Ryan McNeil
Part of the fun surrounding TIFF for me this year, is the fact that I’m going into many of these screenings pretty blind. Case in point, when I sat down with the schedule, one piece of scheduling logic went like this: “Hmm…Danny Boyle has a movie playing. I’m gonna see that (What’s it about?) Who cares?”. Such daredevil selections can result in great surprises, and indeed SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE was a truly delightful surprise.
The movie is the story of Jamal, a young man who spent much of his life as a poor Mumbai street urchin “slumdog“. But as a young adult, he finds himself on India’s ‘Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?”…and more to the point, he finds himself staring down the barrel of the all-or-nothing twenty million rupee question. How can that be? How can a young man who once spent his days hustling tourists out of money possibly know enough to get himself so far? Is it luck? Is he cheating? Is he smart? Is it fate?
The fact is that his life journey has taught him much, and these lessons have stuck with him. It’s this life journey that unfolds as two hours’ traffic on Danny Boyle’s stage. with SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, Boyle touches on moments from many of his previous films, and brings them together to overwhelm your senses with the sights and sounds of India’s slums. Featuring gloriously lavish photography, and a lively soundtrack that gives the film a passionate heartbeat, the film impressively amuses, sucker-punches, and uplifts its audience. No small feat for one film to achieve!
I’ve already heard mentions of a Best Picture nomination, and while I can’t say that I’d go quite that far, I do hope that this film can find an audience, and sincerely look forward to seeing it on year-end top ten lists. After all – when was the last time you saw a movie that made you want to laugh, cover your eyes, and want to dance all before the credits rolled? This one will.
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE plays twice more at TIFF 08, and will be released by Fox Searchlight in select cities this November. I highly recommend it (Seems like I’m saying that a lot this year, doesn’t it?).