I completely agree. The happy ending took away from the realism. For me the film should have ended when Latika picked up Jamal’s call while he was on the show, and he should have walked away (to get her) without answering the last question. His sole intention for being on the show was so that she would notice him, and his wish was granted. Aside from that, I’m terribly sorry to admit that I laughed a bit when his brother slipped into the bathtub full of money, I thought the symbolism for that was too forced, rendering it: non-symbolic. Just plain obvious! The film was great from all aspects, but I’m not sold on the idea that it was the best of the year.
True words.
A little bit of that, plus what I consider a deeply flawed and annoying narrative structure/device, all mixed together with ultra-stylistic editing would be my reasons for not loving the film, or even liking it that much.
I don’t think it’s a bad film, but I don’t think it deserves nearly as much praise as it’s received. I was also irritated with how important money was made to be, whereas in Millions, you’re uplifted by a young boy trying to give away as much money as possible, not win it.
I haven’t seen it yet. Is it anywhere online to watch?
The combination of fantasy elements and reality didn’t bother me. It’s used that way often in literature and was also used in Pan’s Labyrinth.
@Brandon-You were irritated with how important money was made to be but I imagine that when you live in poverty money is very important.
The difference is Pans Labyrinth had a different sort of fantasy. That is what I meant when I said fairy tales are dark but with witch-like fantasy.
I agree, I thought the film was good but it’s incredibly overrated. It was one of those movies that I really wanted to love, but for some reason or another just left me unsatisfied. It wasn’t a BAD film by any means, just not as good as I had hoped.
Trendy art-film of the day that all the critics are telling everyone to watch, but only the critics seem to really like.
The film could have been political. It could have been important. A film about the effects of poverty in a nation like India could have been great. They just totally dropped the ball and made a classic Hollywood love story meets implausible rags to riches piece of nonsense.
>>Is it anywhere online to watch?<<
Go see it in a theater. For its visuals alone, it deserves the Big Screen.
I also was somewhat less than whelmed by this, but I have yet to get the praise for Danny Boyle, either. The romantic stuff was a bit too fantastical to mesh properly with the more realistic and gritty portions of the films (the childhood scenes, the beatings in the police station, etc.) The piling the money in the bathtub was just wierd and the brother’s character pivot (after a lifetime of taking Jamal’s “possessions” and selling them) is unbelievable. And despite the sacrifice of the brother, Boyle tells us in a final subtitle that things turned out this way because “It is written.”
It’s Frank Capra goes Bollywood.
@Zach
I don’t understand the logic that says that a movie has to be political in order for it to be a good film. Slumdog deals with certain social realities but it deals with them in a very light way, thats to say it doesn’t lecture the audience for the extent of its run time about how bad things are in India, and how you should feel guilty about how bad things are in India, and look how important I am as a director for making you see this. It presents them as is. Its up to the audience to make of it what they will. I not anti-politics in film, but film is an easy soap box for political messages and to see a film deal with political issues without trying to make any kind of stark ideological point is pretty refreshing to me. Waltz with Bashir is another film that chooses to simply show you a subjective perspective of war and its horrors without ramming down your throat any kind of specific ideology. I thought it was a fantastic film as well that expected its audience to sort out their own ideas on the subjects it presented.
I personally loved it. One of the reasons is because of the happy ending. I think that it added to the realism. Too often films focus on the depressing only and defend it by calling it realism. I am a fan of many of those type of films (Rosetta, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead), but pain is not the only thing existing. For many people it is, and I think they show that in this film. If it had ended sadly, it would have appeared, to me at least, that Danny Boyle would be trying to fit into “High-art” film making.
But thats just my two cents.
Also Drew, you said “When the flashbacks are added and the fairy tale love story are added to these dark true themes it takes away the realism.” Am I correct in gathering that you thought the flashbacks took away from the realism?
