I’m ambivalent about Slumdog Millionaire. While the plot, like you say, is harmless and maybe even mundane to an extent, the filmmaker deserves every word of credit there is. Diving straight into Bollywood like this and coming out victorious with a beautifully cinematized film, a large part of which is set in the actual slums of Bombay, is a feat not many filmmakers can accomplish. I say Bollywood, because all but one of his actors, the extras, and a large part of the crew were from the local film industry. Essentially, at the heart of it, this film is pure Bollywood. And if you’re familiar with the world’s most-prolific film industry, you’ll understand why Slumdog Millionaire is special, and a rarity almost. I’m not saying there’s no talent there, in fact there’s plenty of it, but for Danny, a Brit who started from scratch by auditioning actors for each role in every corner of the vast country, then slogging it in the slums among frenzied, uncontollable dwellers trying to capture its essence, this finished product is a great achievement. Wes’ Darjeeling Limited, although beautifully cinematized, was a pure lie. Slumdog Millionaire is the real present-day India – the slums, the city, the construction sites, all of it. There’s a lot more to say about the music and cinematography, but I’ll save that.
I don’t know if many are familiar with this, but this film could have easily been locked up in Warner’s repository. It’s release was made possible by a coming together of the two rivals – Warner and Fox Searchlight – so that the world can see, and thoroughly enjoy it. It’s not ‘best-picture’ material, but hey, if we’re analyzing this film seriously and technically, it does live up to the hype.
Agree. Wes’ choice of music, especially the way he applies songs from the seventies like Bowie, Stones, and the Kinks in dreamy, deadpan, slow-motions sequences, deserves applause.
At the top of my mind right now is Massive Attack, and two films that used it best was Guy Ritchie’s Snatch, and more recently Matteo Garrone’s Gomorra. Though Gomorra used it only for the end credits, it resonated the film’s essence even after one was done watching it.
Oh and if you’ve seen the French movie Dans Paris, you’ll appreciate the use of the song Flavor by Girls in Hawaii, an obscure Belgian band that I’ve grown to love after listening to this song.
Outside of America, not many people know Wes Anderson by name, I don’t mean cinephiles but the common filmgoer. Many have seen Royal Tenenbaums, few have seen Life Aquatic and Darjeeling Limited, but they wouldn’t know him like they know other stateside directors like Scorsese or Spielberg. And after watching any Wes Anderson film, they are quick to brand him, or rather, his films as ‘arty-farty’ and overly eccentric. In fact, sometimes, I get shit for LIKING Wes Anderson.
Oh and Jeunet’s Amelie, albeit a great film, is the only French film many’ve seen in all their life. Tell them you’re not too fond of it and they’ll look at you like you’re tasteless and uncultured.
BUGS!!
I haven’t read through this entire thread, so I wouldn’t know if someone already mentioned this:
I’m on broadband, yet every time I click on theauteurs, or even criterion after its recent redesign, I always get stuck with thumbnail pictures that don’t load. And while the fonts and colors of both the websites are aesthetically fulfilling, it irks me that these pictures won’t load (it just displays what one would usually type in the ‘alt’ tag when placing an image using HTML).
Be that as it may, I love both the websites – the interface and everything – and I’m more than eager to explore what’s in store as the site develops and expands.
And it’s not just the masterpieces or foreign films. They’re doing English-American remakes as well. Frank Oz’s Death at a Funeral was a great film – one of the best dark comedies I’ve seen in the last few years. When I read that Screen Gems and Sidney Kimmel Entertainment were re-making it stateside I was so ticked off. And if that wasn’t bad enough, guess who’s writing it for the screen – Chris Rock.
I can only recall the painful memory as I half-heartedly watched his butchered version of Eric Rohmers Love in the Afternoon which he co-wrote and starred in, under the American title I Think I Love My Wife – what a disaster it was.
I felt the same way about The Class for the Louis Delluc prize. Imagine my surprise when La Vie Moderne, a documentary on the rural dairy farming community in France, won the Prix Louis Delluc.
What the.. I’m quite new to the auteurs and I’m hardly ever this enthusiastic about participating in a forum.
