The scene in which Jamal and his brother dart across the Indian countryside at sunset and leap onto a speeding train is one of the most memorable moments in the film.
However, the most powerful aspect of the film is the portrayal of immense faith in love.
“Slumdog” uniquely offers a rich story of love within the worst of the climates. It is a solid manifesto and remedy for true romantics, and should be judged as the most poignant of the love stories. There simply isn’t anything like it.
Have several handkerchiefs handy when you watch it.
