Slumdog Millionaire

[Sycophant]

I want to watch this so I can have my own opinion of it, but Chaw, my friends, and a lot of you guys have pretty much convinced me I'm going to hate this.

[lovejuice]

That's what bothered me most, that coupling of skepticism and cheese.

that, i think, is both the strength and the weakness of the film. boyle, i believe, is aware of this, and i can really see how he tries to work the film around this. (the end credit is one such example of his endeavor.)

[number8]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/4902847/Slumdog-Millionaire-star-falls-ill.html


Having flown in a plane, slept in a soft bed and used a clean and functioning bathroom for the first time in their lives at a five-star hotel, the kids say they have now realised what life is like on the other side of the coin and the reality of being back in the slum is hitting them hard.

"I don't want to live here in the slum anymore," Rubina said, wearing the dirt stained ball gown that she has not wanted to take off since Oscars night. "I don't want to sleep on the floor anymore. I want a proper bed and live where the air does not smell of poo. I have seen what it is like in America. Here, there is garbage everywhere, people get angry, swear and shout. I have realised how bad life is here. I just want to get out."

Social workers have called for the children to be placed in care and state that they need to be given protection – either from Danny Boyle and the film production company or the Indian authorities.

"I cannot believe these kids have just been left like this after being taken to Hollywood. It is bound to affect them psychologically," said social worker Sanjay Bhatia, who works in the slum.

India's Women and Child Development Minister Renuka Chowdhary is "appalled" at the beating that Azhar took at the hands of his father on Friday. Azhar was thrashed for saying he wanted to sleep rather than talk to a journalist who had offered money to his father.

:sad:

[Qrazy]

Well, I guess the deceptive tone of the film reflects the general attitude of it's creators.

[transmogrifier]

I'd really love to debate the moral conundrum's implicit in the making of this film, but it is truly too dull to muster the energy about. I couldn't care less if it aims for uplifting, I couldn't care less if it is built on cliches, I couldn't care less if it is unrealistic; a film can be all of these things and still be good if it establishes an emotional gradient that builds and make the cliches seem to be operating in a realm away from all the other films that made use of them.

SM doesn't do this. The story is chopped up into ill-fitting shards of "clever" juxtaposition that works against any build and release. Come the end of the film, I didn't feel a thing, one way or the other, apart from a vague pleasure in it finally being over. The treatment of the brother is symptomatic; he drops in and out, motivations totally unclear. At first I was going to write this off as the narrative being told strictly from our heroes POV, but then we start getting scenes he didn't bear witness to, which means it is just poor writing, rather than a conscious choice.

[monolith94]

By Horatio Alger.
Horatio Alger's character's achieve their success through a protestant work ethic and moral purity. I don't think the comparison is totally fair.

[Qrazy]

Horatio Alger's character's achieve their success through a protestant work ethic and moral purity. I don't think the comparison is totally fair.

They're also rags to riches stories where the character overcomes the odds to 'make it' i.e. make money. Comparisons are rarely identical.

[monolith94]

Sure, but I still don't think it's fair. I mean, Alger stories are meant as instructive, they're sermons on how to live one's life, whereas Slumdog Millionare is much less didactic and much less admonishing.

[Qrazy]

Sure, but I still don't think it's fair. I mean, Alger stories are meant as instructive, they're sermons on how to live one's life, whereas Slumdog Millionare is much less didactic and much less admonishing.

Frankly I'd prefer didactic and admonishing to an appeal to fate as supreme arbiter of our future. I don't even know what to take away from Slumdog. The film presents us with an even more pat thematic conclusion than Slumdogs are people too and/or are also intelligent. The conclusion seems to be that everything will work out OK as long as fate is on your side. Ugh.

[monolith94]

If one simply chooses to dislike literature which holds up fatalism as a whole, then that's an awful lot of literature to discard.

[Qrazy]

If one simply chooses to dislike literature which holds up fatalism as a whole, then that's an awful lot of literature to discard.

Thankfully I don't. I just discard one's that handle it uninterestingly, such as in this case. Although as a philosophical doctrine I do consider fatalism to be incorrect.

[KK2.0]

best part of this movie was the autograph scene right at the beggining, then meh until the final credits, when it was cool again.

[baby doll]

Maybe I should've read this thread before posting a blurb about the film on my blog, because looking at the first three pages or so, you guys seem to have covered everything I wanted to say.

[Grouchy]

Um, that's taking it as a given that English-language literature is well-known in 01) non-English speaking countries
What? The novel is from France.

[Robby P]

While I thought the movie had some redeeming elements, I find myself agreeing with the majority of the criticism expressed in this thread, particularly with regards to the movie's philosophical and political viewpoints.