But I’m pretty sure its because of the number of discussions you participate in? I see most of you ‘special’ ones have participated a lot here. The more posts you write the higher the office you’re inducted into.
Run Lola Run was pretty good.
The Beatles’ Hey Jude instrumental in The Royal Tenenbaums kills me everytime I watch it. Brilliant.
Thank You For Smoking had a really sweet title sequence, although I only vaguely remember.
Just realized that after looking at the top cinephiles section. I need to canvass for thumbs-ups now.
Who wants to give me my first one? I’ll promise to earn the rest.
I was reading a post on the auteur’s STUDIO BLOG section on how daunting a task it is to attain worldwide rights to a single film. It then brought me back to something I was pondering over a few days ago. You see, this Oscar hype is all over the place. Everyone from critics to cinephiles and bloggers are plotting their Oscar predictions and talking about these ‘prestige’ films that enjoy a year-end release garnering all the buzz they can get leading up to the big day. Now take a second to think of those who live outside of the United States. Some of us never get to see these films in theaters until after the Oscars.
Wouldn’t it be nice if films, at least the hyped and trumpeted ones, had a universal opening night? Is that even possible? I’m trying to understand how the business works.. why can’t a single studio buy the universal rights (or the rights outside of North America) and coordinate a simultaneous release?
In full agreement of your post – though I might probably drivel if someone whispered Criterion in my sleep – I’m very put off by the Criterion-should-have-this and Criterion-shouldn’t-have-that topics. Those guys at Criterion do a great job in re-mastering and releasing but a small selection of great films, as long as they attain the rights and everything. But that doesn’t make them the norm for judgment.
I first read about the Greek Chorus narrative after watching The Virgin Suicides. The book it’s based on too is written in said narrative. You’d probably want to look into that. And maybe someone here could tell us about other films that employ this narrative style.
Andy, I’m sure Slumdog Millionaire is up for big Oscar glory this time but I think it will be nominated in categories like Best Director, Adapted Screenplay, Music and maybe, just maybe Best Picture. I doubt it will make the Best Foreign Film. If I’m not wrong last year Israel had to pull out The Band’s Visit and replace it with Beaufort because of the film’s preponderant use of English, more than 50 percent of the dialogue.
I don’t know if many have heard of this, but earlier this year I was back in the motherland, India, for a short vacation, and I came across Palador – http://www.mypalador.com.
These guys produce DVDs, placing concentration on world cinema, and operate very similarly to Criterion. Palador is to the Indian subcontinent (DVD Region Code 5) what Criterion is to North America (DVD Region Code 1). And yes, I borrowed one from a friend to test-drive the quality. While the mastering was pretty alright, it loses out terribly to Criterion in terms of extras, DVD album art and many other aspects. But they retail for something like Rs. 300 to Rs. 400 for a DVD. That’s $6 to $9 for a DVD. The Truffaut Box Set is Rs. 2000, which is just almost $43.
Though I wouldn’t dream of ever replacing my slowly progressing personal Criterion Collection, these DVDs from Palador are very cheap on the pocket. Thought some of you might be interested.
I guess you got to prove to them first that you have what it takes to assess a film fully in all aspects. The director of the Indian film Lagaan which was nominated in the Best Foreign Film category was all stoked when the Academy offered him a membership. He said his vote will be counted for all except the foreign film category. And then, in utter joy, he exclaimed that it was a lifetime membership. Lucky him.
This post seems to have gone way off topic, I just realized.
Being Indian, I sometimes sit through some of the mainstream song-and-dance studio churn-outs to keep certain people company, many of who themselves consider the 700-films-a-year part of the industry as a joke, only watching it to poke fun, especially at cheesy Hollywood remakes.
On the other side, as you’ve mentioned, there certainly are some great films that need a strong and patient mind to devour. I see you’ve mentioned Nayakan by Mani Ratnam. It was the only Indian film that made TIME magazine’s Top 100 films. Another great movie by Mani Ratnam is Bombay, or Mumbai in Hindi. It is wrongly titled as Bumbai over at IMDb. Another addition to the list is director Vishal Bharadwaj’s Omkara.
