Slumdog Millionaire

I had the opportunity to see this film at the Denver Film Festival this saturday. For those of you that live in the Denver area, I highly recommend the festival. This film was shown at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House downtown. It is a unique experience in and of itself.

The film takes place in Mumbai, a gigantic, sprawling metroplex in India. The main character, Jamal Malik, has grown up a "slumdog," a very poor orphan in a large city. The details of his life are rather horrific. When he is older he somehow falls into being on "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" He ends up winning a whole lot of money, but the authorities think he must have cheated. How could a slumdog know all these questions? The prejudice is pretty blatant.

British director Danny Boyle (Sunshine, 28 Days Later, Millions) brings us this modern day fairy-tale about love, fate, knowledge, and sacrifice. The storytelling device Boyle uses is brilliant. Jamal's past unfolds to us through the questions of the game show. We learn about how and why Jamal knows the answers. And we are confronted with the question of why Jamal knows the answers. Is it luck? Brilliance? Cheating? Or Fate? This is the central question to the film. And this forces us to confront our own views on life and what we believe about our future. In addition, the love story parallel is quite beautiful and touching, in a non-cheesy way (I have my "cheese-radar" on pretty high most of the time).

The cultural aspect of the film, and India itself, is enlightening. It helped me understand India from more of a first-person perspective (at least that one slice of India, Mumbai's slums). I was a little worried we would get some Bollywood crap, but that didn't happen until the credits (which was pretty obnoxious, but wasn't really part of the movie). The music was fantastic and added quite a bit to the story, especially the multitue of paralleling chase scenes. It seemed like Jamal was always running away, or running toward, something.

Slumdog Millionaire is a beautiful story, told in a unique and powerful way. It does help us to understand what makes us human, what makes us love. It confronts us with ideas of fate and intelligence. It looks beautiful. This film has been getting a boatload of Oscar buzz, and it is all well-deserved. When it is released here in Denver I encourage everyone to go experience this journey into a modern day fairy-tale.

Changeling

Master Clint Eastwood has another year with two major releases back to back (this film, and Gran Torino in December). Changeling stars Angelina Jolie as a single mother (Christine Collins) who loses her son. He is abducted in 1928 Los Angeles. Five months later Collins is told her boy was found. Yet she does not recognize this boy. What is going on? Is she crazy or are the police trying to cover up their ineptitude? This is a story of one parent's long, hard struggle with the realities of a harsh world.

This film is a gut-wrencher for parents especially, manifesting all of our worst fears. How would I cope with the disappearance of my son? I don't even want to think about it.

One thing that stuck out to me about the film is the character of Reverend Gustav Briegleb. He is a Presbyterian pastor who is fighting for justice against the oppression and corruption of the LAPD. The mixing of politics and religion is a great topic, especially now in the wake of the election. We as Christians should always fight for justice and truth, and here you have a spiritual leader willing to do that. Yet, he is not always perfect and does not always have perfect intentions. Yet he is a good man, and tries to bring about the things of God through his actions (reminding me of Karl Malden's character in On the Waterfront).

As with my last reviewed film, Blindness, Changeling has a wonderfully complex lead role for a woman, played fantastically by Angelina. So often female leads are one dimentional and stereotypical. Here you have a single mother with the strength to keep fighting and the hope that her son is alright. She loves deeply, yet struggles mightily against others and herself. The film is beautifully shot, with a grayish tint that helps add to the time-period. As a period piece in and of itself the detail is unfailing. The chilling journey that we take with Collins is one that will stick with us for a long time to come. Is it even possible for Clint to make a bad movie anymore?