Slumdog Millionaire
December 11, 2008
In the poverty ridden slums of Bombay, young Jamal, his older brother Salim, and orphan Latika panhandle and escape child slavery after religious riots leave them homeless; years later, when the metropolis has changed its name to Mumbai, and Big Money has infiltrated India, Jamal goes on a TV game-show and answers questions that flashback to key moments of his life, while Salim, now a gangster's apprentice, hides the location of Latika, the gangster's wife, from Jamal, who believes it is destiny they find each other again. Director Danny Boyle (“Trainspotting”) infuses this tale of survival, chance, and love with a colorful exuberance that highlights the multi-cultural boiling pot of the city, be it the cramped slums of the beginning, the gangster's hide-out in the middle, or the high production values of the TV show at the end, lending the improbable nature of the story a hint of prescient realism. With an impressive narrative structure that creates incredible tension, from the game show, where millions are at stake, to the growing divide between the brothers over the whereabouts of Latika (Freida Pinto), who at various points in the narrative is used as a pawn in a male dominated society for her tremendous beauty, the film plays best as a character study of three people who choose different paths to escape crushing poverty and tragedy, and as they move towards their destinies, come to represent a country divided between tradition, commerce, modernization, and the exploitation of such beauty and tradition for an ultimate payout.
By Adam Suraf