So yeah, Mani Ratnam – Bombay, and Vishal Bharadwaj – Omkara.
This is one of my favorite genres in film, and books. I’m always looking for charming coming-of-age films, especially foreign and set in boarding schools. How about you cinephiles help me put together a list? Here are some great ones I can pull out from the top of my head:
UPDATED
Set in boarding schools:
School Ties
Du er ikke alene (You Are Not Alone – Danish)
Au revoir, les enfants (Goodbye, Children – French)
Les Choristes (The Choir – French)
If…. (coming-of-age?)
Flirting
Others:
The 400 Blows (numero uno)
Igby Goes Down (nice take on Holden Caulfield, but certainly no Catcher in the Rye)
Stand By Me
Dazed and Confused
The Outsiders
Raising Victor Vargas
Almost Famous
Son of Rambow
A Little Romance
Simon Birch
Empire of the Sun
Road to Perdition
Amarcord
Dead Poets Society
Faces of Children
A Nos Amours
The Last Picture Show
Time of the Gypsies
Wild Reeds
The Young Torless
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Unbelievable Truth
Cinema Paradiso
American Graffiti
Basketball Diaries
The Graduate
Welcome to the Dollhouse
Sweet Sixteen
Fanny and Alexander
Duck Season
Y tu mama tambien
City of God
Good Will Hunting
The Virgin Suicides
Rebel Without a Cause
No Regrets For Our Youth
Small Change
Mes petite Amoureuses
My Life as a Dog
The Apu Trilogy
I Vitelloni
Il Posto
Mon oncle Antoine
Cria Cuervos
The River
All About Lily Chou Chou
Fighting Elegy
Radio Days
Les enfants terribles
American History X
Fucking Amal
Ghost World
I’ll keep updating.
And if you think categorizing some of these films as ‘coming-of-age’ is debatable, then make your case.
Andy, an important film I forgot to mention earlier is Mani Ratnam’s Kannathil Muthamittal. It was one of the very few contemporary non-Hindi Indian films that had a good run at film festivals and received a strong reception. If Criterion were to dip into Mani Ratnam’s oeuvre and pick his top three, this would certainly be one. Has anyone seen it?
And, hey, it’s not of great import, but I’d love it if you could correct his name to Mani Ratnam.
Slumdog Millionaire Overrated Film of the Year over 3 years ago
I’m ambivalent about Slumdog Millionaire. While the plot, like you say, is harmless and maybe even mundane to an extent, the filmmaker deserves every word of credit there is. Diving straight into Bollywood like this and coming out victorious with a beautifully cinematized film, a large part of which is set in the actual slums of Bombay, is a feat not many filmmakers can accomplish. I say Bollywood, because all but one of his actors, the extras, and a large part of the crew were from the local film industry. Essentially, at the heart of it, this film is pure Bollywood. And if you’re familiar with the world’s most-prolific film industry, you’ll understand why Slumdog Millionaire is special, and a rarity almost. I’m not saying there’s no talent there, in fact there’s plenty of it, but for Danny, a Brit who started from scratch by auditioning actors for each role in every corner of the vast country, then slogging it in the slums among frenzied, uncontollable dwellers trying to capture its essence, this finished product is a great achievement. Wes’ Darjeeling Limited, although beautifully cinematized, was a pure lie. Slumdog Millionaire is the real present-day India – the slums, the city, the construction sites, all of it. There’s a lot more to say about the music and cinematography, but I’ll save that.
I don’t know if many are familiar with this, but this film could have easily been locked up in Warner’s repository. It’s release was made possible by a coming together of the two rivals – Warner and Fox Searchlight – so that the world can see, and thoroughly enjoy it. It’s not ‘best-picture’ material, but hey, if we’re analyzing this film seriously and technically, it does live up to the hype.
Go to Comment
Favorite use of a song in a film. over 3 years ago
Agree. Wes’ choice of music, especially the way he applies songs from the seventies like Bowie, Stones, and the Kinks in dreamy, deadpan, slow-motions sequences, deserves applause.