There has been a daily dose of bollywood all my life now and I kind of grew up with them, Slumdog tries to blend 2 schools of filmmaking prevalant now in India – one that spawns a majority of movies that exist purely to entertain by mixing song, dance, action, tragedy and every melodramatic nuance there is in the most unrealistic fashion possible, on the other hand, a minority that tries to break ground with a realistic portrayal of social issues and human conditons. For Slumdog, Danny Boyle does a great job balancing both philosophies and comes out a winner.
After watching the movie I came away feeling the same way as Drew did, because the last quarter of the movie seemed to end awkwardly. I had no problem with the ending, I just didn’t like the way it materialized. It seemed choppy and forced, but as my brother always tells me about great movies, the ending is generally a problem. We become emotionally engrossed with the movie and the plot, that an ending anything less than our expectations, leaves us with a bitter taste and we feel slightly cheated. Half way through the movie I felt that it was one of the best movies that I have seen in a while, and then once he reunited himself with his brother, it went “Hollywood”. He faced hardships his whole life, and now hes on a game show where the only questions asked deal with miraculous fleeting moments during his boyhood? To get that many questions right in a row and to steal your girl from a drug lord would take more than a rough adolescence. The whole phone call scene where she leaves her phone in the car at the end was over the top and at that point I felt like I was watching a Disney flick. I had the same feelings with Boyle’s Millions. Great movie, but the last 25 minutes or so ruined it for me.
Much like Drew, I enjoyed the movie, just didn’t think all the recent accolades were so deserving. Then again, I loved Benjamin Buttons and most feel that this too was overrated, but this is what makes movies great. Even some feel that The Godfather is overrated, so go figure.
Another slumdog post. I’m kidding drew. I don’t agree with drew that the flashbacks take away from the realism, because they bookend the grim reality of the story. These characters are about hope in a hopeless world, and in movie terms, we need these to cement our connection to the character’s plight. It’s as simple as that.
A film does not need to be political to get heavy issues on the board, it’s topical. Slumdog has characters who live in the harshest realities imaginable, but our collective conscious wants to believe it will go well t the end. It’s a redemption story, and Slumdog dresses this in a culture foreign to us. Brilliant.
Charles Dickens is an inspiration to slumdog, one of the reasons why I liked the film. I think Boyle hit a home run in the way he told the story, but it isn’t perfect. I gather some of the voices here prefer dark endings and stuff, but I argue this movie ended fitfully. Boyle respected the conventions of hindi culture and went Bollywood on us. As a result of the film’s success, it’ll heighten awareness of what goes on in other parts of the world. That’s more than a movie can accomplish, and it did for me.
Another thing, I don’t agree with people on this board that say the film is overrated.
It’s too well made and self contained to fall pray to negative allusions. I’m not defending it either, if it got the accolades it hit the chord of the american public like some movies do. The country is a recession, we are healing from the hardest times our generation has gone through, and just like Rocky did in the 70’s, Slumdog does the underdog story well, and popular conscious gravitates to it well. That is the single reason why the film is as popular as it is. The academy loves that.
Don’t believe the hype.
You should never believe the hype, regardless of what kind of film it is. Not believing the hype allowed me to thoroughly enjoy this movie, believing the hype left me with some reservations about The Wrestler .
please somebody has to agre with me and accept that this film is EXTREMALLY OVERRATED it’s not even what is badly called by the critics “art-film” is practicly boyle’s most mainstreem film. (judging by the film itself – structure, narrative, pace, ideology etc) i don’t care if it is foreign and was made with 2000 dollars and a crew of 7 but as good as it can be is just as good and pleasant as Pineapple express, good cool and whatever but a minor film, and please just because is set in india doesn’t make it and art-film!!! i know some of you wrote overrated, but c’mon 8 oscar nominations! and all that Golden Globe bs. more than overrated.
Well its actually 10 nominations….
hahahaa you’re right! jesus! 8 was already TOO much, thanks anyway.
CORONEL X and everybody else in this thread who is displeased with this film; I agree with you. It’s not that the film is simply “overrated”, it’s just plain bad. Almost as bad as Crash.
