SlumDog Millionaire

Slumdog Millionaire is the latest film by director Danny Boyle with whom I am becoming more and more impressed. In this movie we are first introduced to a young man who is on the verge of becoming rich on the Indian version of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire”? Over the course of the film we are then shown sequences from his earlier childhood with his brother and another young friend that explain how he knows the answers to the questions he is being asked on the game show.

I found the most fascinating aspect of this film to be the portrayal of lives in poverty in India. As children these kids have an energy and a joy that they can’t help but let shine through, and yet you the viewer become so aware of just what a razor’s edge they walk as they are always on the brink of hunger or illness or violence.

The children are played by different actors and actresses at different ages, but all of them give terrific performances. As the movie alternates between the present and the past, the faces of the young actors at different ages become a seamless tapestry of three lives intertwined over time and wholly believable.

Things to note: there is violence perpetrated against children and adults in this film. These kids have it hard and they don’t always make it through without a scratch, and sometimes they are the perpetrators of violence against others.

Ultimately though the film seems to be about hope and determination and love…and I was inspired. This is a great movie. Check it out if you get the chance.