If there are no schools, where do kids learn?

Rating: 7/10 (30 January 2009)

In obedience to some feeling - a subjective one - I want to embrace Danny Boyle's "Slumdog Millionaire" because in a medium of much darkness, here is film that sparkles like a halo in the night sky, with images so visible, and so visibly distinct, they replay in your mind long after the screening. Within a few days of seeing most movies I forget most of the individual shots in predilection of the most fruitful, whatever they should be in regards to visuals or sound properties. I saw this movie a week ago, and can recall virtually every scene, but deeper than that, the number of moments within a scene are unforgettable. Yes, if you are familiar with Boyle's filmography you will not think this notion even mildly curious. He is a very good filmmaker, and a show-off. Could he make a straight-in-front-of-you drama like "The Godfather" if he was asked? Could he let the actors pull more of the dramatic crux from their talent?
If "Slumdog Millionaire" were a novel I would describe it as an aureate piece of fiction. The movie, by chance, was actually based on a book and, sinceI have read the work, I am pre-empting myself by saying it does not fall into the same category of this movie. Q and A, by novelist Vikas Swarup, is a great read, and if you love the movie I suggest you take the time to investigate the source material. Unlike the book, which relied heavily on the main character's sorrow at being refused his deserved winnings, "Slumdog Millionaire" rallies to a higher level of narrative complexity, aiming most prominently for a tagged-on love interest. Romance in a fairytale is fair game, but not so much when the actual actors are sidelined by the filmmaker. There are hundreds of brilliant shots throughout, more than most cinematic experts will have experienced all year. The harsh reality is that the style weighs outthe substance, especially if you are an Aristotelian disciple. The screenplay exhibits a discomposure that leaves an inertia on the experience, however magical it may have appeared.
The best way to understand a person is to tell stories about them. The best way to tell stories is to jump from one tale to another with no method to the process. In "Slumdog Millionaire," the stories we learn about the young man at the heart of the picture, Jemal (Dave Patel), are told in the actual sequence of order he lived through them. Every scene of his past is grooved into specific episodes that are related to the series of questions he is asked on the Indian version of a popular television quiz show. The movie ponders Jemal's status as a contestant; a successful contestant no less. Time and time again Jemal comes up the correct answer. How is he doing it all - even when he admits to not knowing an answer for sure, his instinct comes up trumps? Lady-luck is on his side if we accept his word as honesty personified. Maybe he is regurgitating information linked to him through some intricately sophisticated crowd partnership? Is he simply fortunate, or a genius posing as a slumdog? Not every man can be great, but greatness in men can appear from anywhere, including the poverty-stricken slums of Mumbai.
Read the full review at my personal website: --
http://www.sightforallseasons.co.nr