At the top of my mind right now is Massive Attack, and two films that used it best was Guy Ritchie’s Snatch, and more recently Matteo Garrone’s Gomorra. Though Gomorra used it only for the end credits, it resonated the film’s essence even after one was done watching it.
Go to Comment
Favorite use of a song in a film. over 3 years ago
Oh and if you’ve seen the French movie Dans Paris, you’ll appreciate the use of the song Flavor by Girls in Hawaii, an obscure Belgian band that I’ve grown to love after listening to this song.
Go to Comment
What films do you always catch shit for for not liking? over 3 years ago
Outside of America, not many people know Wes Anderson by name, I don’t mean cinephiles but the common filmgoer. Many have seen Royal Tenenbaums, few have seen Life Aquatic and Darjeeling Limited, but they wouldn’t know him like they know other stateside directors like Scorsese or Spielberg. And after watching any Wes Anderson film, they are quick to brand him, or rather, his films as ‘arty-farty’ and overly eccentric. In fact, sometimes, I get shit for LIKING Wes Anderson.
Oh and Jeunet’s Amelie, albeit a great film, is the only French film many’ve seen in all their life. Tell them you’re not too fond of it and they’ll look at you like you’re tasteless and uncultured.
Go to Comment
Help make The Auteurs totally awesome over 3 years ago
BUGS!!
I haven’t read through this entire thread, so I wouldn’t know if someone already mentioned this:
I’m on broadband, yet every time I click on theauteurs, or even criterion after its recent redesign, I always get stuck with thumbnail pictures that don’t load. And while the fonts and colors of both the websites are aesthetically fulfilling, it irks me that these pictures won’t load (it just displays what one would usually type in the ‘alt’ tag when placing an image using HTML).
Be that as it may, I love both the websites – the interface and everything – and I’m more than eager to explore what’s in store as the site develops and expands.
Go to Comment
Why Does Hollywood INSIST Upon Remaking Flawless Films? over 3 years ago
And it’s not just the masterpieces or foreign films. They’re doing English-American remakes as well. Frank Oz’s Death at a Funeral was a great film – one of the best dark comedies I’ve seen in the last few years. When I read that Screen Gems and Sidney Kimmel Entertainment were re-making it stateside I was so ticked off. And if that wasn’t bad enough, guess who’s writing it for the screen – Chris Rock.
I can only recall the painful memory as I half-heartedly watched his butchered version of Eric Rohmers Love in the Afternoon which he co-wrote and starred in, under the American title I Think I Love My Wife – what a disaster it was.
Go to Comment
CONTENDERS FOR BEST FOREIGN FILM 2009 over 3 years ago
There has been a record 67 entries for 2009.
I’ve heard enough and seen one of the three widely praised and applauded:
Entre Les Murs – France
Gomorra – Italy
Der Baader Meinhof Komplex – Germany
What among the other 64 should I be looking out for? And what are your predictions – nominees and winner – in this category?
Go to Comment
CONTENDERS FOR BEST FOREIGN FILM 2009 over 3 years ago
Waltz with Bashir completely slipped my mind.
I felt the same way about The Class for the Louis Delluc prize. Imagine my surprise when La Vie Moderne, a documentary on the rural dairy farming community in France, won the Prix Louis Delluc.
Go to Comment
Just Wondering... over 3 years ago
What the.. I’m quite new to the auteurs and I’m hardly ever this enthusiastic about participating in a forum.
But I’m pretty sure its because of the number of discussions you participate in? I see most of you ‘special’ ones have participated a lot here. The more posts you write the higher the office you’re inducted into.
What’s after cinephile I wonder?
Go to Comment
Just Wondering... over 3 years ago
Really? And you’re already over 250 posts. Neat. You must love this place.
Go to Comment
Your favorite title sequence over 3 years ago
Run Lola Run was pretty good.
The Beatles’ Hey Jude instrumental in The Royal Tenenbaums kills me everytime I watch it. Brilliant.
Thank You For Smoking had a really sweet title sequence, although I only vaguely remember.