If you agree with the statement “2008 was a terrible year for film,” which many people are doing, wouldn’t it only make sense that a sub-par movie would be considered the best movie of the year?
I personally loved the movie and enjoyed all the movies I saw this year just as much as last year.
To each his own.
While the film is technically proficient and quite stylish, its narrative is all over the place. The violence doesn’t sit well with the melodramatic elements of the story- in fact, in many ways, they cancel each other out. The premise that the questions he answers to win the money are based on moments or events in his life is just laughable, and cancels out the ideal of suspense. Why open a film with a torture sequence is beyond me? As arresting a series of visuals of someone being strung up, beaten and electrocuted might be, it just seemed too graphic and too over the top to open a film.
Still, the film managed to have a sense of humour about those in poverty and those trying to escape from it, but unless you’re prepared to suspend disbelief over and over again, the plight of the plucky lead character becomes less and less compelling. In fact when the host of the show makes the comment that someone from the slums could not have known those questions based on education, background, presiedent and law of averages, the audience can only agree. It depends how much you buy into the fantasy.
Also, there’s far too much reliance in the film on jittery camerawork and the track Paper Planes by M.I.A, which cheekily is used in its usual form and in a dub/acapella version later on. The MTV visuals are quite grating at times- sometimes it would have been better if the camerawork was able to settle more often- although this could be another device to distract from the woolly narrative and napkin-sized screenplay.
Whilst it’s a loud and lively film, the soundtrack may also have been used to paper over the enormous narrative cracks. Let’s not forget that many of the children in the film are thieves and there’s a little too much glamorising of their Dickensian pick pocketing. In essence, it’s an episode of Who Wants to be a Millionaire meets “City of God”. What next, “Pixote” and Jeopardy or “Los Olvidados” (The Forgotten Ones) and The Price is Right? Expect the Mumbai tourist board to offer slum tours soon enough.
thank you MUSTAFA! i’m really glad i’m not the only one who see it! and YES what a good point you make with Crash, cause it’s very close to it in many ways, although Crash is practicly a Crime of a film, in part cause it takes itself too seriously were Slumdog doesn’t just look at the faces of the people who made it in those awards! Boyle knows it’s a minor film and is as surprised as me to see all that nominations.
Referring to the original post, I’ll say the obvious: all of the moments of grit made the ending that much more beautiful. This isn’t counting the dance number which I thought was cute but clearly had nothing to do with the rest of the film and should be taken as a separate being altogether. Boyle didn’t downplay the horror that occurred for these people everyday, he simply made it what it was which was an every day occurrence. Nothing more, nothing less.
I will say some of the shots were trying a bit too hard to lean into bollywood.
@Paya, Bollywood cinema is full of moments that don’t fit into the rest of the film…
Escapist fare is good sometimes…suits me once in a while..
Oh, I know. I’m quite the fan of Bollywood films. I’m just saying that Boyle isn’t a Bollywood director/filmmaker and the film, most of it, isn’t ‘fundamentally’ Bollywood so some of the tilted shots seemed a little forced to me.
I’m not putting the film down either. It’s actually one of my favorites!
Paya…I agree with you, as usual trying to put my point across and that’s all…
Drew Gregory
I posted this on IMDb but got no response so I’m posting it here where people actually discuss.
I want to start off saying that I by no means am here to trash the film. In truth I liked the film but I want to share what prevented me from loving it and hear your opinion on what I have to say. This film deals with dark gritty material. From Jamal’s mother’s gruesome death to the men who blind the children to Latika basically being sold into prostitution, it is all heavy material. When the flashbacks are added and the fairy tale love story are added to these dark true themes it takes away the realism. Now in actual fairy tales there is dark material but it deals with witches and other fantasy as oppose to real world problems. How the film is set up combined with the ending takes away (for me at least) the true emotions and makes me feel a little offended that the material was used for such a flashy, happy ended fairy tale. That is what prevents me from loving the film. Great directing, great music and all in all a well made film but they tried to combine a fairy tale with a gritty story about impoverished India and for me the combination didn’t work.