One question about the ending that I didn't fully grasp (apologies if it's already been addressed in this thread):

Why does Salim stage his climactic shootout from a bathtub filled with blood money? I assumed it was because he was attempting to cleanse himself of his sins, but is baptism a concept familiar to Muslims?

[number8]

Why does Salim stage his climactic shootout from a bathtub filled with blood money? I assumed it was because he was attempting to cleanse himself of his sins, but is baptism a concept familiar to Muslims?

I assumed it was more of a Tony Montana-meets-Scrooge McDuck thing. An adolescent boy's vision of a real man's death. Guns and bling.

[vnvnvn2000]

Wow the best film! congratulations, you must ne very young! but go see similar GREAT films , City of God (Brazil), Salam Bombay (India) or Cinema Paradiso (Italy) before you decide.

Nevertheless it was a wonderful film filled with the typical indian love story backdrop and great depiction of the harsh life of india's street kids. Very nice how it bounces from harshness, charm, nostalgia, romance, suspense drama and intrigue

[Pop Trash]

GREAT MOVIE!! Danny Boyle doesn't dissapoint. It'll make you laugh, make you cry... Sort of like a Forest Gump indian style. I saw this at TIFF08 and I recommend everyone to check it out!

Let's all give a warm welcome to...Ben Lyons ladies and gentlemen!

[Ezee E]

Let's all give a warm welcome to...Ben Lyons ladies and gentlemen!
Repped.

I thought the quote was a joke at first, then I looked above.

[baby doll]

I assumed it was more of a Tony Montana-meets-Scrooge McDuck thing. An adolescent boy's vision of a real man's death. Guns and bling.But which adolescent boy: the character or the filmmakers?

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

Finally got around to seeing this epic turd. Favorite line:

Latika: What are we going to live on?

Jamal: Love


how cute! You can't eat love, fuckers.

[NickGlass]

Finally got around to seeing this epic turd. Favorite line:

Latika: What are we going to live on?

Jamal: Love


how cute! You can't eat love, fuckers.

"Memorable" quotes, according to iMDB (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1010048/quotes)

Aw man, they left out this gem: "He can't be lying--he's too truthful."

[baby doll]

Finally got around to seeing this epic turd. Favorite line:

Latika: What are we going to live on?

Jamal: Love


how cute! You can't eat love, fuckers.But love is like oxygen! Love lifts up where we belong! All you need is love!

(Remember how much better Moulin Rouge! was than Slumdog Millionaire?)

[Qrazy]

But love is like oxygen! Love lifts up where we belong! All you need is love!

(Remember how much better Moulin Rouge! was than Slumdog Millionaire?)

I remember them both being rather terrible.

[number8]

Ugh. UGH.
(http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/news/271325/Slumdog-Millionaire-star-Rubina-Ali-who-played-Latika-is-offered-for-sale-by-dad-Rafiq-Qureshi-to-the-News-of-the-Worlds-Fake-Sheikh.html)

[megladon8]

Ugh. UGH.
(http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/news/271325/Slumdog-Millionaire-star-Rubina-Ali-who-played-Latika-is-offered-for-sale-by-dad-Rafiq-Qureshi-to-the-News-of-the-Worlds-Fake-Sheikh.html)


That was taken care of quickly. (http://www.imdb.com/news/ni0753143/)

[Sven]

I blame Spinal for giving me even a glimmer of hope that I may end up liking this movie. What a monstrously awful film. Refusing to resemble anything recognizable in any reality, even the dance number at the end turned out confusing. Boring and preposterous.

[Qrazy]

I blame Spinal for giving me even a glimmer of hope that I may end up liking this movie. What a monstrously awful film. Refusing to resemble anything recognizable in any reality, even the dance number at the end turned out confusing. Boring and preposterous.

*high five*

[MacGuffin]

I want to see this just so I can talk about how awful it is, but that would be a waste of my precious time, of course.

[Ezee E]

What's confusing about the end dance number? It's like bloopers. They don't really mean anything.

[Spinal]

I've seen it twice and I don't understand the vitriol.

[Qrazy]

I've seen it twice and I don't understand the vitriol.

I also strongly dislike Zabriskie Point. Minus the last ten minutes, which are delightful.

[Spinal]

I also strongly dislike Zabriskie Point. Minus the last ten minutes, which are delightful.

Now that film I can understand the vitriol.

[Skitch]

Finally watched this this week. Good stuff, though I don't see myself watching it over and over.

[lovejuice]

I've seen it twice and I don't understand the vitriol.
i understand slumdog millionaire, but i don't understand "vitriol." :)