Go to Comment
Just Wondering... over 3 years ago
Just realized that after looking at the top cinephiles section. I need to canvass for thumbs-ups now.
Who wants to give me my first one? I’ll promise to earn the rest.
Go to Comment
Just Wondering... over 3 years ago
Thanks Andy. Yay. I feel like I belong.
Go to Comment
Wouldn't It Be Nice If? over 3 years ago
I was reading a post on the auteur’s STUDIO BLOG section on how daunting a task it is to attain worldwide rights to a single film. It then brought me back to something I was pondering over a few days ago. You see, this Oscar hype is all over the place. Everyone from critics to cinephiles and bloggers are plotting their Oscar predictions and talking about these ‘prestige’ films that enjoy a year-end release garnering all the buzz they can get leading up to the big day. Now take a second to think of those who live outside of the United States. Some of us never get to see these films in theaters until after the Oscars.
Wouldn’t it be nice if films, at least the hyped and trumpeted ones, had a universal opening night? Is that even possible? I’m trying to understand how the business works.. why can’t a single studio buy the universal rights (or the rights outside of North America) and coordinate a simultaneous release?
Go to Comment
Most erotic films you've seen. over 3 years ago
And adding to your list of Uncomfortable Sex is Savage Grace.
Go to Comment
Most erotic films you've seen. over 3 years ago
Where would you put Shortbus in this? The opening sequence had me in utter disbelief, as did the portrayal of those orgies.
Update: just saw Shortbus under Graphic Sex. Sorry.
Go to Comment
Favorite use of a song in a film. over 3 years ago
Not to be judged or frowned upon, but I really enjoyed the feet-taping beats of I Like to Move It in Madagascar.
Go to Comment
Wouldn't It Be Nice If? over 3 years ago
Hah. I’ll bet at least one person on the voting committee said that about twenty years ago. You’ll get there man. Keep at it.
Go to Comment
Whats with Criterion being the know all say all of films here. over 3 years ago
In full agreement of your post – though I might probably drivel if someone whispered Criterion in my sleep – I’m very put off by the Criterion-should-have-this and Criterion-shouldn’t-have-that topics. Those guys at Criterion do a great job in re-mastering and releasing but a small selection of great films, as long as they attain the rights and everything. But that doesn’t make them the norm for judgment.
Go to Comment
Inventive Narrative Structures over 3 years ago
I first read about the Greek Chorus narrative after watching The Virgin Suicides. The book it’s based on too is written in said narrative. You’d probably want to look into that. And maybe someone here could tell us about other films that employ this narrative style.
Go to Comment
CONTENDERS FOR BEST FOREIGN FILM 2009 over 3 years ago
Andy, I’m sure Slumdog Millionaire is up for big Oscar glory this time but I think it will be nominated in categories like Best Director, Adapted Screenplay, Music and maybe, just maybe Best Picture. I doubt it will make the Best Foreign Film. If I’m not wrong last year Israel had to pull out The Band’s Visit and replace it with Beaufort because of the film’s preponderant use of English, more than 50 percent of the dialogue.
Go to Comment
Palador - A Lower-end Criterion? over 3 years ago
I don’t know if many have heard of this, but earlier this year I was back in the motherland, India, for a short vacation, and I came across Palador – http://www.mypalador.com.
These guys produce DVDs, placing concentration on world cinema, and operate very similarly to Criterion. Palador is to the Indian subcontinent (DVD Region Code 5) what Criterion is to North America (DVD Region Code 1). And yes, I borrowed one from a friend to test-drive the quality. While the mastering was pretty alright, it loses out terribly to Criterion in terms of extras, DVD album art and many other aspects. But they retail for something like Rs. 300 to Rs. 400 for a DVD. That’s $6 to $9 for a DVD. The Truffaut Box Set is Rs. 2000, which is just almost $43.
Though I wouldn’t dream of ever replacing my slowly progressing personal Criterion Collection, these DVDs from Palador are very cheap on the pocket. Thought some of you might be interested.
Go to Comment
Palador - A Lower-end Criterion? over 3 years ago
Anyone know other such collections in other regions?
