I was able to catch Danny Boyle’s ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ this past Saturday, it is easily one of the best films of 2008 if not the best.

Jamal Malik is in a back room of a police station being tortured, soon through a flash back we see that the night before he was on ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire’ and this is how the film opens. Jamal begins to tell the police officer how he, a ’slumdog’, who supposedly knows nothing was able to answer every question right the officers and the show’s host believe he was cheating. For each question on the quiz show, Jamal recounts for the officer the specific event in his life which lead him to the correct answer.

Over the course of the interrogation (and the film) Jamal pretty much tells his entire life story, growing up in the slums of Mumbai, traveling by with his brother Salim and how he meet Latika, who he has been in love with sense they were small children and who he is desperately trying to find again.

The story is amazing and powerfully told, it kept me on the edge of my seat (sometimes literally). It’s an amazing mixture of very dark and suspenseful moments combined with the triumphant and joyful times in the life of a young boy growing up in the slums.

On the technical side of things (shot composition, lighting, filters and film effects) this film does not disappoint, it’s cut fast and tight in a manner that reflects the chaos of the slums however as the film opens up to rural Indian country side things seem to slow down a bit shots get wider and more epic. Without giving anything away I will say one of my favorite scenes from a filmmaking perspective is the first chase scene where the officer chases the children through the allies, everything is just right. It’s fast, exciting, with brief interludes of slow motion at just the right moments.

This film is a true masterpiece on all levels.

Directed by Danny Boyle starring Dev Patel (Jamal), Tanay Chheda (younger Jamal), and Ayush Mahesh Khedekar (youngest Jamal) Freida Pinto (Latika), Tanvi Ganesh Lonkar (younger Latika), Rubiana Ali (youngest Litaka) Madhur Mittal (Salim), Ashutosh Lobo Gajiwala (younger Salim), Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail (youngest Salim) and Irrfan Khan.

Rating:

written by Travis \\ tags: Danny Boyle, Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Irrfan Khan, Loveleen Tandan, Madhur Mittal, Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire, Vikas Swarup