Slumdog Millionaire Must-See Movie!

Rating: 8/10 (6 June 2013)

'Best movie of 2008', 'An intoxicating mix of genres: comedy, drama and suspense' and 'A gaudy, gorgeous rush of color, sound and motion. These are only a few of the thousands positive quotes which are used to describe 'Slumdog Millionaire'. Everyone was so excited about the movie that we had to see it. After watching the movie we immediately understood the fuss about it. The colorful vivid images make you instantly feel happy. The movie features rough stuff like child prostitution and poverty, but at the same time it's full of warmth and always looks to the bright side of life. Although it's not the first movie about the game show 'Who wants to be a millionaire' the plot line of the movie is very unique. The movie is based on the books Q&A written by Vikas Swarup and keeps you captivated till the end. Danny Boyle did a great job creating this movie and I'm sure we can expect more successful movies in the future.
Danny Boyle certainly succeeded in making a successful movie with the actors he chose. The actors with no popularities and with only a small past experience of acting were very convincing. This might be due the fact that real slum kids were used in the movie, these kids could just play themselves in their daily life. In general, the acting was fine but not outstanding. Sometimes you could notice Patel slipping back to his British accent. If I wouldn't know any better I would think Patel had already played in several movies. It was a great choice to take pretty unknown actors so you wouldn't have too high expectation in advance. So that in the end, you would be even more surprised. Another great thing they did was the casting, from little children (e.g. Jamal) to teens and finally to young adults. Even though they weren't played by the same actor it felt like they grew up in the movie. It's no wonder Slumdog Millionaire won multiple awards even with strong competitors like 'The Dark Knight' and 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button'. The lights and colors are pleasing the eyes while watching. Anthony Dod Mantle did the cinematography and it was not the first time he won an award. He soaked up the colors, people and places of India and put them in the movie.
Most of the time he used a compact digital cameras to move with speed through the slums. Throughout one of the scenes warm colors such as red, yellow and cold are used. This is done to exaggerate Jamals 'dream' and to show the humid climate of India. Especially the cinematography during the childhood flashbacks and the 'dreaming' scenes were really well done. However, this movie could have showed us the developments taking place in India instead of only showing their weaknesses. This might give you a superficial idea of the society. But it did contribute to all the drama in the movie. Much of the story is told in flashbacks, but this is done very smoothly.
As we all know, the biggest movie-industry is the Indian Bollywood industry. There are a lot of Bollywood movies made and they are very popular nowadays. Slumdog millionaire is no Bollywood movie, but there are some elements of Bollywood in the movie. For example, at the beginning of the movie children from the slums get chased by policeman. Danny Boyle got his inspiration for this scene from the Bollywood-movie "Black Friday". He was also inspired by the Bollywood-movie "Parinda". Both movies are namely about two absolutely different brothers that get into conflict with each other. One of the brothers also plays the show- host in Slumdog Millionaire. These Bollywood elements make the movie even more interesting for us and the rest of the world to watch. So it was very clever of Danny Boyle to insert some elements of a typical Bollywood movie in Slumdog Millionaire. This namely made the movie even more popular throughout the whole world.
A.R. Rahman, the music producer, was aiming to mix old India with modern India. The music was one of the parts that I liked the most about the movie. He won several prices for the music in Slumdog Millionaire including two academy awards, two Grammies, a golden globe and more. Rahman also composed the soundtrack J'ai ho, a Bollywood dance number. The music in the movie really enlarged the emotions and things happening.
All in all we can say that the movie makes you instantly feel happy. The colorful, inspiring shots make you want to visit Mumbai. I won't recommend Slumdog Millionaire to small children, there are some disturbing images. Because of all the optimism, you might forget about the orphans, poverty, and police brutality. Though, this is also shown in a very realistic way in the movie. It's an excellent movie for (young) adults, because it's a mix of everything you want in a movie; it's realistic, the actors are well-chosen, the story is exciting and gripping, there is some romance and the story is unique. So if you haven't seen Slumdog millionaire yet run to the video store and go watch it!