Go to Comment
Palador - A Lower-end Criterion? over 3 years ago
True that.
But how’re Kino releases? Any worthy offering in the extras section of the DVD?
Go to Comment
Wouldn't It Be Nice If? over 3 years ago
I guess you got to prove to them first that you have what it takes to assess a film fully in all aspects. The director of the Indian film Lagaan which was nominated in the Best Foreign Film category was all stoked when the Academy offered him a membership. He said his vote will be counted for all except the foreign film category. And then, in utter joy, he exclaimed that it was a lifetime membership. Lucky him.
This post seems to have gone way off topic, I just realized.
Go to Comment
Anybody seen films from India? over 3 years ago
Being Indian, I sometimes sit through some of the mainstream song-and-dance studio churn-outs to keep certain people company, many of who themselves consider the 700-films-a-year part of the industry as a joke, only watching it to poke fun, especially at cheesy Hollywood remakes.
On the other side, as you’ve mentioned, there certainly are some great films that need a strong and patient mind to devour. I see you’ve mentioned Nayakan by Mani Ratnam. It was the only Indian film that made TIME magazine’s Top 100 films. Another great movie by Mani Ratnam is Bombay, or Mumbai in Hindi. It is wrongly titled as Bumbai over at IMDb. Another addition to the list is director Vishal Bharadwaj’s Omkara.
So yeah, Mani Ratnam – Bombay, and Vishal Bharadwaj – Omkara.
Go to Comment
Palador - A Lower-end Criterion? over 3 years ago
I might consider buying some Kieslowski titles that aren’t on Criterion. Thanks for the information. And that means one thumbs up for you.
Go to Comment
Coming Of Age over 3 years ago
This is one of my favorite genres in film, and books. I’m always looking for charming coming-of-age films, especially foreign and set in boarding schools. How about you cinephiles help me put together a list? Here are some great ones I can pull out from the top of my head:
UPDATED
Set in boarding schools:
School Ties
Du er ikke alene (You Are Not Alone – Danish)
Au revoir, les enfants (Goodbye, Children – French)
Les Choristes (The Choir – French)
If…. (coming-of-age?)
Flirting
Others:
The 400 Blows (numero uno)
Igby Goes Down (nice take on Holden Caulfield, but certainly no Catcher in the Rye)
Stand By Me
Dazed and Confused
The Outsiders
Raising Victor Vargas
Almost Famous
Son of Rambow
A Little Romance
Simon Birch
Empire of the Sun
Road to Perdition
Amarcord
Dead Poets Society
Faces of Children
A Nos Amours
The Last Picture Show
Time of the Gypsies
Wild Reeds
The Young Torless
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Unbelievable Truth
Cinema Paradiso
American Graffiti
Basketball Diaries
The Graduate
Welcome to the Dollhouse
Sweet Sixteen
Fanny and Alexander
Duck Season
Y tu mama tambien
City of God
Good Will Hunting
The Virgin Suicides
Rebel Without a Cause
No Regrets For Our Youth
Small Change
Mes petite Amoureuses
My Life as a Dog
The Apu Trilogy
I Vitelloni
Il Posto
Mon oncle Antoine
Cria Cuervos
The River
All About Lily Chou Chou
Fighting Elegy
Radio Days
Les enfants terribles
American History X
Fucking Amal
Ghost World
I’ll keep updating.
And if you think categorizing some of these films as ‘coming-of-age’ is debatable, then make your case.
Go to Comment
Anybody seen films from India? over 3 years ago
Andy, an important film I forgot to mention earlier is Mani Ratnam’s Kannathil Muthamittal. It was one of the very few contemporary non-Hindi Indian films that had a good run at film festivals and received a strong reception. If Criterion were to dip into Mani Ratnam’s oeuvre and pick his top three, this would certainly be one. Has anyone seen it?
And, hey, it’s not of great import, but I’d love it if you could correct his name to Mani Ratnam.
Go to Comment
Anybody seen films from India? over 3 years ago
On a completely different note, I’m amazed at how all-round and worldly most of you cinephiles are.
Go to Comment