Title: Slumdog Millionaire

Director: Danny Boyle   

Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy

Cast: Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Madhur Mittal, Irfan Khan, Saurabh Shukla,

Genre: Drama/Romance

Runtime: 116 min.

Rated: R

Released: November 12^th, 2008 (Limited)

Reviewed by: Alan Jones (Toronto Correspondent)

After winning the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, Danny Boyle’s latest film, Slumdog Millionaire, has come to theatres surrounded by high expectations. This expertly crafted little film will probably work as a fantastic piece of filmmaking for the art house crowd, as well as a moving love story for the masses. Not a bad response for a film set about Indians that was made by a Scottish director with British money. Those of you who fear subtitles shouldn’t worry. The majority of the film is in English and the subtitles are handled in a unique manner.

The narrative of the film is framed rather ingeniously. Jamal Malik (Dev Patel), an assistant at call centre, is one question from winning 20 000 000 rupees on the Indian version of “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?” Suspected of fraud, he is questioned by the police on how he made it to the last question. In explaining how he learned the answers, he also tells of how he group up in the slums of Bombay (hence the title). After his mother was killed by a group of Hindus that erroneously believed he was a Muslim, he and his older brother, Salim (Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail as a child), began life as beggars. They befriended Latika (Tanvi Ganesh Lonkar as a child). The three of them are taken in by a Fagin-like character (the story is inspired by Oliver Twist) that mistreats them and takes what they earn from begging. Played by three different actors, Jamal (played by Ayush Mahesh Khedekar as a child, Tanay Hemant Chheda as an adolescent, and Dev Patel as a young adult) tells the story of how he has been looking for Latika ever since, even at the chagrin of his brother, who winds up working for gangster from the slums of Mumbai.

The story concerning “Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?” is not without its twists and turns as well. The host initially humiliates Jamal on the show for his position in life, eventually befriends him in order to feed hi the wrong answer during a commercial break. After being arrested, Jamal is tortured, which seems a little hard to believe considering the high profile he garnered from his presence on the show, but works within the film. The interplay between Jamal and the police sergeant is entertaining and the romance that burgeons between Jamal and is convincing, despite the amount of time they spend away from each other.

Throughout the film, Boyle infuses what is on the screen with a great degree of energy. The use of a number of songs by M.I.A. recalls the way Boyle used a great deal of Iggy Pop for the Trainspotting soundtrack. A number shots use canted angles and the cinematography is reminiscent of City of God, which is another fantastic film about life in the slums in a third world country. Combining these elements with an ingenious story and a moving romance between the two leads makes Slumdog Millionaire one of the best movies I have seen this year. There’s not much more I can say about this movie, all I can do is recommend it and hope that you have as good a time as I did.