This film made me so grateful to be born and raised in the United States. The scenes of India’s slums are tragic – filthy – bathing and doing laundry in the rivers. The begging of the children – sponsored by their parents and other evil adults.
Especially evil, is the premier villain, who actually has the eyes scooped out of young boys so they can work for him as ‘real’ blind beggars.
The box office receipts and critical acceptance of this film are a surprise to me. It has the production quality of an expensive home movie. The story has no surprises beyond the sad truth that this inhuman tragedy is still ongoing in India – a nation so populous that life is painfully cheap, even regarded as worthless.
The playing of a foreign version of “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” against this foul backdrop pits the dreamworld of American TV against the brutal and unforgiving reality of existence in third world countries. The truth is, the film plays like a budget conscious production that somehow accidentally came together – to the surprise of its makers – and caught the fancy of a wide audience.
Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy
Based upon the Novel “Q&A” by Vikas Swarup
Produced by Christian Colson
Directed by Danny Boyle
Cast:
Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Madhur Mittal, Anil Kapoor, Irrfan Khan
Rated R, 121 minutes
Tags: oscars, slumdog millionaire
