Slumdog Millionaire

[poliphilo]

The story is traditional fairytale- a carcass on which to hang a slap-bang-whallop impression of modern India. The characters are types- he's the widow's son, she's the princess in the castle. Alternatively he's Nicholas Nickleby and she's Madeline Bray; neither of them  particularly interesting in themselves. The character who does interest me is the older brother- who plays both good and evil angel- alternately thwarting and rescuing the lovers.  If they were always destined to find one another, then he's the agent of destiny- and his final words- as he dies in a bathtub full of rupees having saved them one last time- more than hint at something metaphysical going on.

It's a feelgood movie that never glosses over the horrors it goes streaking through. I love the energy- and the colour. And what a stroke of brilliance to regognise- and use- the mythic structure of the TV gameshow.

Comments

[sovay]

The character who does interest me is the older brother- who plays both good and evil angel- alternately thwarting and rescuing the lovers.

He does sound interesting.

(One of the high marks by which I judge Trevor Nunn's Nicholas Nickleby—our hero wasn't boring. You can rarely ever say that about a Dickens protagonist unless he's Sydney Carton or Ebenezer Scrooge.)

And what a stroke of brilliance to regognise- and use- the mythic structure of the TV gameshow.

Is it the kind of film that is aware it's a fairytale?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

The trick is to hire an actor who can bring his- or her- own distinctive personality to a sketchily written role.

Slumdog is very conscious of being a fairy tale. That's one of its strengths- that it knows exactly what it's doing.