A feelgood film about the wealth of life and the riches of love

Rating: 8/10 (24 January 2009)

Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire is a wonderful feelgood film about the wealth of life experience and the riches of love. At times it feels very unrealistic but we happily suspend disbelief for the pleasure and joy of this fast paced ride.
What struck me most is that, though bursting with all the colour and vitality that Mumbai has to offer, the film has a very British feel to it with a cool modern soundtrack, a mischievous outlook and a winning energetic spirit. (And of course plenty cups of chah!) Everything about the film exudes cheeky fun, the music, the title sequence, the colourful offset subtitles and finally the Zatoichi style Bollywood closing number.
The cinematography is stunning. It's rich dense colours and the unique vantage points of the shots give an energetic upbeat feel to the footage. Expert cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle used a mixture of 35mm and hand-held digital (shot on the P+S Technik 2K). The digital was introduced as a way to include the fast paced movement through the narrow, densely populated slum streets without getting stuck in them with bulky Indian film cameras or attracting too much unwanted attention from bystanders. About 60% of the film ended up being shot on digital and a small amount was shot on a CanonCam stills camera on continuous burst.
The beauty, energy and uplifting qualities of Slumdog enable the film to deal with more sinister elements of the story in an engaging way. Far from being harrowing the films violent points are given to us with hope for overcoming life's dangers, and these punches of the dark side of India are what keeps the film from being dismissed as pure fairytale. Beautifully acted by an endearing cast it is instead a fantastic triumph of meaning and relevance in a growing city that is set to become the largest in the world within the next decade or so.