A Roaring Success That Might Spring A Surprise At The Oscars

Rating: 8/10 (30 January 2017)

As soon as I heard about LION I instantly got it in to my head that I might be watching a reincarnation of SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE . Let's face it , India , street urchins ,rail journeys lasting days , Dev Patel trying to find a special woman in a sub-continent of over a billion people . Seen it all before in an Oscar winning movie from Danny Boyle . If nothing else the challenge of Saroo Brierley trying to find his mother after a gap of 20 years and thousands of miles mirrors that of director Garth Davis trying to make a film that won't have the audience shout out "Final answer" . And yet Davis succeeds in a film that might just surprise the Oscars this year
You might have to meet the film on its own terms in order for it to work fully . By this I mean straight from the opening scene I was expecting a caption to crop up at any moment proclaiming "Australia 20 years later" as the pivotal moments in India are shown through flashback . This isn't a film that uses a fractured narrative to tell its story . Instead it's very linear and the first half plays out entirely as a foreign language film . Perhaps I'm misleading you because there is very little dialogue in the first half , instead the audience are asked to feel for the plight of young Saroo and nothing needs to be said . The second half then concentrates on Saroo as a young man in Australia only half complete as a human being as he tries to find his long lost mother and brother
One genuine criticism I have at this years Oscar nominations is that many of the contenders feel rather poetic , slow and aloof compared to the in your face stylised LA LA LAND . Not to discredit it LION too has a strangely poetic feel but unlike MOONLIGHT which becomes cold and uninvolving after a while LION continues to keep its slightly hypnotic quality . Some people might claim this might be down to a slightly manipulative soundtrack by Bertelman and O'Halloran but I found the score haunting . Indeed the entire film is a haunting experience and is the film I hope will cause a couple of shocks at the Oscars this year .