Flick Review: Slumdog Millionaire
Slumdog Millionaire (India)
Written by Vikas Swarup (novel) and Simon Beaufoy (screenplay)
Directed by Danny Boyle and Loveleen Tandan (co-director: India)
Awards, 8 Oscars as well as 71 other awards and 26 nominations (see here for complete list)
Released: 23 January 2009 (USA)
The Mumbai slums kid Jamal K. Malik (actor Dev Patel), possesses only the answers- nothing more. He is honest even if it will kill him despite his harsh life experiences. Jamal makes it to the Indian version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?". The film flashes back and forth between how he knows the answers, each being a gruesome experience (death, tyranny, betrayal) but each enables him to commit a fact to memory thus enabling him to answer another question correctly. Because of his success on the TV show his is thought to be a fraud, a cheat. For that reason he is interrogated, and with each blow any onlooker (as well as the interrogators) can see that this is no regular teen, his inner strength awes with a jaw-dropping force.
Love is a key element in Slumdog Millionaire. Jamal is loyal and faithful in his pursuit of one unattainable girl Latika (Actress Frieda Pinto)as children, as youths and still as teens. He encounters her over and over throughout their young lives only to have her taken from him just a second too soon. Are they meant to be, is it destiny?
I saw this movie almost a week ago and I can't stop thinking about it. I can't. I loved it on so many levels. I hated the violence, and it wasn't Hollywood violence, it was street kid raw gore. I disliked the villains in this film and that they made it their life goal to destroy Jamal, who I loved from the first second I saw him. As harsh as his past is, he becomes beautiful despite it, I am a believer. Oh, and the music is really fun!
Slumdog Millionaire easily earns a full-on 100% recommendation from me. I saw it in the theater and I will buy it when I see it out on DVD. My only slight warning is that if you can't handle violence, well you still should go, just be sure to cover your eyes, and go with someone who can nudge you when it is time to look again. It didn't bother me, but I was allowed to watch Die Hard as a 7-year-old. It is written: THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE MUST SEE.
Slumdog Millionaire trailer:
I reviewed this film as part of the Orbis Terarrum Film Challenge.
Other Books I've read and reviewed about India:
Bitter Sweets by Roopa Farooki
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
The Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer
Bitter Sweets
Title: Bitter Sweets
Author: Roopa Farooki
Pages: 372
Genre:International Fiction
yearly count: 7
A tale of a family who's only facts are interwoven with deceit and false pretensions. Starting out with the lies told in order to become an actress, the grandmother in this story filles her lips with words that are not true in order to capture he ticket out of the country. Once this one ancestor allows lies to be such a central aspect of her life, she not only impacts her own life, but the life of her deceived husband and passes it on in different forms to the generations that follow. A history of falseness is all that the future generations have to live up to. Love, loss, change and growth are themes of Roopa Farooki's Bitter Sweets novel. A family's story through three generations of learned deception and what it takes to break free from the expectation to cover-up and pretend-- to lie.
No matter how much lying the characters are doing to eachother, the truth stood stronger and spoke louder than any lie. This was a great interesting, fun read and was so good. I have read some reviews that said it was superficial, I don't agree. I felt the author did an excellent work with her characters, settings and working in beautiful and timeless themes. This is the story of an Indian family, that is split between two nations but could be the story of so many as the daily lives they lead are very easy to relate to. I did enjoy this book throughly.
Roopa Farooki brings up questions of love, true love and arraigned marriages, however in this book truth is the strongest theme. Where would your family be without truth? She brings up and interesting concept, that truth can sometimes be told at the expense of hurting our loved one only to selfishly clear our own conscience. I loved reading Bitter Sweets, it was interesting to see how things took place.
What do you think? Is it truth at all costs or does it depend? It seems to me that truth may hurt for an instant, but mending is on its way....while lies form a web of guilt and pain that smothers love. What are your thoughts? Farooki portrays the Indian culture as valuing appearance over honesty, I would say the same is true in many parts of America (if not all). What do you think, does our culture value appearance over truth? Which wins here politeness or honesty?
The God of Small Things
The God of Small Things
by Arundhati Roy
322 Pages
International Fiction
Winner of the Booker Prize
Set in India, where fate journeys amongst a family, and a set of twins. Roy using poetry-like prose takes the reader to a place of mystery and magic, superstition and pain. The storyline is not straightforward, but weaves and hops and jumps around complicating the impact of its plot. Good, okay...but nothing near great.
My take on this? I didn't like it. I wanted to, I like liking international fiction but this was too dark, to sad, too much to handle. Not even that much bad happened in the book, but nothing good ever did take place.
I can see that her writing is amazing, but Roy seems to go too far to show that she can write at the expense of plot and depth of character. It is not personable at all. I didn't connect to a single character. I think Roy should write poetry instead. I wish I had a better review to give. This is an award winning book, but I don't really see how.
Sorry guys!
Give me your thoughts, did you like it? When did you read it? Did you feel you connected with the characters and followed the plot? I had to do so much re-reading because either my mind would wander, or I would just not understand what was going on....not a book for me.
travel the world (from a comfy chair) Book Club. Want to join us??
I want to welcome you to join me in reading The God of Small Things this month, with my online book international book club. We will start discussing it on the 15th of this month, but you do not need to be finished with it then.
Travel the World (form a comfy chair) The God of Small Things
This will take place on book blogs, which is an amazing place where tons of book bloggers unite!
The God Of Small Things links:
Wikipedia: The God of Small Things
Amazon: The God of Small Things
Let me know if you are planning on joining us!! 
It will be loads of fun.
Inhearitance of Loss
Title: Inheritance of Loss
Author: Kiran Desai
Pages: 357
Yearly Count: 60
Awards: Winner of the Man Booker Prize 2006
I have been searching for this book and didn't even know it was this book I searched for. I wanted a book of daily details, of life of the people of India, a book that would be not so much filled with Indians who live outside of India, but of those who are there. I know this is a novel, and that it is not fact. I also know that I fell in love with the small details of India, the way tea is prepared, the way the pastries and food are rambled about, the words used to display affection, desire, and hate. I loved the storytelling qualities of Desai, working little every day Indian details and descriptions up into a stunning form of art. I was interested in the story, the plot, the characters and in a dream-like way immersed in a culture so far away.
The Inheritance of Loss is a book that follows several different people, their thoughts and dreams laid bare to the reader, they are vulnerable and real. The silliness of the wealthy is shown, placed in obvious display of ridicule...which I found endearing, and at the same time sad in many ways. Desai filled her novel with current (when it was written) details, of uprisings, protests, violence and how the general joe lives. I haven't found a better glimpse into the society of India.
I have read several books about India, or mostly about Indians, I have read Interpreter of Maladies, The Namesake, Karma and Other Stories by Rishi Reddi I am not sure this is my favourite, because I really did like The Interpreter of Maladies, but it is about equal with that read for me. I enjoyed it because it was different, a deeper portrayal, a darker glimpse, and one of those who stayed in India. It filled in answers, explained rivalries, and political issues...I really did enjoy it. I will say that sometimes I found it a little hard to follow, or at times slow. It is certainly worth a read though enjoy.
Other blogger reviews:
Wendy at Caribou's Mom
Gentle Reader at Shelf Life
Have you reviewed this too??? Let me know and I will link to you
