[LJ2ME]It Was Written
What else is there to say that has not already been said about the phenomenon that is Slumdog Millionaire? Every few years, along comes a movie that creates a tsunami in its wake despite its lesser ambitions and humble origins, and this is one of them. "The feel-good movie of the decade" I believe it has been called?
Thanks to the Staff Recreational Club at work, the entire hall was booked for a movie night last evening, and the choice of movie couldn't have been better, in that I had wanted to watch it but hadn't, and that it is in the wake of the eight-Oscar sweep recently.
Just as expectations were absent for the same director's Millions some years ago, and yet how the movie proved to be such a good one, the same situation played out as the riveting and propulsive story unfolded, reeling the audience in hook, line and sinker.
From the start, the quasi-documentary introduction to slum life was in-your-face as the pulsating rhythm of the soundtrack beat time to the visuals as the slum stretched out in its chaotic and colourful reach as the slum kids ran from the police and then the religious zealots.
And then the love story began with the innocent relationship between the lead protagonist, Jamal, the titular Slumdog Millionaire, and his love interest, Latika. Just as the era finds us with the fabled tomb of love that is the Taj Mahal in the backdrop, the thwarted relationship goes on a roller-coaster ride of a hide-and-seek game as they play out and wait out destiny and what is "written".
That dissenters have called the movie "poverty porn" does touch a little close for comfort, seeing the reality behind the cameras that are not part of the script requirements but a real existence that goes on 24/7.
Race riots that ignore reason and rationale with premeditated violence, syndicated begging by unscrupulous and exploitative adults who disable children to up the sympathy stakes, child prostitution and a dog-eat-dog world where the mantra of the survival of the fittest rings true, these are but pages out of a story of their everyday lives.
So there was laughter and tears all around as the captivating story drew the audience in and took them along for the ride. The Oscars were fully deserved!
Who doesn't want to be a Slumdog Millionaire?
Thanks to the Staff Recreational Club at work, the entire hall was booked for a movie night last evening, and the choice of movie couldn't have been better, in that I had wanted to watch it but hadn't, and that it is in the wake of the eight-Oscar sweep recently.
Just as expectations were absent for the same director's Millions some years ago, and yet how the movie proved to be such a good one, the same situation played out as the riveting and propulsive story unfolded, reeling the audience in hook, line and sinker.
From the start, the quasi-documentary introduction to slum life was in-your-face as the pulsating rhythm of the soundtrack beat time to the visuals as the slum stretched out in its chaotic and colourful reach as the slum kids ran from the police and then the religious zealots.
And then the love story began with the innocent relationship between the lead protagonist, Jamal, the titular Slumdog Millionaire, and his love interest, Latika. Just as the era finds us with the fabled tomb of love that is the Taj Mahal in the backdrop, the thwarted relationship goes on a roller-coaster ride of a hide-and-seek game as they play out and wait out destiny and what is "written".
That dissenters have called the movie "poverty porn" does touch a little close for comfort, seeing the reality behind the cameras that are not part of the script requirements but a real existence that goes on 24/7.
Race riots that ignore reason and rationale with premeditated violence, syndicated begging by unscrupulous and exploitative adults who disable children to up the sympathy stakes, child prostitution and a dog-eat-dog world where the mantra of the survival of the fittest rings true, these are but pages out of a story of their everyday lives.
So there was laughter and tears all around as the captivating story drew the audience in and took them along for the ride. The Oscars were fully deserved!
Who doesn't want to be a Slumdog Millionaire?